Thanks for the positive feedback, guys!

@ Draconian: btldoomhammer is right (cheers, mate! ): the pauldrons on that terminator are from the Heldrake kit. I didn't even know what they were originally for, to be honest: After my rather...substantial conversion of the kit, I was left with many parts that look horrible on a Heldrake, but utterly fantastic on any kitbashed model I use them for

@ Biohazard: Ha, that's what I wanted to hear Seriously, though, buddy: As always, you're far too kind!

 Igandris wrote:
Like an imposing island of sanity in a sea of bloodcrazed lunacy.

Well spotted, mate! That detail will actually play a huge part in the character's background: Look forward to it

Deracin is coming along nicely, but since I am such an insufferable tease, you'll have to wait a while yet before I show you the finished model Until then, a small update that nevertheless makes me rather happy:

The last squad of models I built before abandoning the hobby for a while during the mid-2000s was a squad of kitbashed Possessed. As you may recall, these were also among the first of my new World Eaters to be painted when I got back into the hobby (as a matter of fact, they were also among the first models posted on this thread!). I use them as The Lost Brethren, those members of the 4th assault company too far gone and too mutated to be used as anything else than a Kamikaze unit.

Anyway, Almost three years ago, I built an icon bearer for the squad. Yesterday, I finally got around to painting him:





This guy probably isn't much to write home about, since he was built when my bitzbox was still far smaller than it is today. He shares his squadmates' muscular arms (I actually used an Orc spear arm for the icon). Still, after almost a decade, not only did the squad finally receive its icon bearer, it also finally numbers eight members. Yay!





Like I said, nothing spectacular, but I am happy that I can finally call this squad done -- apart from the bases, though, I'll have to redo those at some point

Thanks for looking!

Looks fierce. I like the skin tones on these guys, and the way it fits into the World Eaters' color scheme.

Ooh, they look a little possessed. i like the skin tones though.


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oh boy i have been doing some catching up and this puts me in the mood to paint some myself! awesome stuff!

Thanks a lot, guys!

The skin was painted using my regular recipe for my World Eaters, and it couldn't be any easier: Just basecoat with GW Rakarth Flesh, wash with Nuln Oil (or Army Painter Dark Tone Ink) and add some final accents with the original Rakarth Flesh -- DONE!

I realise that these Possessed look rather tame, compared to the more recent plastic kit. That's a pretty good sign of how old they actually are That said, the less mutated look is a better fit more my army's background, and it also means I can just use them as regular berzerkers, if push comes to shove.

Right, it's finally time for an update that I am really proud of: Let's take a look at the finished model for Huntmaster Deracin.

Here's where we left off last time:









Keeping the model in several sub-assemblies turned out to be a very good decision. That way, I could work on one part of the model after another, assembling the model piece by piece, whenever a sub-assembly was completed. Fortunately enough, everything fit together rather well, so the assembly only took some minimal tweaking.

And then came the servo-harness…

Due to the complexity of this element, it was practically a model of its own. It was painted in one, frantic session, and I used quite a lot of black wash to make the metal parts look suitably used and well-oiled. Here’s the mostly finished backpack:



As you can see, I basically stuck to using red, silver and bronze as the three main colours here as well. The one departure from the usual recipe was that I added some light blue effects to the reactor on the back of the harness, and on the energy conduits leading to the different arms. As a matter of fact, that little detail was one of the reasons I had chosen the GK backpack in the first place.

With both the model and servo-harness almost completely painted, I took a deep breath and finally attached the harness to the model’s back. This took some doing, and the funny thing is that the backpack is attached to the model’s shoulderpads rather than to its actual back. It took some fumbling and frantic repositioning for everything to not only work out but stay in place.

In the end, everything worked out, though! Some final detail work was added at this stage: A fine accent of Mithril Silver was added to the metal parts. The flamer’s and meltagun’s muzzles were painted with a mix of Army Painter Strong Tone Ink and Vallejo Smoke Ink, to make them look dark and soot-stained. And I tidied up the last rough edges.

And with that, Huntmaster Deracin was complete. Take a look:







As you can see, I chose a spot of turquoise for the axe’s casing. That colour appears as a spot colour across my whole army, so I used it here for some visual continuity.





The view from the back nicely shows the light blue reactor core, and the power conduits leading away from it.





I am really, really happy with how Deracin turned out! He may have been just about the most involved kitbashed character I have completed so far, but the paintjob really turned out as well as I had hoped. I also like that he is quite bulky, similar to the “official” Warpsmith model — I think his imposing frame rather nicely represents the 2+ armour save granted to Warpsmiths due to their “Fleshmetal”. Let me also take this opportunity to point out that the model is almost ridiculously WYSIWYG, at least when you compare it to my usual standard: The only liberties I took with the model were using a combi-melta, chosen for its cool look, and a chainaxe instead of a power axe. Apart from that, though, the model is a very faithful representation of the Warpsmith ruleset.

Deracin is also very tall. Here’s a scale shot with both a regular World Eater and a Terminator Lord:



And here is Deracin, next to my converted Dark Apostle:



Even though both models use the same legs, I still think I managed to make them look remarkably different!

All in all, Deracin really looks like a World Eater. But he is also clearly an engineer and Warpsmith to his company:



So, did I do this just to build a semi-useful selection from the HQ section of the codex? Of course not! While it’s nice to have the option of fielding a Warpsmith now, and while I get a bit of a kick out of already having built several custom models for selections from the book, this was really all about creating a character. So who is this Huntmaster Deracin? Let’s get to know him a bit better, shall we?



Huntmaster Deracin, Keeper of the Forge

During the time of the Great Crusade, when the XIIth Astartes Legion was still known as the War Hounds, brother Deracin was a brilliant and ferocious warrior who could be found at the forefront of every battle. This zeal cost him dearly when he sustained horrific injuries during the Nove Shendak campaign, requiring extensive augmentic reconstruction work to be saved. Worse still than the lost limbs was the heavy nerve damage Deracin incurred, damage that necessiated complex cranial implants to keep him combat-worthy. A lesser man might have been interred into the sarcophagus of a dreadnought due to such injuries, but Deracin trained relentlessly to overcome his injuries and push the artificial parts of his body to the limit, trying to prove to his brethren that his “reconstruction” hadn’t dulled his edge one bit.

All of this should be for naught, however, once the legion had been reunited with its Primarch and renamed the “World Eaters”: Angron ordered his Apothecaries and Techmarines to outfit the whole legion with the Butcher’s Nails, implants patterned after those he had received as a gladiator on the world of Nyceria.

The nails implanted into the Primarch’s skull were artifacts from the Dark Age of Technology, and the Techmarines’ dabbling in archaeotech was far from an exact science, producing all kinds of unforeseen incidents. As a consequence, the implants Deracin had received earlier to mend his injuries interfered with the nails, preventing him from utilising his full potential on the battlefield. For Angron, a legionnaire that couldn’t unlock the nails’ full power could only be considered a failure. So Deracin found himself relegated to the rear guard in more and more battles, sidelined and tasked with petty battle logistics and mundane assignments, and growing ever more frustrated.

