This missive is to let you know that for the time being, my 5 P&M blogs (Mantis Warriors, Bad Moon Orks, AdMech, Halloween themed Chaos and 30k EC) will have all their updates appearing on a single blog (my “Rebuilding the Mantis Warriors” blog… which will get a new name). Why? With my interests so scattered across multiple armies and terrain & the fact that I’m just not painting at the hundreds of figures a year rate that I used to… I’m not making enough quality posts to keep 5 different blogs going. I’ve got a few die-hard friends and supporters that still post… but not enough to build or maintain the community that has always been the strongpoint of my threads in the past.
If my circumstances change and I start painting enough to warrant re-opening one of the specialist threads, I’ll do so... they aren’t closed, just inactive. In the meantime, as of today (Feb 11th, 2017) I’ll be making all of my P&M posts (for all armies) on what has always been my “home” on DakkaDakka, my Mantis Warrior thread. I hope you’ll join me there for the latest updates!
Here’s the link:Gitsplitta's Unified Painting Theory
Thanks!
Gits
My wife declared that I need to make a monster army after I jokingly made a contrmptor dread into a frankenstein's monster pose. Well, challenge accepted. I have a month to paint or aquire a lot of figures. Goal is to have this done by October 31st.
The Plan
After much himming and hawing on my Mantis Warrior blog (as the contemptor was supposed to be a MW dread)... and a lot of help from my buddy RiTides as well as a number of other contributors... a plan was formulated... to use the demon and chaos space marine codecii as the basis for a traditional Halloween monster themed army. Bound and perfectly legal but with lots of counts-as going on. I didn't want to just use say... vampire counts figures from Warhammer Fantasy as that's not much of a challenge, nor would it be different enough visually to have the right feel. I did however, want to try and use as many GW/Forge World minis as possible. Departures from that are in the instances where no suitable GW model was available or the cost of same would have been prohibitive. Here's what we came up with.
The Army List I got out ye olde Army Builder and drew up a list based on 3 CADs (which are necessary because of the number of "featured" monster HQs involved). With only the obvious character upgrades (things like jump packs, wings, mounts) this comes to 1750 pts. Getting it to 1850 or even 2k is just a matter of war gear and special powers.
Chaos Demons CAD: HQ: (Wolf Man) - FW skin wolf - Karanak (done!)
HQ: (Witch) - GW Lilith modified to ride a broom - herald of tzeench on flying disk (done!)
TP: (Goblins) - 5x bases of multiple GW snotlings - nurglings (done!)
TP: (Goblins) - 5x bases of multiple GW snotlings - nurglings (done!)
FA: (wolves) - 10x GW Fenris wolves - flesh hounds (done!)
FA: (bats) - 10x Bones and GW giant bat combined - furies (done!)
Chaos Demons CAD: HQ: (Thanatos/Grim Reaper) - GW changeling figure with staff converted to scythe & painted appropriately - the changeling (done!)
HQ: (Demon) - GW Khornate Demon Prince - demon prince (done!)
EL: (Ghosts) - 6x GW flamers of tzeench painted ghostly colors - flamers of tzeench (done!)
TP: (Mummies) - 10x Reaper mummies - plague bearers (done!)
TP: (Devils) - 10x GW bloodletters - bloodletters (done!)
Units that will be added but are not part of the original challenge: HQ: (The Headless Horseman) - heavily modified GW Archaon the Everchosen - Skulltaker (done!)
TP: (Skeletons) - 30x Wargames Factory skeleton warriors - chaos cultists (done!)
HQ: (Imhotep) - GW fantasy liche - Herald of Nurgle or sgt upgrade for mummy plague bearers (done!)
TP: (biohazard sign)- homemade/printed sign for one of the zombies - plague banner (done!)
SH: (Cthulhu) - Scribor Cthulhu figure - GUO (done!)
HQ: (Lawrence Talbot werewolf) - Reaper classic werewolf - Herald of Khorne (lost... at least for the moment)
HQ: (Lucy/"The Lady in White"... first Dracula victim) - Reaper vampire noble - Herald of Slaanesh (unbuilt)
HQ: (Creature from the Black Lagoon) - Four A Miniatures "creature" - Herald of Khorne (done!)
FA: (Gargoyles) - CSM Raptors w/ claws & possessed wings - CSM Raptors (done!)
Ally: (VanHelsing the monster hunter) - Pathfinder Miniatures female vampire hunter - Callidus assassin (unbuilt)
HV: (Satan) - spiffy new GW bloodthirster - bloodthirster (in process)
TP: (Evil Scarecrows) - Westwind Productions killer scarecrows - pink horrors (done!)
EL: (Giant Bats) - GW giant bats - screamers (done!)
Here are pictures of the completed elements of the army. I'll keep updating as I finish them.
Demon Host: (not my work, purchased painted though I did re-base)
Werewolf Host: (Hounds of Khorne & Karanak)
Mummy Horde: (Plague Bearers)
Witch Host: (Nurglings)
Griselda Greenbottom the Witch (Herald of Tzeench on flying disc)
Vampire Host: (Furies)
Count Dracula: (Chaos Lord w/ jump pack)
Spirit Host: (Flamers of Tzeench)
Thanatos the Grim Reaper: (The Changeling or Exalted Flamer)
"The Thing" graciously donated by master painter & friend Ramos Asura: (Chaos Spawn)
Zombie Hoard: (Plague Bearers)
Frankenstein's Monster: (Contemptor Dread or GUO)
Skeleton Horde: (Chaos Cultists)
Headless Horseman: (Skulltaker)
Imhotep: (Herald of Tzeench)
Plague Banner:
The Creature from the Black Lagoon: (Herald of Khorne)
Evil Scarecrows: (Pink Horrors)
Gargoyles: (CSM Raptors)
Giant Bats: (Screamers)
Dakka Unofficial Painting Competition Entry: (which did win)
Completed Army as of 10/31/2015:
Current Army as of 2/1/16:
.... back to original text of the post...
I hope you'll join me on this little side-bar of a project. Be nice to have friends around while I spiral into insanity over the next 4 weeks.
And if you need any extra motivation, there's a Halloween theme to this coming month's painting challenge! Pretty much anything you've got there would qualify!
/shameless plug!
Thanks for the comments and support guys, I really appreciate it! I am *really* excited about this.
@deadmeat: That guy is completely off his nut! Made me laugh though and actually rather effective in a "get off your arse and do something" kind-of-way.
@Paradigm: Yeah... not sure exactly what would be appropriate to enter... especially since I'm going to have to be speed painting most of this. We'll see how the characters come out (or maybe I'll just enter the whole bloody army).
@Nev: I appreciate the suggestion but I just bought my ghosts (6 of them), sorry.
Things are going to happen fast... I'm not going to start painting until Oct. 1st (just seems right) but I have two nights to build before then. As I have the Fenris wolves and "goblins".... I'll start with those. Will try to get one unit done per night. Probably wolves and the bases for the gobbos tonight, then actually putting together the goblins tomorrow. I'm a little worried that a good number of the models I'm ordering are all going to show up at once... means I've really got to make hay here at the beginning with the models I already possess.
OH, and I just picked up a nicely painted demon prince off e-bay... so at least the demon contingent is finished. That should be the last figure I don't paint myself... but the price was right and it does give me a nice leg-up on the whole army. I will undoubtedly add my own finishing touches to the painted demon figs to make them my own (I always do).
Gitsplitta wrote: Things are going to happen fast... I'm not going to start painting until Oct. 1st (just seems right) but I have two nights to build before then. As I have the Fenris wolves and "goblins".... I'll start with those. Will try to get one unit done per night. Probably wolves and the bases for the gobbos tonight, then actually putting together the goblins tomorrow. I'm a little worried that a good number of the models I'm ordering are all going to show up at once... means I've really got to make hay here at the beginning with the models I already possess.
OH, and I just picked up a nicely painted demon prince off e-bay... so at least the demon contingent is finished. That should be the last figure I don't paint myself... but the price was right and it does give me a nice leg-up on the whole army. I will undoubtedly add my own finishing touches to the painted demon figs to make them my own (I always do).
That sounds like a great plan, Gits! Rock out that assembly, and make sure to "assembly line" paint things like those gobbos to speed it up. I tend to work in bursts like this and having a good plan for each week really helps break up the total job and make it manageable
Couple of funny points involving the wife (whose fault this all is).
She... A) Said I needed "killer tomatoes". *sigh* Maybe next year. B) Offered to help with some really easy stuff. She used to be quite an accomplished artist in a number of forms... but throwing this at her mid-panic is probably not the best option. I may however, get her to work on the bases which can be quite time consuming and can be done anywhere in the house as opposed to my formal painting spaces.
Man I'm really going nuts with anticipation here. Nearly impossible to concentrate on what I'm supposed to be doing. Tonight and Thursday are going to really busy too (with non-gaming things) so I think I'll be darn lucky if I actually get both squads built... but I'm going to give it a try. Even if I get one done, that'll be something at least.
Getting your spouse to help with basing to meet a deadline is a tried and true method, Gits! I've employed it on a few projects now and it was awesome and really helpful each time.
Did a lot of thinking today and a bit of research. Found a great youtube video on airbrushing wolves. Simple, fast & gives great results.
Also spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I was going to do the nurgling bases. Decided to take one grot per base & the rest (probably 4) will be snotlings. That seems like it should be busy enough to make the bases interesting. I ordered more snotlings though I realized I really have very few gretchin that aren't armed with a gun (or have an easily convertible gun). I'll see if I can scare those up somewhere. Right now, I can make three bases and probably have enough snotlings coming to do 3 more. I also panicked and ordered some rats with mini-rat priests... enough to do 4 bases in the above manner. I thought they'd fit right in as nurglings and could either mix with the goblins or be the mummies' nurgling minions (as on of the mummy powers is controlling vermin of various sorts).
I should have some pics ready late tonight, if someone would be so kind as to post so I have a clean slate. 'Till then!
A mix of a grot with snotlings is a good idea! Sounds like if the rats work out you'll have 10 bases, so could run two units of them (making that allied detachment a full one if you wish to). But you might not need the rats if you're only running 5 bases, right?
RiTides wrote:A mix of a grot with snotlings is a good idea! Sounds like if the rats work out you'll have 10 bases, so could run two units of them (making that allied detachment a full one if you wish to). But you might not need the rats if you're only running 5 bases, right?
Well, it dawned on me that I will likely need to take the army up to 1750 as the folks around here like to play larger battles. I can do a lot of that with wargear on my characters... but beefing up the troop units, especially the cheap ones probably isn't a bad idea. So yes... I'll have more nurglings than the current list calls for, but I don't see that as a bad thing.
Here's the build so far. Just waiting on more snotlings to arrive. I've got two more grot "commanders" that I managed to scrape up. Will have to go-a-begging to see if I can scare up a few more. All of the little bases that the feet are attached to will be hidden by flock, so the final product should look pretty good.
OH, and I did buy the two codecii and an extra demon prince (cheap).
I have tried to do armies quick with various success (this year so far has been pretty productive). So good luck to you sir. I am not sure I can add anything to your techniques, but eagerly await your progress.
They look great and if you snagged an extra demon prince, again turning that last allied detachment into another full one will net you an HQ slot for it (assuming it is HQ). Although I'm still convinced daemons have to be able to run some characters as elites or something from the lists I've seen, but I don't play them so just speculation! Now that you have the books you can mess with all that when you have time... so I guess November
@graven: The magnitude of what I'm attempting just sunk in last night... Dear God. I'm an idiot.
@StarDrop: Thanks for your supporting words, I'm going to need them!
@Archer: I think staying disciplined about getting work done every night will be the key. That and not allowing myself to get sucked in to spending an inordinate amount of time on any one special project. I can always go back and add fiddly little details later on.
@RiTides: Yep, can do that. Think I'll have enough nurgling bases between the snotlings and the rats to fulfill the obligatory troop units.
Mounted my first bats/furies model last night... it's a bones figure with a bunch of bats swarming over a tomb stone. Neat... but the bats are really hard to make out in the mass. Have some other bats coming from a friend so I may add a couple of those per base just so it's a bit more obvious.
And OMG.... the seeker chariot... it's HUGE! No way Lilith is going to look right by herself on a giant oval base. I'm going to have to come up with some way to add things to the base to make it work. Maybe a bunch of giant critters like rats, spiders or bats? Not sure. This could be a real time sink if I'm not careful. I suppose I could try and modify a bunch of DE wyches to also be riding brooms so it's more like a witch squadron... but that would take a LOT of work, more than I have time for. Does anyone have any suggestions??
Interesting idea, but not very threatening looking. The real chariot has beasts and a huge spikey thing behind it... well, at least the fancy version does (it's the only one I can find photos of). I'm guessing the regular chariot just had the beasts and the chariot. Hmmm....