It was Lord Captain Lorimar who discovered that, deprived of a chance to prove himself in battle, Deracin had begun to apply himself to the maintenance of the legions’ wargear and weaponry, demonstrating a brilliant grasp of technology and an intuitive understanding of even the most complex mechanisms. So Lorimar requested Deracin for his company and let him be trained as a Techmarine. And it was then that brother Deracin found his true calling:

He may have been a brilliant fighter, but as a Techmarine, Deracin became a marvel. His brilliant, analytical mind allowed him to construct mechanisms on par with the most advanced work of the Mechanicus. His work earned him the envy of numerous Techmarines from different companies and, indeed, other Legiones Astartes. In time, even Angron himself began to display a sort of grudging respect for the son he had despised. And through fateful irony, the implants that prevented Deracin from tapping into the Butcher’s Nails’ full potential actually kept his brilliant mind intact, even as the rest of the legion descended into frenzy and insanity.

Ever since the Horus Heresy, during the millennia of the Long War, Deracin’s knowledge has grown far beyond the petty boundaries of Imperial orthodoxy: He has learned to forge flesh and steel, and to imbue his creations with the raw powers of the warp through the incantations and pacts of daemoncraft. The towering daemon engines deployed by the 4th assault company are a chilling testament to his skill. The Great Forge aboard the company’s capital ship never sleeps, and Deracin is its undisputed master. And during his long life, he has retained two features nearly unheard of among the members of the XIIth legion: A surgically analytical mind as well as a wry sense of humour.

On the battlefield, Deracin is a giant even among Astartes: His augmented frame towers above even his tallest brethren. Encased in a baroque suit of artificer armour of his own design and equipped with all kinds of arcane weapons and warp-infused tools, the Keeper of the Forge is every bit the warrior he was during the days of the Great Crusade.


So, what do you think? Was I successful in my attempt to build a worthy warpsmith? I would love to hear your feedback on this model!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

This is fething awesome. very well done! the paint job is fantastic and your conversion is just plain outstanding. Congrats brother, you should be proud of this one.

At the first look I thought the axe he was holding looked rather plain, but after looking at the painted pictures my opinion of it changed totally. It looks really good!

Brilliant concept and exceptional execution. Arguably your best marine to date.

This guy is awesome is what a Warpsmith should be like. Great job

He came out great! You really nailed the "Khornate intellectual" look. Great work!
The piece of fluff is really cool too.
How did you do the turquoise. I really like the shade of it.

Even I am impressed and I hate marines but this is just several kinds of awesome, plus the bionics actually look like they are working and in use unlike most you see.

They almost seem like they are partially organic living extensions of him, great job really impressive.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, guys! I am really proud of the model, to tell you the truth, and it's good to know that I am not the only one who likes the conversion

@ Igandris: All the different shades of Turquoise I use are usually a mix of Vallejo Halcon Turquoise (virtually indistinguishable from the old GW Hawk Turquoise) and either black or white. In this particular case, I wanted the axe's casing to be turquoise, but not quite as vibrant as the daemon swords carried by some of my lords, so I added a generous drop of black to the colour.

Oh Goodie, didnt see this model, I agree you nailed the khornate techy look, and fluff is always nice. Would he be counts as Warpsmith?

Cheers, wolfmerc! Yes, I believe Deracin will mostly be used as a Warpsmith, seeing how he really seems to look the part As a matter of fact, I don't even see him as a "counts as" model, to tell you the truth: To me, "counts as" means that the model in question is significantly different in concept from the stock model. A reinterpretation of the character concept, if you will. And while Deracin is not based on the stock warpsmith model, he really looks similar enough to be fairly easy to recognise as one.

Hey guys,

work on my World Eaters continues, as I am feeling rather inspired right now. And I know myself well enough to make the most of this particular spell of inspiration as long as it lasts

First of all, I realised that, while I posted the new icon bearer and the group picture of that finished Possessed squads, the remaining models are still only represented in this thread by those horrible, blurry pictures on the first page.
So, for the sake of completeness, here's the rest of the squad in more detail:

















Granted, these may be some of my older models, but I am still rather fond of them for some reason...


I also managed to pick up an older Chaos Lord in Terminator armour from fellow hobbyist Carnak:







The model was originally released alongside the Cities of Death supplement and the Medusa V summer campaign, if I recall correctly. As a matter of fact, it was even used to represent Abaddon’s right hand man, Chaos Sorcerer Ygethmor the Deceiver, during a WD battle report — a rather dubious (and downright lazy) choice, if you ask me: This guy is no sorcerer, he’s a warrior! A true veteran of the Long War!

In fact, that’s precisely the reason why this is one of my favourite GW chaos models ever! I love how massive and imposing the model looks and how it manages to exude an air of quiet menace. My favourite parts of the model have to be the tabard (an element I would like to see used far more often on Chaos Terminators) and the dangling skull trophies, making this guy an excellent servant of Khorne as well!

Another great thing about the model is that it comes with several weapon options, featuring one long range weapon and CC option for each hand:



From left to right: a power sword, a weapon probably supposed to be a Kai Bolter (from the 3.5 edition book’s wargear section), a power claw and a combi-melta. All of the options look great, although I suppose I’ll go with the combination of sword and claw you can see above — from a visual standpoint, it’s just the coolest option by far, in my opinion!

The model’s only shortcoming is that it seems just a little short when compared to the (more recent) plastic Terminators. But the problem is nowhere as egregious as with Abaddon the Despoiler, and this guy still clearly reads as a Terminator, even if seen next to some of the newer models.

As a matter of fact, I’ve been wanting to add this model to my force for quite some time, and being able to pick it up for a song was quite a nice coincidence. I guess that this guy will remain largely unconverted, too — I just like the stock model that much!


And finally…oh, wait, we’re just receiving an important transmission: It seems like one of our enterprising pict-drones has made it to the bowels of the 4th assault company’s great forge. Here’s the final image it managed to transmit before being destroyed:



Now what on earth could this be. Any ideas?

In any case, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

can't wait!

Do you want a night lord commander?

YES! Khorne knight is go!

Huntmaster Deracin is just simply perfect

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the metal Chaos Terminator Lord

Cheers, people!

@ Miss Dee: Do you have one going spare?

Let me use today’s update for a spell of pointless rambling. Bear with me though, there might be something worthwile hidden along the way

Anyway, last week I bought a huge pile of Ogre Kingdoms bitz from fellow hobbyist Kar Tharog. When I got home from work yesterday, the parcel had arrived, and so I spent most of the evening with my very individual kind of R&R: sorting a huge pile of bitz into many smaller piles

While doing that, I realised that buying “surprise piles” of bitz may be one of the most delicious hobby activities for me, but more on that in a minute. You may ask yourself why I went for Ogre bitz in the first place.

While I am very unlikely to start an Ogre Kingdoms army (or any WFB army, for that matter) anytime soon, I have had my eyes on bitz from the various Ogre Kingdoms kits for quite a while now. Visually speaking, the Ogres are heavily based on a culture of hunters, for one. That means that the kits usually come with lots of trophies like skulls, hides, etc. — a perfect fit for Khorne’s Eternal Hunt.