I think the difference between the regular and fancy version of the chariot is the regular version just has 2 mounts and one set of spikes, it's much smaller looking:
Maybe instead of the Steeds replace it with flying Brooms!? Cheesy Logan idea
In all seriousness though have 4-5 Witches on brooms pulling a "flying" chariot with her riding in it. Or just brooms since Witches could control multiple brooms I'm sure.
You can tell just from the pose on the Contemptor that this is going to be an excellent army. Best of luck getting it done in the allotted time, seems like one hell of a challenge.
You know, even though it would've been nice to have it as a Slaanesh model, I think a herald of Tzeentch on disc is actually a better fit (it flies!) and matches what you want to do for it with base size and modeling:
And it even works since she's a witch, and Tzeentch are basically wizards.
So, I'd say just change what you are going to use it as. You'll likely save some points this way so could use those points towards the extra daemon prince and extra nurglings (and maybe it'll wash out closer to the higher total you wanted since the daemon prince is likely pretty pricey).
Here you can see the two types of bats I have available for the Chaos Furies. The white one (right) is a cloud of bats over a gravestone from the bones series. Really neat idea but a bit hard to discern, the large bat is from the vampire counts army & CO a local friend of mine. Both are OK on their own but I don't really like either one.
Combine them however... and you get a really interesting effect.
Lastly, here's a shot of the army to date. While I will give you regular progress shots of the units... every once in a while I'll give you a pic of the whole thing. As you can see I did finish building the wolves which will probably be the first things to be painted as it will complete the entire wolf faction of the army. My friend also contributed the rats and spiders. The back-up demon prince can also be seen in this pic.
evildrcheese wrote:Looking very cool indeed. Where did those little spiders come from? They're super cool. D
Not sure since they were donated. I'm assuming they're something out of the vampire counts range.
Archer wrote:Love the skin wolf. Really cool model. The Bat added to the swam works really well.
Thanks Archer. I wasn't sure about it but so far the modeling of this army has all been about taking risks. So far it's paid off.
RiTides wrote:Hah, that army shot is looking great! Theme is coming out well and it's clear what things are going to count as
I think I'm also going to write the name of the unit on the front of each base so it's clear to my opponent what everything is supposed to be without constantly asking me. It's only fair after all.
GW used to make a swarm sprue, which included the big bat you have, the rats, spider, and I think a snotling. I picked up a box years ago, still have a chunk of it unpainted. I think you got 5 sprues to the box, but am uncertain.
THe spiders, bats and rats I think also came with heroquest or one of the other killed off box sets from GW.
If your still looking for ideas for the Lillith Base how about her doing a fly over the car from Army of Darkness:Evil Dead. THe one with the windmill on the front. Other wise you might be able to source a John Deere Combine for relatively inexpensive price and put it on a base coming out of a corn field. Maybe even make it look like lillith is controlling it with her magics
@Theo: Well, here are my "rules" for building. Things out of the Chaos Space Marine codex can have obvious signs of technology.... the marine (Dracula), the dread (Frankenstein's monster) are good examples. Even the zombies are "modern" humans. Anything out of the chaos demons dex must be bestial or primitive (non-technological) human.
So... looking into the future, and obvious add is a Helldrake to represent a dragon. I'll need to come up with some sort of traditional dragon's tail for it... but it's clearly a mechanized machine... which fits the dex it's from. If I was going to add a vehicle of some sort, the one that jumps into my head is Christine.... which could proxy as a chaos rhino with a dozer blade and extra armor. That being said, I don't think Christine is likely due to a variety of modeling and scale issues that would arise.
@Spacewolverine: Yeah... friend of mine had picked some up for his bots and I really love them. Have 3 left-over in case I decide to add some Kastelan's to my AdMech (eventually).
Re: Names on bases, I think that is very smart if you can get it to look good. I am doing this for my gator army that Ramos painted (or planning to, anyway - it will likely happen in November / December when I've got a little bit of time to model!) and using bases that Jin modeled and Wehrkind cast with a raised nameplate area:
Spoiler:
I plan to laser cut the names, but to do so I've actually got to cut out a curved shape... I did a few tests and it looked cool, but trickier than I had initially thought!
I just don't like it when names are scrawled on the front - maybe you could use an airbrush letter stencil and spray them? Still tedious to do a letter at a time, but if you had enough spare letters perhaps you could construct the words onto a piece of flexible backing material, put it on the base edge and then spray the whole word on. Probably good to plan for that now...
Wolves are done! They're drying from their wash tonight. I'll finish up the bases tomorrow morning and post then.
OH, the bloodletters arrived today. They look good. Also enough snotlings arrived to do 4 more nurgling bases.
So far, so good. Tomorrow's jobs are to finish the wolves (including bases), build and paint the 8 nurglings & whatever else I think I can get done (or feel like doing).
Couple of photos for you. My bloodletters came in yesterday. Keep in mind this isn't my work, but I thought I'd post it anyway. Decently painted so I'm pleased.
I finished my wolves. I swear the basing takes longer than the painting does.
Just thinking of your wife's idea for attack of the killer tomato. Great unclean one of Nurgle's painted red.... Or just have attack of the green tomato. Fits the demon army profile. Or you could paint the GUO Orange and have him be the great pumpkin, maybe with a squad of Nurgle's marines painted up like the Peanuts gang. One with a moldy blanket (Linus), one with a pestilential cloud around him (Pig Pen), maybe a noise marine playing a small piano (Schroder), Captain Charles brown with his zigzag shirt. Could have a plague drone or three painted yellow flying over a dog house too.
What great progress! The nurglings are looking absolutely perfect so far, love how green they are
The Bloodletters came in well done so that is a great boost! Honestly, you could leave them as-is for now and just re-do the basing.
For the wolves, they look good but the only downside for me is that they blend into the basing a little bit - but that's just a side effect of the scheme and the bases being brown, so I think that may stand out less once there is a full army based like that. By the way, are you going to re-base the Skinwalker? I think it would be good to do so - if you want it to be usable in both systems, Wehrkind actually makes rings to convert a 40mm unrimmed base to a 50mm rimmed one, which I think is what this model needs? He casts them, but I'm sure he'll have one somewhere already if you are interested!
- The painted demon price arrived today. He looks great! I moved him over to one of my style of bases and he's ready to go.
- I'm re-flocking the bloodletters... that'll be done today. This will complete the demon contingent of the army.
- The rats arrived today and I have enough to make exactly 5 bases of rats... that should be enough for another group of nurgling counts-as... though I think I'll be looking for more rats should some make themselves available.
- The flamers of tzeench (ghosts) arrived today. Pretty bad failcast but I was able to clean them up enough to be suitable. They are on their bases and ready to be painted.
- I continue to work on the snotlings (nurglings). It's tedious. Will have them done tonight though the basing might bleed through to tomorrow.
@RiTides: Yeah, the wolves blend in a bit, but I can't changing the basing of the entire army based on one unit. They're not optimal but I think OK the way they are.
I have some of those old rats, maybe enough to send your way, I'll have to check on Monday though. If not reaper bones giant rats are along the same size.
Actually, that's a good concept for squad leaders: With your pale skin-wolf and the pale-skinned DP, and darker minions. I think you should try to keep that a thing for the rest of the army, if you can.
I have a problem coming though when I get a but further on concerning leaders and their minions. I have a Tzeench leader (witch) with Nurgle minions (goblins). They have hatred for one another. That will go badly.
I figure this is more for display - I think it's fine for the witch to fly off as soon as the game starts and leave her goblins behind... that's what they do anyway, right
Goblins are done save for the greenery on the bases. Will finish them up tomorrow. Boy, what a chore for a bunch of crappy little figures!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Finished the goblins. Thank God there are only 3 more bases to do. Given that this is a pretty shoddy prep & paint job it took a heck of a lot of time!
I am not sure the Tzeentch/Nurgle hatred will be that much of an issue. Just imagine the Tzeentch Witch summoned/enslaved the Goblins as cannon fodder and leaves them to their fate at the start of the battle and they simply dive into cover (holding an objective of course) and proceed to hurl abuse at the Witch for the rest of the game.
Great progress so far. The pre painted models work really well now you've rebased them.
You're using rats and snotlings as Nurglings, right? Are you planning on having them as separate units of nurglings or having a mix of rats/snots in a unit?
I'd enjoy that. I'm hoping to knock out the ghosts tonight. There's only 6 and I'm counting on the airbrush to do most of the heavy lifting. Might even sneak in some work on that MW predator while I've got it fired up.
Thank you all. Your support is key in keeping me going.
This is going to sound like a complete attack of hubris... but at the beginning of this a couple of people suggested they'd like to help. I think I've come up with a way.
I'm going to need some special decorations for my display board. Gravestones, old twisted trees, mausoleum, crypt... even a spooky backdrop or centerpiece for the lazy susan (see spoilered pic below).
Spoiler:
If anyone is inclined to participate... I could use appropriate spooky pieces to add some interest to the display. Keep in mind my deadline for the project is Oct. 31st, so pieces would need to be in my hands by then. I don't want you to spend any money on this... so I'll reimburse you for shipping and encourage you to use left-over bits and bobs to make the pieces. Just post here so I know what you're making.
I'm going to attack the ghosts tonight. Hopefully the airbrush behaves and I'll have something else cool to show you tonight or tomorrow (probably tomorrow... basing takes a while).
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ghosts are done. Had a good airbrushing night... very pleased with how they look. Pics when the basing is done.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ghosts are done! I seriously thought about a little OSL glow on the ground but I really like the contrast between the ghosts and the basing.
I think this is a good time for an overall army update. Here's where we stand.
Chaos Space Marines CAD: HQ: (Dracula) - Astorath body w/ chaos bat-winged jump pack - Chaos Champion w/ jump pack & power axe
HQ: (Demon) - Khornate Demon Prince - demon prince (done!)
EL: (Frankenstein's Monster) - Contemptor Dread - contemptor dread with extra arm (built!)
TP: (Zombies) - 10x zombicide zombies - chaos cultists
TP: (Zombies) - 10x zombicide zombies - chaos cultists
Chaos Demons CAD: HQ: (Wolf Man) - skin wolf - Karanak (done!)
HQ: (Witch) - Lilith modified to ride a broom - herald of tzeench on flying disk
TP: (Devils) - 10x bloodletters - bloodletters (done!)
TP: (Goblins) - 5x bases of multiple grots - nurglings (done!)
FA: (wolves) - 10x Fenris wolves - flesh hounds (done!)
FA: (bats) - 10x Bones and GW bats combined - furies
Chaos Demons Allied Detachment HQ: (Thanatos/Grim Reaper) - changeling figure with staff converted to scythe & painted appropriately - the changeling
EL: (Ghosts) - 3x flamers of tzeench painted ghostly colors - flamers of tzeench (done!)
TP: (Mummies) - 10x awesome Reaper mummies - plague bearers
Gitsplitta wrote:Ghosts are done! I seriously thought about a little OSL glow on the ground but I really like the contrast between the ghosts and the basing.
They look very ghost-y! I feel like there should be one more color, such as for the something on the mouths... maybe something crazy like black? Or something less different, like a blue? Don't want to ruin the ethereal effect but just needs a spot of detail color I think!
No love for the ghosts eh? That's OK, I really like them. They came out exactly as I'd envisioned them. Never fear, you'll like the next project better.
Missed the ghosts in the automatically appending and page change.
It's a nice shade of green. It might be the photo washing out the contrast, but I feel they could do with a bit more depth; I would do a very thin, deep blue wash over both the green and grey. But, if you like them, and it's the photo washing them out, then stick with it.
I actually really dig the ghostly flamers, particularly how they aren't the typical white + blue that Warhams spirits always seem to be. I might have gone heavier on the glowy green on all the fiery bits, but then I tend to go heavier on the glowy green all the time
Gitsplitta wrote: Yes... but.... their GHOSTS! They aren't supposed to have contrast!
True, but it's one of the "reality != tabletop" things. Sort of like camouflage; real, accurate camo is just boring to look at. Washed out, pale ghosts just don’t have any pizazz. Or extreme highlighting. Does light really reflect off things like that? No (barring chrome and such). Does it look good on a mini? Yes.
So there is nothing technically wrong with your ghosts. But they feel kinda “meh"
I think you're close - they just need a little something! It's like adding salt to a dish... let it simmer a bit, or maybe try out an experiment if you have a spare piece somewhere?
I'm considering a couple of different amendments. We'll see how I feel when I get home & have a brush in my hand. The changes won't be drastic though... namely because the are crap castings (like all failcast) and the last thing I want to do is emphasize how inferior the workmanship is on the castings. In all honesty... I don't want them to pop. If they pop, they won't look like ghosts anymore... just screwily painted tzeench flamers.