Then there’s the fact that the recurring symbol of the Great Maw is fairly similar to the World Eaters’ legion badge: For instance, I am already using a certain Ogre Kingdoms gut plate as a legion symbol for my army. The newer bitz continue this trend, featuring stylised jaws and maws — once again, perfect for my World Eaters.

And even beyond the scope of my main army, Ogre Kingdoms models have a darkly funny and eclectic bend, which may not help with my World Eaters, but is sure to yield some really cool and interesting bitz.

So that was basically my reasoning behind this purchase, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed when I opened the parcel yesterday. Here’s a look at what I got out of the deal:



This is what I would call the really interesting part of the bitz haul: All the “regular” Ogre bull parts (heads, arms, weapons, accessories) have already been neatly sorted away. They will come in handy, too, but they are certainly not the meat of the purchase. So what you see above is the part that really sealed the deal for me, because I would have had to pick up some really expensive (and ultimately useless) kits in order to get my hands on some of this stuff.



So let me point out a couple of highlights. First up, I was thrilled to find an entire Stonehorn head among the bitz:



I had originally planned to simply use the skull-like “faceplate” as decoration on one of the army’s vehicles, a daemon engine or something similar. Yet that head is so brilliantly angry and detailed that I will probably hold on to it for a while yet: Maybe it could be used on a kitbashed Greater Daemon or something similar? One can always dream…

As a matter of fact, there was a complete Thundertusk head as well — two bitz I would never have gotten hold of normally.

I also got some really nice Mournfang cavalry weapons:



I imagine these will be really useful if I ever decide to add some more Forsaken to the existing three models. Note how the blades also seem to be emulating the great maw motif (and, once again, the World Eaters’ symbol).

I was also fortunate enough to receive this brilliant head:



Normally a part of a dead Imperial soldier kept as a “snack” by the Ogres, the head is just perfect for a twisted servant of the dark gods, don’t you think? Expect this part to make an appearance in my small Traitor Guard detachment (or my INQ28 collection) at some point…

I have already started playing around with some of the bitz. Here’s an early prototype: A World Eaters Terminator using a particularly cool Ogre gut plate as a pauldron:



So, did I post this just to gloat? No way! What I really want to talk about is that this kind of purchase is usually one of the high points of the hobby for me. Strange, huh?

I guess it’s the fact that there’s a certain thrill of the hunt, if you will: Taking a look at the – often fuzzy – photos online. Deciding if you’ll get enough useful bitz out of the deal, then ultimately taking the plunge. Waiting impatiently for the parcel to arrive, the immediately tearing it open and sifting through the contents and thinking of new conversions — sometimes coming up with ideas you would never have considered when buying your bitz the “conventional” way. Don’t get me wrong: Methodically hunting for a certain bit via ebay or one of the bitz sites can be pretty gratifiying as well. But “buying in bulk” like this just feels great every now and then!

Granted, it’s something we usually cannot indulge in too often: You have to be lucky to find a pile of bitz that warrants the purchase. You have to balance “wild card” purchases like this against more sensible additions to your army. But for a fanatical kitbasher like myself, digging through a huge pile of plastic crack and dreaming up some new conversions is really as good as it gets!

Oh, and by the way, I wasn’t disappointed on the “darkly funny and eclectic” front either: There where lots of grisly (but rather funny) trophies, some Ogre snacks (like steaks and plucked chickens) and lots and lots of very strange stuff — I am very confident that most of this will be useful in the end, though: If not for my World Eaters, then in one of my other hobby projects. The Orkheim Ultraz and my planned Mordheim Orc warband can always use some more silliness ;-)

So yeah, taking a plunge and getting a huge pile of random bitz like this was really fun! What about you? Do you agree, or do you prefer your purchase of new bitz to me more restrained and, shall we say, surgical in nature?

Oh, and before I forget, I have yet another little teaser for you...



Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Sweet haul! That head(snack) will be absolutely perfect for a crazed cultist. Termi mock-up with the added pauldron really works. Suitably beefs him up.

Knight is looking great!
I usually know what I need when buying bits, (also low on cash so I can't just randomly buy stuff) so I don't really have any experience with mixed bags. I can see the attraction to buying a pile of random bits though.

Mixed bags are great, love looking through them for the first time. They're also great for giving you ideas that you'd never have thought of if it weren't for that bit.

Yes i do have one up for grabs. Yours if ya want him

I think for the giant tusked head, some poster used it on the muzzle of a vindicator cannon for his word bearers. The teaser oddly looks like a dreadknight equivalent. I recognize smoke launchers. I see through your veil of trickery and kelly green!


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Oh missed the obvious picture of a dreadknight teaser earlier... heh heh. I havent had the opportunity to buy bits in bulk, or bits in general that is, i just find myself with a large supply from trading and the odd kit with extras. Its cool that you got a nice bounty from a bulk buy like that.

A mixed lot of Epic stuff on Ebay began my Chaos army. It's my preferred method now. It also works out cheaper than buying the individual units for some reason

KrautScientist wrote:
I was also fortunate enough to receive this brilliant head:



Normally a part of a dead Imperial soldier kept as a “snack” by the Ogres, the head is just perfect for a twisted servant of the dark gods, don’t you think? Expect this part to make an appearance in my small Traitor Guard detachment (or my INQ28 collection) at some point…

Wow, that head is awesome indeed ! I totally need to find a few for me... Do you know which specific kit it comes from ? The regular, plain Ogres box, or another one ?

Also, nice use of the "Maw" symbol to figure a more "savage" - if such can be possible when World Eaters are involved - that's a great idea indeed !

Keep it up !

Huntmaster Deracin is wicked mate.

The pic drone shots look like we're in for a nice surprise.

Got to agree with Peter, Deracin is terrific.
My favorite mini on this project of yours.
Making him tall and rather slender, does a great deal to lend him a flair of realism and thus makes him a whole lot more threatening.
Although I like him more without his backpack, which is appropriate for what he is, but takes away some of his dash.
Another plus is that your blueish touch on the face made me realize there is some resemblance to the lord marshall, which makes him even cooler:

Thanks a lot for the abundant feedback, people!

When it comes to buying bitz, the ideal approach is probably a mix of buying via "surgical strikes" on ebay or one of the bitz sites and buying bulk every once in a while: The first one will give you exactly the bit you need, hopefully at a manageable cost, while the second one can give you lots of ideas you wouldn't have had otherwise -- and it simply feels great, too

@ Miss Dee: Cool! Will PM you shortly

@ Yggdrasil: That head belongs to a dead Imperial soldier that comes as decoration with the Stonehorn/Thundertusk combi-kit.

@ PDH: Cheers, mate!

@ Baiyuan: Hey there, mate! Great to hear from you! Thanks for the kind words. And you're quite right regarding the resemblance to the Lord Marshal - although it wasn't intentional. As a matter of fact, the Lord Marshal had quite a traitor legion-vibe going on, if you ask me. And his demeanor fits what I imagine the officers of the 4th assault company to be like when they are not busy tearing apart enemies on the battlefield. Also, the one good point about an otherwise pretty lacklustre movie, if you ask me...