Sorry if it feels like we are ganging up on you. At the end of the day, they are your models, and if you are happy with them, that’s what maters. Well, that and what The Wife thinks, as She’s part of the drive for this madness. With all the work you have for this army, you might be better served just moving on to the next thing.
Well, I know better than to ignore the advice of my friends. By the same token I'm happy to stand my ground too.
I've got two or three ideas. They aren't as drastic as dipping them in Thrakka Green, but may help make them more visually interesting. Expect and update tonight.
Which, you know... put's me one night BEHIND thanks to all you "art critics" out there. (that's a double entendre for those of you who know me) If I don't make my deadline it's ALL YOUR FAULT! *thhbbbbbbt!!!
Gitsplitta wrote: Which, you know... put's me one night BEHIND thanks to all you "art critics" out there. (that's a double entendre for those of you who know me) If I don't make my deadline it's ALL YOUR FAULT! *thhbbbbbbt!!!
That’s OK, I’m behind on all my monthly goals. It will be good to have company!
How has this thread got two new pages since I last looked!
Lots of ghost chatter that's how. Personally I liked the original version, much more subtle. Not that the extra highlight looks bad, but the original looked more spectral.
The other notable thing about that pic is that it's the first time I've had my light box set up in over a year. Took a lot of test pics to get the white balance, metering, etc. on my camera set right... but I think you can look forward to much better, in-focus pics of my work from now on.
I'll get the others re-painted and then take a group shot for you tonight.
Problem is Dr H... there isn't much room between the two. I just added the green wash to the mouths & some of the flames and re-highlighted the whites (with white). Kind of hard to do less than that.
Yeah, things are going to get tricky. After tonight, I probably won't be able to paint again for another 4 days and I've got one more non-painting stretch later in the month. So amending these and moving on will be the way to go. Couldn't find my zombicide game last night. Might have to do some last minute thinking out-of-the-box in order to come up with appropriate zombie models.
Gitsplitta wrote: Problem is Dr H... there isn't much room between the two. I just added the green wash to the mouths & some of the flames and re-highlighted the whites (with white). Kind of hard to do less than that.
I know what you mean. It's not a problem. Would diluting down the wash further not help (I don't know how your paints would react to this)?
You know what I'm like; I can keep fiddling on a model and make a week-long project into a month-long project. You have a deadline, so it's probably time to move on and ignore the picky one (me) amongst the rest.
@Dr H: I could try that easily enough... I'll give it a go on the next one. Perhaps use the diluted wash over all the areas, then come back with the full-strength wash just for the deepest things. I'll see what I can do.
The zombie thing worries me a bit. I'd hoped to have all the masses of troops done early in this process so I could enjoy painting up the characters. I can find more zombie figures to order easily enough... but it's more expense and more delay. Ill give one more search about the house tonight before giving up and seeking alternate solutions.
The other thing I hadn't considered is that this project is eating up bases like you wouldn't believe. I thought I had a huge stockpile, but I think I'm going to be pretty short once everything is said and done. I've already had to order more 40mm bases and I'm guessing I'll need to do the same for 25mm bases as well.
Thanks to a lovely bump from Bash (thanks mate), I have a new pic for you. Updated ghosts!
Working on the mummies now (major supply drop today). They'll be done tomorrow along with the last three bases of goblins. Also got my bats so I can start working on those too.
Would be neat if you could put an LED in the mouths. Not sure how it could be done but would be sweet. I really want to see what you do with whatever you have next in your queue.
Thanks! Made good progress on the mummies last night. With luck they should be done tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. While they are the same height as a modern space marine they are *really* thin and wiry, as a result they look tiny in comparison... probably even in comparison to a guardsman or elder model. Unfortunately, these were the only miniatures I found with the proper aesthetic... so they'll have to do.
I'll warn you guys now... the mummies are not exciting... the mummies will not "pop". They are mummies. Dead guys wrapped up in dirty cloth strips. I will not be compromising for the sake of artistic endeavor. It's my wife's favorite monster, I have to be absolutely true to type.
Gitsplitta wrote: I'll warn you guys now... the mummies are not exciting... the mummies will not "pop". They are mummies. Dead guys wrapped up in dirty cloth strips. I will not be compromising for the sake of artistic endeavor. It's my wife's favorite monster, I have to be absolutely true to type.
Just so we understand each other....
I love how you're prepping us
Dirty cloth strips are just fine! As long as there's a bit of depth in the crevices between the cloth strips, that's all I ask
Actually, I've been pondering making my own press-mold for normal scarabs (simplified of course). That's not a job I'm going to worry about now though... that's a special project after the army is done ahead of schedule.
Okay, perhaps you plan better than I in these kinds of projects after all . Mine are usually hallmarked by a final week of talking my wife into helping me finish all the basing in one big go! (Speaking of which, it's interesting that you're doing it unit-by-unit... although it's really nice to see the finished result as you go that way, but probably not quite as efficient as chaining it all together)
But wait - you're saying Bats, Rats, and Frankenstein's Monster are all due to be finished tomorrow?!
Gitsplitta wrote: Actually, I've been pondering making my own press-mold for normal scarabs (simplified of course). That's not a job I'm going to worry about now though... that's a special project after the army is done ahead of schedule.
Been so busy with finishing school, my mom and work that I haven't had a chance to look for the bats and spiders for you. I'll try this weekend, and I might have a few of the scarabs from bloodbowl khemri team that could work. They were used as pads for the players.
They look really impressive. Hope you like them as much as I do. The different 'factions' are coming together so well. The Wolves and Werewolf is my favorite thus far.
Oh man, they look great Gits! Never should have doubted you - did not realize you could speed paint so well
Nevelon wrote: Were the mummies someone’s retinue? Or are they flying solo?
Hmm, looking at the list I don't see a character allocated to them. But Gits did mention picking up another Daemon Prince. With that and the rats, your final allied Detachment could be a full Detachment, instead... but can a Daemon Prince look good as the leader of mummies? Maybe some sort of nurgle one?
Wrap the dread foot in toilet paper and call him the leader of the unit. He has his walk like a mummy pose going on anyway .
Also any though of army transport/ Carry Bag? I think if you could take one of those cheap plastic trick or treat Pumpkins and cut out the back of it and add in shelves you could have a nice display case/ carry case to transport it.
Dread is the leader of the zombies already though - I'm seeing 7 minion units, but only 6 lead monsters. (I'm not counting the rats - I figure those could fit in wherever)
So it leaves open the possibility of one more monster... doesn't necessarily have to be an HQ. Beast of nurgle? The Masque? Lots of possibilities. Maybe Gits already has a plan here but I think there's basically an opening for something awesome, although maybe it would need to come later depending on timing (although the schedule is looking very good with the latest progress!).
RiTides wrote: Dread is the leader of the zombies already though - I'm seeing 7 minion units, but only 6 lead monsters. (I'm not counting the rats - I figure those could fit in wherever)
So it leaves open the possibility of one more monster... doesn't necessarily have to be an HQ. Beast of nurgle? The Masque? Lots of possibilities. Maybe Gits already has a plan here but I think there's basically an opening for something awesome, although maybe it would need to come later depending on timing (although the schedule is looking very good with the latest progress!).
The chaos marine dark apostle looks like a partially unwrapped mummy, might work for a mummy lord
Good for mummy 'leader', can think of several options for 'larger (possibly rotting) Egyptian thing', from giant scorpions (take your pick of decade and manufacturer) to undead abominations / flesh golems (Croc Games has a couple, Reaper has good options). Reaper also has a lot of great 'Tomb Kings' style mummy characters, quite impressed.
^ Any of those TK heroes are Nurgle Heralds in a pinch
Them mummies are from Reaper. There is not currently a leader for them. Kind of running out of HQ slots. Also think as a pure "classic monster" list the line-up is pretty complete. That being said, I'm willing to listen to ideas.
Nowt wrong with the mummies, Gits'. They look great.
You could just give one of the mummies a deathmask and call it the squad leader. Then just run it as a "normal" mummy, no need for another HQ or anything rules-wise.
GiraffeX wrote: We don't have a headless horseman yet do we?
Ooh, classic!
And with the last detachment you have an HQ slot available (self allying isn't usually allowed anyway so it may as well be a full detachment, since the 10 nurgling bases can be two troop choices).
I'd be partial to a monster instead of another character, but it would have to be a classic, too.
Anvildude wrote: I always wondered why Mummies, who are perhaps the best preserved Undead, are always shown walking as though their knees are bent the wrong way.
Probably the way they are packaged in the sarcophagus...
My only quibble is that this model isn't really connected to the Mummies - but it could work! And is very iconic. Still wishing for another big beastie but at least in game terms this wouldn't technically be a character
Another alternative is to simply re-align the groupings, and have Frankenstein's monster lead the mummies (he does have the pose!) and the Headless Horsemen lead the Zombies.
Depending on how you define “classic” and “horror” you could add a war of the worlds style tripod walker. Or take a page from the 50’s atomic horror and add something like a giant ant or spider. Mechanically could count as a soul grinder or defiler.
But while classic horror, they are not very halloween horror. And definitely not associated with mummies. If you wanted a HQ to lead the mummies, you could go with an evil high priest type.
Classic Egyptian has always been a crazy High Priest for Mummies. I think a Soulgrinder would make for an awesome Headless Horseman.... O.o! Wouldn't be classic or normal but would be very cool!
Hmmm... perhaps go to the Chaos Marine dex instead. Chaos lord on a bike or jugger?
I'm not too cranked up about whether he pairs with the mummies or not. Having something else in the army that wasn't either an HQ or garbage troops would be nice though.
Gitsplitta wrote: Hmmm... perhaps go to the Chaos Marine dex instead. Chaos lord on a bike or jugger?
Hmm, the bike could be a better fit... but the rider is still off.
Gitsplitta wrote: I'm not too cranked up about whether he pairs with the mummies or not. Having something else in the army that wasn't either an HQ or garbage troops would be nice though.
Yeah, I think this army needs another monster - Halloween doesn't have quite the same attraction for me so I haven't been able to think of anything, but come on, there must be another good monster to be made! Your Frankenstein's monster is a great example - you went with a cool conversion of a model that makes it fit.
Mummies could either have a 'hot mummy pharaoh queen/priestess' leader, or maybe you could do a sphinx.
I think the problem with having a unit of mummies is that the Mummy was a singular character of horror- almost like the first Slasher-gore monster, precursor to Jason or Freddy. Frankenstein's Monster had his Bride, Dracula had his 'children', Wolfman was infectious, and zombies come in Hordes, but it was always "THE Mummy".
I agree Anvildude... Just couldn't figure out how to do one and make it impressive enough.
As some have suggested, the natural leader for the mummies is an Egyptian priest... but then I'm faced with the same issue, not really a very impressive figure.
My wife was enthusiastic about a headless horseman... the problem (whether it's a lord on bike or jugger) is how to do the figure. Are there some really impressive/scary horses made for one of the WHF armies?
That's perfect, Theophony! And he's armored enough to look just like a CSM lord . That horse is impressive enough that you could go with bike or juggernaut - jugger might even be the better fit in this case (bigger base too).
You can kick the daemon prince over to the second chaos daemon detachment to make room for him.
This is also one of the huge benefits (although there are obviously other drawbacks) to GW moving to resin - you can much more easily remove the head! This has come up a few times for me and certain models are just a lifesaver in the material (Hellcannon, looking at you!).
Those flamers, on the other hand, could have easily stayed metal... but it's nice that there are hobbying benefits from the change in some cases.
RiTides wrote: This is also one of the huge benefits (although there are obviously other drawbacks) to GW moving to resin - you can much more easily remove the head! This has come up a few times for me and certain models are just a lifesaver in the material (Hellcannon, looking at you!).
Those flamers, on the other hand, could have easily stayed metal... but it's nice that there are hobbying benefits from the change in some cases.
So true! One good thing about them moving to Resin, though I cannot wait till everything is there new high detail plastic.
Goblins (nurglings) are complete. Enough here for two units of 5 or 1 full unit of 9 (nine??).
Here's the army as it stands. WYSIWYG it's just over 1000 pts.
Bats are next and are built. May get some painting done tonight but I'm recovering from a long weekend of camping... Read that as staying up late drinking adult beverages and getting up way too early in the morning to start over the next day. Think I'll take a nap. As you can see from the pic below, I'm short one of the Warhammer Quest giant bats. Have that on order from e-bay. OH, and the headless horseman is on order too. That won't come in until Oct. 22-23rd, so I'd better get moving between now and then. Really hoping to finish the bats tomorrow to keep myself on-schedule.
Great group shot Git! They all go very well together. The Bats will look great when they are done, surprised you go with a white undercoat or is that how they came?
Bats are done with the exception of the greenery. Pics tonight. Big supply drop tonight too. I'll be working on Thanatos next as his minions (the ghosts) are already finished.