Right, no more teaser shots: Some of you have already recognised the model in question, and to tell you the truth, ever since I built my converted Dreadknight / counts as Decimator (inspired by Chris’ fantastic conversion over at A Host of Word Bearers), I’ve been itching to get this big boy painted. While painting the model seemed like a rather daunting task at first, painting my various Chaos Dreadnoughts has taught me that models at a slightly bigger scale can be real fun to paint, if only because the actual painting can be less fiddly due to the increased size.

In any case, there was really only one way to find out…

So, how did it go? Just to remind you, here’s where we left off last time:



Before breaking out the paints, I used the last possible opportunity to add some final bitz: A chaos smoke launcher was cut in half, with both halves added to the cowling behind the model’s head. A chain with dangling skulls was also added to the reactor on the model’s back.

The next step was to break down the model into the different sub assemblies and get everything undercoated in chaos black. Thankfully, this was pretty fast work. Here’s most of the model undercoated and tacked together (again):



I then started painting the different sub assemblies, starting with the legs. Fortunately enough, my predicition proved correct: Painting the model turned out to be quite a lot of fun!

While larger models take much more paint to be completed, you can also cover much more ground and work with larger brushes, without having to worry about all the small nooks and crannies — at least at first…

So a short while later, the legs were basically finished:



At this point, I really liked where this was going and I was basically hooked. So I pressed on, painting the torso next…



As you can see, the amount of cables and metal doodads on the torso front meant that I could use a healthy dose of washes to make the metal look suitably dark and oily. I was also happy to finally see the head painted (but we’ll take a closer look at that in a minute). The last parts for the torso to be painted were the armour plates for the model’s chest. I quickly finished these, then tacked together what I had so far:













I am actually pretty pleased with the WIP model so far. The paintjob already does a fairly good job of blending together the different parts used in the conversion.

On a related note, I realise that the use of a head from an 80s’ toy was a point of contention for some. So my hope was that the paintjob would go a ways towards making it look like an actual part of the model. Take a look:



While I am pretty sure that this particular choice of head will never make everybody happy, I am pretty pleased with the result: I don’t think it looks that much like an action figure any more. As you can see, I also added a simple blending effect on the model's visor, trying to ride the cylon motif for all that it’s worth

A brass etched symbol of Khorne (kindly sponsored by PDH — cheers, mate!) was added to the armour plate on the model’s shoulders:



You may say that it looks like it’s the wrong way around: a result of the plate originally being positioned slightly differently. In any case, it fits much better this way around anyway, so there is little to be done.

Again, I am really pretty happy with the model so far, even though it’s not yet complete: The next step, obviously, is to paint the model’s arms. And, of course, a suitably impressive base will have to be designed and painted at some point. Expect the next update pretty soon, though, because I am rather stoked for finishing this model.

Until then, I would love to hear any C&C you might have! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

I like it. The head is cool and the blue in the slots looks good.
I can't really say more until I see it with the arms. Maybe paint some of the smaller cables and wires with different colors. Some battle damage could help break up the large flat surfaces. Good work!

Wow... I like it, even though I'm one of the ones who was unsure about that head, I think the whole model ties together perfectly.

Really cool - can't wait for the arms!

Looking really cool! It's giving me the impression of a knight titan or some machine meant to resemble a knight. Also with the cabling he's looking very muscular, and the retro helmet is just fun, 'nuff said. There are plenty of scary daemon faces/spikes on the model as it is so it makes for some balance where all the focus is not on the head.

I would personally have added a few more little spikes on the back/shoulder area and maybe a few chains hanging down but it's a minor quibble. Every chaos guy has a different opinion on the ideal ratio of spikes and chains....

Reminds me of the dudes from Daft Punk, if Khorn had gotten to them

I still think the head works perfectly and a real stroke of genius, now thats thinking out of the box a 1980's action figure head I would have never even considered doing that

The paint work is coming on nicely maybe a little more grime but overall top job mate

To those who were not sold on the head POP POO to you

Great stuff here!!

Terrific! The pauldrons are a bit dull and not very traitor-like, but apart from that...grand!
I actually liked the movie a lot, but of course you have to be into over-the-top 80's punchlines and cheesy sci-fi action to fully enjoy it. And while I hope the upcoming third installment has at least some kind of fresh twist (even though I doubt it), I'm sure I'll somehow enjoy that one too.

I'm glad the etch has found a good home. Its not upside down....its for when Khorne is looking down on it.

So far so good, looks so bloody cool.

Thanks a lot for the positive feedback, guys! I am glad you seem to be liking the model so far!

@ Igandris: To tell you the truth, I am not a huge fan of making cables to colourful. And for my World Eaters, I try to a very limited palette of colours to achieve the amount of contrast I want. I also usually paint them without battle damage for the same reason -- although I'll always use lots of damage and weathering for my traitor guard, the poor saps

@ Dark Apostle 666: Cheers, mate! I'm glad I managed to convince you

@ Meade: Rest assured that the finished model will have a few more spiky bitz!

@ whalemusic360: If anything, the Daft Punk resemblance actually improves the model in my book

@ lone dirty dog: Aww, well, it was a bit of a coincidence, to be honest. And not something I would do on a regular basis. It just seemed to fit for this model, though.

@ Sageheart: Thanks!

@ Baiyuan: Oh, the pauldrons are not done yet! I just painted the letters on them because it would have been lazy not to, but those will actually be covered by legion badges. There will also be more spikes added to the shoulders, never fear As for Riddick, my main problem with the films is that the universe seems interesting, but everything is always much more interesting than the guy who is supposed to be the centre of the story. I would have loved to see more of the Lord Marshal and the Necromongers, for example. Anyway, just my two cents

@ PDH: Now that's the best possible excuse for the icon looking like that! Brilliant mate!

The next update's just around the corner, people. Look forward to it...

Alright, here's the promised update, right before the weekend:

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any PIP photos of the arms, as I painted them in one, frantic session, eager to finally see the model completely assembled and painted! Once again, the arms were detailed enough to almost be counted as models in their own right, yet the slightly bigger size made painting them a fairly pleasant affair.

I also made a list of all the little details that I had yet to paint and used the time it took for the paint on the arms to dry to get all the fiddly detail and additional accents out of the way.

When all the different sub-assemblies had been completed, the time had come to carefully glue everything together. While maybe I should have gone out to pick up some really strong superglue before putting everything together, I really couldn’t wait until the next day when I had finished all the components at about ten in the evening. So I used a couple of items to stabilise the position of the arms, while the model was resting on my keyboard, no less – yes, talk about patience and professionalism…



But after leaving the model to dry overnight, everything was stable enough, and the model itself was finally completed.

So now it’s finally time to take a look at the assembled model. Meet the Wargrinder, ladies and gentlemen:



















Quite a beast, don’t you think? The arms do a pretty good job of making it look even less than a stock Dreadknight and more like a daemon engine. And as you can see, some final detail was added during the assembly process: Two Ogre gut plates were once again used to represent the World Eaters’ legion badge. And two semi-circular trophy racks from the chaos vehicle sprue provide some additional chaos flair while also bulking out the model’s silhouette some more.

Let’s take a look at a couple of details:



Like I said before, I realise that the head probably isn’t for anybody. But I am rather happy with the way it turned out: The model looks like an emotionless, relentless killing machine, and that’s exactly the look I wanted to achieve. And even if you don’t like the head, it should really be easy to find a suitable replacement, in case somebody is planning a similar conversion.

I also used one of my beloved, simple OSL effects on the weapon arm’s plasma coils:



The huge coils are really an open invitation to painters to go for an effect like that, and even though I kept it all rather simple, the finished arm makes for a nice eyecatcher.



Another look at the model’s back: The exhaust pipes were given a pass of Vallejo Smoke Ink to make them look even more dark and grimy. I am also very much in love with that brass etched symbol of Khorne sponsored by PDH!

To tell you the truth, all in all, I probably couldn’t be any happier with the model: The different head (while clearly a case of love it or hate it) makes it different enough from Chris’ conversion so as not to seem like a retread of the same idea. And the paintjob really ties together the different parts, making them look like they were meant to be used in that way. Painting this guy also was a real blast!

I am still not 100% done, though: The base still needs to be built and painted — and it goes without saying that a model as imposing as this deserves a suitably impressive base to go with it. Fortunately, I already have an idea, although it may take some time for me to get around to actually completing it.

Until then, I would love to hear your opinion on the model! And if you like the model, you are very welcome to vote in the Dakka gallery!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

That Wargrinder is sexy as hell! Sweet build, nicely painted. Finish up his base and he'll be one more highlight to this awe-inspiring army.

LOVE the model - HATE the head.

Odd situation, the rest of what you've done is super gothic and fitting, but the head to me looks like it was dropped down from a transformer.

I'm not love or hate on the head... I choose the middle, 'meh' ground!

My favorite parts of the model that I think are really well done are the chest/shoulders and the arms. Came out looking very muscular and natural, and I love the side view that gets a good shot of the World Eaters emblem on the shoulder.

In my honest opinion, you could just rip those shields off the legs, let it be exposed machinery... they are out of place amongst the more curvy natural armor portions.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

When it comes to the head, TJWyrm over on B&Creally put it more succinctly than I ever could have:

For me, the head really helps trace a lineage back to the Legion Maniple robots, one that was dragged with your guys into the warp, and is still serving millenia later.

While I didn't have it all worked out like that, my plan for the model was that the Wargrinder is neither a dreadnought-like sarcophagus for the remains of an Astartes, nor a daemon's spirit given metallic form. Rather, it is indeed supposed to be an enhanced and somewhat redesigned Legio Cybernetica robot (as a matter of fact, even though I only disvovered this after the fact, it does bear some structural similarities to the Lambda Zeta-01 Combat Class Robot ): Maybe it has been serving the 4th assault company ever since the Heresy, and Warpsmith Deracin just made some additions and alterations to the machine. Maybe it has been constructed by Deracin himself, using the remains of Mechanicus warmachines and dark secrets of his craft. In any case, the machine is driven by a mixture of Imperial technology and maybe even traces of Abominable Intelligence, infused with and powered by warp energies. So in contrast to the angry and frenzied Astartes fighting alongside it, it is an emotionless, uncaring killing machine. And I think the head I chose is a better representation of that than any frenzied daemon face. That said, it's certainly purely a matter of taste, and I acknowledge that not everyone will like my choice. I am certainly not making excuses, just trying to explain my reasoning on this.

@ Meade: I did actually try it without the shields, but not only did the legs end up looking far too rickety, but the balance between red, bronze and silver parts on the model is also really important: Lose some of the red parts (like the shields), and it's no longer really recognisable as something belonging to the World Eaters.

Wargrinder looks awesome!!

 KrautScientist wrote:
I guess it’s the fact that there’s a certain thrill of the hunt, if you will: Taking a look at the – often fuzzy – photos online. Deciding if you’ll get enough useful bitz out of the deal, then ultimately taking the plunge. Waiting impatiently for the parcel to arrive, the immediately tearing it open and sifting through the contents and thinking of new conversions — sometimes coming up with ideas you would never have considered when buying your bitz the “conventional” way. Don’t get me wrong: Methodically hunting for a certain bit via ebay or one of the bitz sites can be pretty gratifiying as well. But “buying in bulk” like this just feels great every now and then!

Sounds like you enjoy the hunt as much as the 4th Company

Where do you buy your bitz from? The guy I just to buy off stopped selling on eBay recently.

Damn! Sekshy beast!

I wasn't a huge fan of the head....
But enough about the head already! The model as a whole looks entirely in character and truly fierce. Well done!

 migsula wrote:
LOVE the model - HATE the head.

Odd situation, the rest of what you've done is super gothic and fitting, but the head to me looks like it was dropped down from a transformer.

Agree with the esteemed Migs here, everything looks pretty sick but the head is really off-brand, looks like something from 'real steel' as opposed to chaos. Would def consider a new head, and one that is smaller, about 75% of the current size... something skully maybe? An old banelord or warlord head if you can get your hands on it (I am talking the original 2nd ed stuff, not the post armageddon epic stuff).

Very cool overall though -

That model is a real beast! I love it
You've inspired me to start planning my own things now

Again, thanks for the feedback!

@ Dreadclaw69: You bet! Actually, your comment made me realise that "Khorne's Eternal Hunt" not only stands for the legionaries' hunt for worthy prey, but also for my own hunt for the right bitz for this endeavour -- how deliciously meta!

@ gianlucafiorentini123: Whenever I can't arrange for a bitz swap with a fellow hobbyist, I usually buy from "World of Bitz" on the German ebay store. Not sure how useful that recommendation is for somebody outside of Germany, though...

@ tinfoil: Cheers, mate!

@ MajorTom11: I guess I've said everything there is to say about the head in my last post above. Still, those who aren't fond of the head will probably be glad to hear that the conversion that originally inspired my Wargrinder does use a different head (from the Necrosphinx), and it looks awesome! Check it out here .

@ Nasbashem: Aw, mate, now that is the greatest possible compliment! Be sure to let me know once you have something to show the world!

I actually love the use of that head. It's Big Boa's from vintage G.I.Joe. Creative thinking!

@ Tim 121RVC: Cheers, mate! But then, your avatar and signature lead me to suspect that you might be somewhat biased on the subject Seriously, though: Thanks for the kind words!


Right, today brings one more look at the Wargrinder, like I promised. I hope I’m not boring you yet! That said, it is a fairly involved project that I am also rather proud of, so I hope you’ll forgive me for featuring it prominently whenever I can…

Anyway, the last thing needed to complete the model was a suitable base. And the fact that the standard Dreadknight base is rather large also meant that I couldn’t exactly phone it in . So I sat down and thought about what I actually wanted the base to accomplish from a visual perspective:

- I wanted the base to fit the look of my army’s overall basing scheme, obviously. So it was clear that I would use the same rock/rubble look.
- I wanted the base to look interesting enough to do the model justice, but not so impressive as to draw away attention from it.
- it would be really cool if the base could feature a fallen enemy of the Wargrinder.