Scythe. Haven't figured out how I'm going to do it yet. Necessity IS the mother of invention however. Have to wait until I've got it in my hands before I can really formulate a plan.
Have a local tournament this Saturday where I'd love to debut my Halloween army. Unfortunately it's 1860 pts. and assuming I can get all my chaos demons elements finished (Thanatos & witch) I still won't reach 1850. Also I'd hate to inflict an army I'd never played before on my opponents as it would mean I'd be spending most of the day with my nose in a book looking up rules & penalize them for my slow play. Much as I hate to do it, I might just skip the tournament. I've got firewood to put up, a busted lawn mower that needs to be taken into the shop (which isn't close), a boat to drop off for storage (which isn't close in the opposite direction) and of course a lot of painting to do. *sigh* I miss my gaming friends...
I’ve carved my own scythe out of scrap before. As far as weapons go, they are probably one of the easier ones to do.
If you have a lot of chores to do, and miss you gaming friends, the obvious solution is to get them to help with the work. This may require a decent fast-talk roll, and/or a lot of beer and pizza. Don’t you have minions you can put to work?
@Nev: Thanks mate. Yeah... I'm not stressed about it and I do have a fairly decent collection of plastic. I may swing by the local model railroading store over lunch and raid their plastic supply to see if I can find just the right thickness of plastic to make sturdy blade. I do have the tools and expertise to be able to make it out of metal if need be. (brass or aluminum plate most likely)
Not being able to find my Zombicide game really put me off my mark. I was able to order more but now I'm playing the waiting game again. I'd really hoped to have all of the massed troops done by now (just had a 4-day weekend), but a honey-do list on Friday, two days of camping and spending ALL FREAKING DAY yesterday helping my wife get a new vehicle really didn't help. I think I'm still OK... but I'm no where near as confident as I was a week ago.
Gitsplitta wrote: @SL:
Not being able to find my Zombicide game really put me off my mark. I was able to order more but now I'm playing the waiting game again. I'd really hoped to have all of the massed troops done by now (just had a 4-day weekend), but a honey-do list on Friday, two days of camping and spending ALL FREAKING DAY yesterday helping my wife get a new vehicle really didn't help. I think I'm still OK... but I'm no where near as confident as I was a week ago.
Definitely Git, a new vehicle can be a pain to get into and find, I am in the car business, and can be a long and stressful day.
10 points cannot be too hard to shave can it Git? I understand about the honey do list.... Maybe do it Sunday?
I'm always surprised by how long it takes to actually purchase a car (I'm talking after you've decided what you want and where you're going to buy it). The actual negotiation took only about 30min... the rest was wading for paperwork, waiting for the appraisal of our cars, waiting for them to clean and set up the new car, waiting, waiting, waiting. I think they ended up losing money on the deal simply by the amount of coffee I drank while I was sitting there. It's a nice vehicle. Glad the Mrs. has something shiny and new that she loves to drive. It's just such a PROCESS...
It is quite the process, when I bought my last truck and was pressed for time I said don't worry about detailing it... Normally took 2 hours to detail. I always just tell them write me a buyer order, I go through my own bank. Then said I'd come back to have it detailed.
Appraisal should of been done while you were on the test drive.
Happy to hear she loves her new shiny Vehicle and I'm sure you've been told but congratulations!
Thanks! It's nice to have some new blood in the driveway. A year ago we had 5 cars, all either 10+ years old or over 100k miles. Now we've got a 2014, 2015 and one of the two remaining older vehicles is headed for the scrap heap... leaving only my old Dakota (which we need for garbage, firewood & other dirty jobs). Three cars will be much more manageable that 5. (at least until Thing 1 gets his license next year)
Congrats on the new purchase.... Remember if she's happy your happy(ier)
My latest is going on 286K.
As for thing1.. That time will come soon enough. so to save you some time ( since I seem to get the jist that you didn't feel it was the best use of your time) I looked around for you and found Him the perfect car.
Doesn't come with a girl but I thinking it shouldn't be a problem.
Happy to help. ... as always. Oh did you notice it was green? and has a five star safety rating.. Bonus...
Overall NHTSA safety rating: 5 star
MPG: Up to 13 city, 22 highway
MSRP: From $62,495
Wheel size: 20" diameter, 9.5" width
Horsepower: 707 HP ( hull points)
Engine: 6.2L V8
This is one of those days where I can't wait to get back to my paint brush... Very excited about the supply drop (Thanatos, witch & Dracula).
Stopped by the hobby shop. Picked up two cans of Dull Coat and a sheet of 1mm thick plastic sheet. That should be thick enough to be sturdy while still giving me complete creative control on the design of the scythe. Might do something fancy will it... we'll see. Need to do some research as to how real scythes are designed (bend in handle & placement of extra hand-hold).
I also picked up some really neat extra bits for a side project I've had in mind for a long time. Going to be a bit of a surprise. Hope it works out like I plan.
I am excited for a group pic tonight and the bats! I am always terrified to use dull coat... I had a FoW army I ruined right before a tournament spraying it with dull coat. I wanted to cry, I just gave up and gave them to my friend to sell on Ebay for me.
I am excited for a group pic tonight and the bats! I am always terrified to use dull coat... I had a FoW army I ruined right before a tournament spraying it with dull coat. I wanted to cry, I just gave up and gave them to my friend to sell on Ebay for me.
Ditto here... sealer in general has me terrified. I've been painting for 4 years now and I'm fine going back and touching things up.
Drac, witch and thanatos all were picked up today along with Drac's wings. More importantly the zombies arrived! The whole chaos marine part of the army doesn't happen without them! Have an important last-minute honey-do project that I have to accomplish... but if someone would be so kind to post after this, I should be able to finish up the bats and get you a pic tonight, as well as a pic of the Thanatos build (which should be a pretty simple conversion.
Converting Lilith into a broom rider is going to be a challenge. Not the broom riding part, but her whole body is turned in a way that won't really help with the illusion. Will have to ponder that when the time comes (after Thanatos). Luckily the zombies will work well. Just trying to decide if I can keep them on their current bases (which are 25 mm but shorter than a GW base), or if I should carefully remove them and put them on standard bases.
For your scythe you may be able to find the right piece (or pieces) of sprue to carve into the handle shape; GW do have plenty of curved sections in their sprues these days... might even have a piece with the side handle in place...
Then you could use the flat plasticard to make the blade and still be able to cement the two together.
It's too bad that the stuff GW uses isn't more of a Thermoplastic. You could use heating elements to help bend them into better shapes. Though I wonder if focused heat could allow you to do that with some of them- because being able to just twist torsos and bend joints as you want, without having to cut, file and GS them would be fantastic.