So with these ideas in mind, I started to mess around with a couple of ideas. I obviously used the usual recipe of big and small pieces of cork plus some modelling sand and slate to represent the rocky ground and debris. Yet what about the fallen enemy? Covering the base in skulls would certainly have seemed slightly goofy, since the Wargrinder doesn’t have any obvious way of harvesting skulls in the traditional sense, due to its enormous size. So it had to be a bigger enemy, preferredly one with a certain reputation when it came to ferocity in combat.

Fortunately enough, I still had the torso front of a Death Company Dreadnought lying around from way back when I converted my first Chaos Dreadnought from a Furioso kit. I had always wanted to use that nicely detailed piece, and now was the time! So I added the remains of a defeated Blood Angels Dread to the base:



I didn’t have a whole Dreadnought to spare, of course, so I wanpushed into the earth under theted its remains to look half buried, probably flattened and trampled underfoot. In order to achieve this effect, I covered the middle of the base in a mix of wood glue, modelling sand and cork chaff. After the material had been evenly distributed, I added the torso front on top. I also built the remains of a torn off arm from a Dreadnought fist and a hydraulic strut from the Dreadknight. Then I added more sand and cork on top to blend everything together. And if you take a closer look, you can see some actual cables, representing the torn cabling emerging from the Dreadnought’s destroyed torso. And you may even spot the areas where I used a pen to sketch the outlines of the Wargrinder’s feet in order to make sure everything would fit together in the end.

When everything was nice and dry, the base was spraypainted with Chaos Black. As per my usual routine, the next step was to block in the base colours. Then everything was washed with brown wash. Then I went back in to do the accents and detail work. I tried to replicate the “official” Death Company paint scheme fairly closely (finding out once again the loyal Marines really aren’t for me when it comes to painting). Afterwards, I used a mix of washes, drybrushing and weathering effects to create scratches, chipped paint and battle damage on the fallen Dread. Here’s the finished base:



I am reasonably pleased with the result: The fallen machine clearly reads as a Death Company Dread, and it adds a nice visual flourish to the base without the thread of overpowering the actual model. So the last step was to actually glue the Wargrinder to the base, and it was with slightly shaky hands that I completed this last task.

After enough drying time has elapsed, let’s take a look at the completely finished model. I give you the Wargrinder on its new base:

















Granted, it’s just a relatively small detail when compared to the rest of the model, but it does really make the Wargrinder look complete. I also think it’s a nice bit of irony that a Death Company Dreadnought, itself well known for its ferocity in combat, has been reduced to a mere base decoration here

Here are some additional detail shots:



The Wargrinder towering over its fallen foe.



By the way, PDH found the perfect excuse for the icon of Khorne on the model’s back being the wrong way around: “It’s for when Khorne’s looking down on him.” — yes, that’s a brilliant explanation, and much better than admitting that I didn’t pay enough attention, so let’s just go with that!





All in all, I am really happy to have completed this model! It’s been some work alright, although I feel the result is well worth it:



So yeah, that’s the finished model in all its glory. But what will I ever use it for?
To be perfectly honest, I mainly started this project due to the prospect of being able to convert and paint an awesome model. Still, there are a number of possible in-game uses for the Wargrinder, of course: The most obvious choice would be to use it as a Decimator. The size of the model is similar, and using it in that capacity would be a great way of having access to a Decimator without having to get the “official” model, The small problem here is the WYSIWYG rule: The base is quite a bit bigger than the Decimator’s standard base — and I simply refused to glue the Wargrinder to a smaller base, because that could have looked rather ridiculous. Still, while I didn’t try to model for advantage, the fact remains that the bigger base may make things ever so slightly easier for me The other problem is the model’s weapon: I just used the leftover Forgefiend weapon because I liked the look of it, but it doesn’t really represent either equipment choice available to a Decimator all that well. Still, with a little goodwill on my opponent’s part, the Wargrinder would certainly make for a pretty cool counts as Decimator.

It could also be used as a counts as Forgefiend, Maulerfiend or even Defiler, come to think of it. Sure, each of these options will once again require an understanding opponent, but the bottom line remains the same: Even though my main objective was to build and paint a badass-looking model, the Wargrinder could very well come in handy on the table as well!

So, before I wind up this post, it’s good tradition here on Eternal Hunt to present some fluff to go with the new model. So here’s all you need to know about the Wargrinder:



Wargrinder pattern Blood Knight

The warmachine designated Wargrinder by the legionaries of the 4th assault company is certainly a terrifying testament to Huntmaster Deracin’s dark genius. Bigger even than the fearsome Contemptor, the Wargrinder usually towers over the battlefield, a metallic embodiment of murderous intent.

Based on the ancient and hallowed warmachines of the Legio Cybernetica that fought alongside the XIIth Astartes Legion during the Great Crusade and subsequent Horus Heresy, the Wargrinder has evolved into something altogether different: While there are still enough hints as to its origin, the machine’s armoured bulk now resembles nothing so much as the form of a traitor Astartes, its baroque armour plating and daemonic weapons a clear indicator of its allegiance. and its fluid, almost organic, movements terrifying to behold.

While the Wargrinder is infused with the energies of the warp, it remains a machine: In eerie contrast to the frenzied and bloodthirsty traitor Astartes fighting alongside it, the daemon engine’s relentless advance betrays the precision of an automaton: A Wargrinder never tires, never retreats, until its task is done. But where an organic follower of Khorne would leave himself be consumed by his instinct and his rage, it remains emotionless and calculating, its behavioral protocols ensuring its murderous efficiency.

In the armies of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt, Wargrinders fill a combat role similar to that of the accursed Decimator daemon engine. Equippable both for short and long range combat, a Wargrinder is a highly versatile warmachine. It is also a terror weapon, frightening to behold to those standing against the 4th. And a chilling reminder that even the most sophisticated machines ever devised by mankind may be turned against the servants of the false Emperor…



So there you have it: I hope this little series about building and painting the Wargrinder has been interesting to pursue! As always, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! I’d love to hear from you! And feel free to vote on the model in the Dakka Gallery

And, of course, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

The Blood Knight is definitely a masterpiece.

As some said, I'm not sold on the head. But that is YOUR choice, so you should be glad you kept true to your idea !!

You must be proud !!!

Everything but the head on the wargrinder is awesome. The head just totally detracts from everything else.

Wargrinder is outstanding buddy. You know my love for Bipedal Khornate death engines and this is one of te finest this side of the Cadian Gate. It's actually inspired me to start work on the Lasher Fiend again. Due to moving house etc work is slow. I also have a little haul of goodies for you ready to be shipped out as soon as I get a chance.
EDIT.
Have to say I really like the head choice. It gives a very cold killer look to it.

Great looking work man. You did a great job of making it look like a space marine engine, rather than a cobbled together ork job as scratch built pieces so often do.

I like the head, although it does make the machine look more loyalist than Khornish. The use of chaos and ogre bits across the model was inspired - I can't say enough good things about this guy.

A worthy base for this model! The stage is set....

I like the head. It's like it's the only remaining component from what it once was.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

@ Madocyw: Like I said earlier, I acknowledge the fact that not everyone will like the head, and I respect that. I really think I've said everything there is to say about that head, though

@ Biohazard: Great to hear from you, buddy! I am also really happy that you like the Wargrinder, since you're really one of the masters of kitbashing chaos walkers in my book! It's due to stuff from you and GuitaRasmus that I started building a bigger model like this in the first place! I am also really looking forward to seeing more of the Lasherfiend (or any new developments on your army, for that matter!).

@ Yggdrasil, wonkobaggins, tinfoil & 4oursword: Cheers, guys!


Right, with the Wargrinder out of the way, I needed to do something far less involved in order to relax So I kitbashed yet another member for my planned squad of World Eaters gladiators:







As you can see, this guy is wielding the ever popular chain glaive.

The next big project is on the way as well. Here's a piece of fluff to get you in the mood:


Even in an army as focused on combat at close quarters as the World Eaters‘ 4th assault company, there are those who hunt by different means. These brothers of the company are called the Behemoths, and they are an enigma to even their brethren.

During the Great Crusade, the armies of the Legiones Astartes were faced with an ever increasing number of deadly adversaries. Often enough, wars were only to be won by attrition, and the head-on assaults led by the death seeking Primarch Angron were threatening to bleed the 12th Astartes legion dry before long. While Angron seemed oblivious or even indifferent towards such concerns, there were those among his officers who sought a more balanced kind of warfare, at least until the bite of their Butcher’s Nails consumed the remnants of their sanity.

It is said that, during this time, First Apothecary Fabrikus himself experimented on a number of battle brothers, trying to adapt their cranial implants to a different kind of fight. These warriors were outfitted with heavy combat suits, almost on par with the fabled Dreadnoughts. Their suits were equipped with a plethora of heavy weapons, and where the regular World Eaters would throw themselves at the enemy with wild abandon, the so-called Behemoth squads would hang back and lay down a barrage of heavy fire. For Fabrikus had changed the battle brothers’ minds yet again, hardwiring their implants to their weapons systems. The members of the Behemoth squads started to find grim joy in killing, just like the rest of their legion, but the greatest joy for them was to pick out enemies from afar, tearing through flesh and steel alike with bursts of laser fire and plasma, and seeing a red marker turning green in their targeting recticles.

The Behemoths remained and experimental unit that only saw limited use during the Crusade and subsequent Heresy: The weapons systems they were outfitted with proved too difficult to maintain during the arduous campaigns, and Angron would always favour a more hands-on approach. Yet some of the Behemoths endured, most of them among the warriors of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt.

There, these frightening giants still fill the role of heavy fire support, yet the long centuries and millennia have wrought havoc upon their minds: Growing ever more divorced from their humanity, Behemoths are more machine than man, gripped by a tranquil fury where their regular brethren are openly angry. They can only perceive life through their targeting systems, and each situation becomes an equation that can only be solved by heavy fire. They tend to see living beings as either targets or inconsequential elements, even referring to their battle brothers as “fleshkin”.

When away from the battlefield, the Behemoths are normally content to spent time in deep, deathlike sleep. They dream of worlds burning and planets shattering under a barrage of heavy fire, while the other members of the company take relief in the knowledge that their troubled brethren are not at large. Even in an army of frenzied killers, the Behemoths are perhaps the most inhuman of all, since for them life and death are the only variables at any given time, and death is always the preferable outcome…


So, can you guess what this will be about...?

OBLITERATORS!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Are you going to be using those new Centurion Kits as part of this conversion, perchance?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And btw I love the head

Love your fluff about the Behemoths !!

I was going to say Oblits too, but with the recent release of the SM Centurions, it might be the way you're going... (hint : "outfitted with heavy combat suits" )

Love the gladiator too, very dynamic !

Cheers, guys!

 Crystal Geyser wrote:
Are you going to be using those new Centurion Kits as part of this conversion, perchance?

Tee hee. Maybe

Seriously, though: You're both right: I will try to build an Obliterator version befitting the 4th assault company, and I hope the Centurion kit will be helpful in that endeavour. I've already started messing around with some of the bitz, as a matter of fact...

I'll be on vacation this week, and I hope I'll have something to show you all after that

I'm very interested in your conversion. I thought about something like centurion obliterators myself but their estetic never appealed to me. I'll be waiting to see what you'll come up with.

Stop teasing us! It's almost cruel. (Joking)
Looking at the sprues, it's amazing that, no matter how you build them, the number of additional weapon options you get from the Centurions kit is obscene. Not just obliterators - there are enough flamers, meltaguns, heavy bolters and lascannons to outfit multiple Havoc and Chosen squads, along with enough seige drills to satisfy three dreadnoughts.

Can't wait to see these

Absolutely love your work mate! You have inspired me to start up my own P&M thread for my khorne army http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/549440.page
Keep up the awesome work

Dude still waitin on an im for the night lord dude.

Where are you?

No worries, people, I am still alive: I was on vacation last week and didn't do anything much on account of being really lazy (and getting really tired in the evenings due to the climate on the coast of the North Sea).

@ btldoomhammer: Cheers, mate! Given your talent for sculpting, it should really be easy enough to take anything you don't like about the Centurions and transform it into whatever you want

@ Crystal Geyser: I am not teasing you, man. It's just that building these guys is a pretty big experiment, and I am taking it rather slowly -- as you will see in a minute.

@ The World XEater: Thanks for the link! Some impressive stuff over there -- I hope I'll be able to comment in more detail soon. In any case, I am honoured that I served as an inspiration for your own thread. That rocks!

@ Miss Dee: Sorry, ma'am. Will get back to you soon. Promise


So, anyway, even after my seaside vacation, my current enthusiasm for working on my World Eaters remains. So let me show you the things I am currently working on, most of them squarely falling into the category of heavy fire support…

1. The Forge never sleeps...

First up, is a Forgefiend. I picked up the kit way back when I started working on my Heldrake conversion and never really managed to move beyond the basic construction. So I sat down to assemble and undercoat the model right after returning from my holiday — must have had something to do with renewed energies and all that…

While I realise that many people don’t like the Forgefiend design, dubbing the model “Dinobot” (or even worse), I have to admit that I am really rather fond of the kit: It adds a visual flourish to the CSM army that other forces don’t have. And for a World Eaters force, the fact that the fiend looks a lot like a larger Juggernaut of Khorne (the model was even inspired by the juggernaut, according to Jes Goodwin) helps, of course.

So I almost feel a little guilty admitting that I left the stock model virtually unaltered — I know, a shocking turn of events

Here’s a look at the model so far:





Due to the fact that almost every model in my army has been converted in some way, leaving the Forgefiend as it was almost felt a little lazy. However, I didn’t really want to convert for the sake of conversion, and I didn’t feel I had any huge changes to make to the model. Using the Maulerfiend arms and the Forgefiend cannons at the same time (with the cannons mounted on the model’s back, as has been done my multiple hobbyists) would have been a pretty cool idea, but in the end I decided against it. That way, I had more leftover bitz to play around with — one of the Forgefiend cannons was already used on my Wargrinder, as you might recall, and you can expect to see those Maulerfiend arms pretty soon, as well.