Here's the first WIP of the build for Thanatos. Removed two arms and flames from left hand. Scythe blade and mount are drying. Should be an easy task to attach them to the staff.
Here's the build with the scythe head included. I'm proud of that. Note the inset on the mounting sleeve.
Here's the build with the scythe head included. I'm proud of that. Note the inset on the mounting sleeve.
This project of yours is developing really really fast and nice! The group photo from above is super awesome. Can't wait to see Thantos done. (I just like DEATH and all his brothers)
I think the bats pop a little too much for my liking. I was tempted to give the whole thing a very light black spray from directly above, just to tone it down a bit. However, the swarm of bats in the background is nearly a indecipherable mass without significant highlighting... so I left it the way it was. I may go in and re-wash the tops of the big bats' heads before I'm done... just to tone them down a bit.
Thanatos should be done either tonight or tomorrow night, depending on mundane responsibilities. Painting might be done tonight, but basing usually takes an extra evening.
Nice job like the bats. The fur on the chests screams for dry brushing. But i love dry brushing fir. On a sadder note got my stuff out of my moms shed and half of its wrecked or chipped beyond belief.
@Stonelessword: Sorry to hear that. I did actually do a bit of dry-brushing on the chests. Might go back and re-visit that before I completely retire them from the painting table.
I think I may take a little extra time and see if I can build him an hour-glass of some sort. May be too much delay as I'm sure it would put things off another day at least. Be nice to have it dangling (or being held in) his left hand though. Just to emphasize the fact that he comes when your time is up.
Gitsplitta wrote: I think I may take a little extra time and see if I can build him an hour-glass of some sort. May be too much delay as I'm sure it would put things off another day at least. Be nice to have it dangling (or being held in) his left hand though. Just to emphasize the fact that he comes when your time is up.
I think you should take a step further and give him a giant clock necklace like flava-flav
Yeah, that's a good point Anvildude... I was just searching for something appropriate for his other hand. Maybe I'll just leave it empty. It would save me a day.
Wow... Thats a mark of true craftsmanship/insanity... Carving out the middle of a brass rod! Love the progress so far. Death looks fantastic. Brilliant use of the Changeling mini!
I cant believe how quickly you're getting this project done! Keep up the great work.
In answer to your query, yes, it was made out of brass tube. I cut out that section using a jeweler's saw. Unfortunately the cheap crap they use for resin broke, breaking off the head of the scythe at the top of the hand. I removed to resin from the blade mount, removed the resin staff completely and replaced it with my own, a simple brass rod. That scythe isn't going anywhere now...
Er, well, yes. I did know it was a tube, but seems I was a bit loose with my teminology. Still, though, I maintain that it was a mark of madness to cut the wedge out. Working with tubestock myself has shown me that its really really fiddly... especially as I dont have a jewelers saw!
I'm with Soul on the staff breaking. Really think that it looks better now and is certainly more sturdy. Yaaaaaay Paint!
I'm actually torn on the pumpkin. I like it a lot... but am wondering if it wouldn't look better with black cut-outs rather than "lit up" ones. Thoughts??
Does anyone know the size of the base that a Herald of Tzeench on Flying disc uses? I can't really tell from the pictures I can find on the internet. Destroyer base maybe??
Gitsplitta wrote: Does anyone know the size of the base that a Herald of Tzeench on Flying disc uses? I can't really tell from the pictures I can find on the internet. Destroyer base maybe??
Got some airbrushing done on the dread. I'm kind of stuck as the original color scheme for the monster was all black. I'm going to have to deviate from that somehow to make the figure interesting. Shoes will be brown and head and hands will be greenish. I was going to make either the pants (hips & legs) or the coat (torso & arms) a different color or tone of color so it looked more like a coat and pants. Not sure at the moment but since I had the brush out...
Also began the witch build. First problem is getting her on the broomstick. Used a hollow tube for the broom & then... yes that's right... pinned her to it! She ain't goin' anywhere.
@Lost Soul: He'll come along. I'm not in a hurry to get him done because I want to be sure I've got him as spot on as I can get him.
Here's step two of the broom build. topped off the front end of the broom and added a pin to attach the broom to the base. The pin is actually bent 90 degrees inside the broom handle and thoroughly glued so that it should make for a very stable base. I'll do the same to the other end in order to insure a solid hold & so she doesn't spin (which would be annoying). A quick trip out to WalMart and I think I've got the perfect thing to make the other end of the broom. We shall see.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Witch build is done or nearly so. Gave her a crooked magic wand for a weapon.
Death is amazing!! As basically everyone has said, love that pumpkin just as it is, it offsets his colors (or absence of) on the main model really well!
Witch pinning is insane. My only quibble is with the added bit the back of the broom feels too long to me. Like, imagine that vertical next to the model, it's way taller than her!
Re: Frankie, was the monster not green traditionally!? Have all the movies lead me astray?
1. It's a riding broom, not a sweeping broom. They're different classes of houseware. Also, it needs to convincingly fill a rather large base.
2. The original Frankenstein's Monster was NOT green, however that's become the popular cartoon color. The model needs some kind of visual cue to let the viewer know what their looking at. So mine will be green.
3. @LT: For realism's sake, I get you. Unfortunately there was no way I was going to get all the necessary pinning in on a smaller tube. Even with my previous jewelry experience the broom handle needed to be larger than normal.
The witch is sitting on her base now. Priming and painting will start this evening.
Maybe a small cat on her broom (a familiar) could help fill the broom space and not make it feel oversized and still fit the holloween theme. I haven't looked at the more recent 40K codex so not sure if they still have that familiar that gives an extra psychic power. With doing that couldn't she also count as Huron with his pet dragon thing?
@Theo: The familiar thing is a good idea. My son (Thing 2) had the same idea this morning. He suggested a crow on her outstretched left arm. I happen to have one too. I thought about a classic arched cat, but that would have to be scratch-built from GS and would require far more skill than I currently possess.
I could shorten the broom a bit in the back if people thought it was necessary. It would take some fiddling, but is doable.
Instead of a cat .. go with a snotling. ( hanging on ?) Since the witch is in the Demon army slot and one of your troop types is the nurglings it would tie the theme together.
A snotling hanging onto the back of the broom is a neat idea! The crow on the arm could look great, too. Not sure if both would, is it possible to put in place with blue tack to see?
and it was awesome and really helpful each time.
*table flip*