Anyway, my main addition to the model, apart from some decorative skulls on the shoulder armour, was the tail of an Ogre Kingdoms Stonehorn: I really love the horrible, bony growth at the tip of the tail, and I also thought having a longer tail really improved the model’s overall silhouette:





Oh, and I also added a juggernaut’s collar to the Forgefiend’s neck, representing the archetypal Collar of Khorne:



All in all, I am rather happy with the model, a slight lingering guilt over not doing a super-involved conversion notwithstanding… I guess that this will be the next bigger model to be painted, once I manage to summon up the motivation for it.


2. The Behemoths

Right, I realise that this is probably the update you've been waiting for, although I have to say that I am still in the very early stages of this particular endeavour. Anyway, as some of you have guessed, I am going to build a squad of custom Obliterators using the new Centurion kit. It’s no secret that Obliterators are a rather valuable part of the Chaos Space Marine army list. At the same time, I also have this strange urge to own an appropriate version of all (or at least most) of the unit selections in the Codex for my army. So far, this has made me convert a custom Dark Apostle and Warpsmith for the HQ slot, come up with some renegade Space Wolves to serve as “regular” CSM, and so on.

The one selection I could not find a suitable approach for were the Obliterators: I really dislike the current models for these guys, for one. And the mutated, fleshy look really didn’t fit the concept of my army (where mutation is kept to a minimum, due both to my aesthetic preferences and background reasons). I also didn’t want to go the easy route of simply getting some stock Obliterators, painting them in the colours of a different legion or warband, and using them as “allies”, because that seemed like a rather cheap cop out to me.

So I waited and collected pictures of Obliterator conversions I liked and quietly prayed for inspiration to hit. And I swore to myself that I wouldn’t use Obliterators until I had found a way of representing them on the table in a way that felt true to both my taste and the overarching concept of my army. I didn’t find such an option for the best part of two years.

But then, the new Space Marines were released, and the longer I looked at the new Centurions, the more I felt that these could be my ticket to finally building the Obliterators that I wanted: not mutated and unsightly giants, but hulking and baroque combat suits, a holdover from the more civilised days of the 12th Astartes Legion. So I started throwing around some ideas, and I ended up with a basic concept of what I wanted these guys to be like. For all those who haven't seen it yet, here is that small piece of background I came up with:


So, ironically enough, the most-reviled kit of the release was actually a day one purchase for me.

It has to be said, though, that I am at the very early planning stages of this project, and am currently just messing around in order to discover what I could do with the kit. Nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the kit as I go along — maybe it’ll be helpful for you too! So consider this a mini-review/early WIP kind of affair — seems like you’ll be getting quite a bit of mileage out of this one post, dear readers…

Anyway, after picking up the kit, this is what I ended up with:



Let’s not talk about the decal sheet, obviously, because it’s standard fare. The instruction booklet is a rather hefty tome, however, on account of the kit being rather complex. Each of the three sprues that come with the kit is packed with bits, containing all the possible equipment options as well as a unique pose and individual (loyalist) decoration for each of the models:



The thing to note here is that assembling a Centurion with any given kind of equipment will invariably give you lots of leftover weapon bitz: You get three sets of long range weapons (lascannons, heavy bolters and a grav cannon) and one set of CC weapons (siege drills that come with optional flamers or meltaguns) for each model, so there will be a lot of leftovers.

As an interesting aside, I also discovered that the Centurions’ bases (slightly bigger than a Terminator base in diameter) are a perfect fit for those resin parts that come with the 40k basing kit:



So it obviously wasn’t some kind of production slip up after all…



Why GW would make these resin parts fit a type of base that virtually never gets used across the whole catalogue instead of the much more prolific terminator base is clearly beyond me. Still, mystery solved!

Deciding how my Obliterators will be armed will take some time, I believe: I will probably go for mixed weapons, representing their ability to use different weapons each turn. The lascannons can be used out of the box. Beyond that, I guess I’ll convert the heavy bolters to look like autocannons / assault cannons. Plus I’ll swap in a flamer or plasma cannon here and there. For now, let’s focus on some of the bitz that come with the kit, because these could come in handy even if you’re not trying to build Centurions in the first place!

The kit comes with seven heads: four of them with helmets, three bare. The helmet crest that you can see on the sergeant in the official photos is a seperate, optional part (which is pretty cool). I played around with the heads a bit and took some photos to show you how they look on regular Marine models:



First up, the helmeted head variant on a regular (Chaos) Space Marine body: Although it seems a little clunky, it clearly works. With its look halfway between a terminator and regular power armour helmet, this could be an interesting option for Iron Warriors or Iron Hands. Or a suitable headdress for a Techmarine/Warpsmith? Unfortunately, the heads don’t fit into a terminator body’s head cavity, so you won’t be able to use them on your terminators without some serious cutting.

Even more interesting are the bare heads, since those are scaled to perfectly fit the existing Marine models. Take a look:



I chose the one with the open mouth and mohawk, since I thought it was a pretty good fit for a World Eater. These have pretty nice facial expressions, and while I think they do look rather silly when combined with the hulking Centurion bodies, they should be really useful for your other infantry models.

They also look really good on Terminators:



Another thing you can see in the picture above is that the Centurions’ shoulder pads are great if you want to add that special Pre-Heresy/artificer armour look to your Terminators, since they make for rather convincing terminator pauldrons as well:







So there’s really nothing stopping you from replacing those shoulder pads with something different on the Centurions and using the originals on your army commander or something similar.

And finally, the flamers and meltaguns that come with the kit are just about the right size to be used on regular infantry, if you want to be thrifty:





Granted, the meltagun might need some work to fit perfectly. But if you ask me, the slightly shorter muzzle on the flamer makes it look more special ops like, if that makes any sense.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, really. So whether or not you like the Centurions, the kit will give you lots of extra stuff. Even if you use it to build a squad of three Centurions, there will be quite a few leftovers, which is always a plus in my book.

As for my own “Behemoth” squad, like I said, I am in the very early planning stages. It quickly became obvious that the Centurions are a rather complex kit, and I will need to take some sound decisions about what to glue together before painting, so I will take my time with this project. For now, I have tacked together one Centurion body and begun experimenting with a couple of bitz. This is all really WIP, and nothing is finalised. So if you think the model looks rather silly, rest assured that I’ll be doing my best to change that

Anyway, here goes:



So far, I have only shaved some loyalist engravings off the right leg armour and replaced them with an icon of Khorne. Apart from that, the body’s still as stock as can be (as evidenced by the sprawling Aquila on the chest plate). As for the conversion, I am considering replacing the armour plates on the upper legs with ogre gutplates or Chaos Marauder shields for a more chaotic look (and a visual connection to the rest of my army).

Apart from that, my one main experiment for now was to use several chaotic heads on the body:











As I said, nothing spectacular so far — although it’s nice to know that some of the heads look quite alright (I really like the WoC skull helmet). All in all, I’ll probably be using the regular Centurion heads with added bunny ears, though.

Anyway, I am still in the very early stages of this particular project, although I can promise you I’ll give it my all to make these guys look as cool as I have envisioned them.


So yeah, those are the next World Eaters projects I am working on! I’ll keep you updated about their progress, of course! And I would love to hear your opinion, so you’re very welcome to share any thoughts you might have!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Reading your fluff for these guys actually inspired me enough to have a go at building some Oblits/Mutilators using this kit as well. Ill be starting at the end of the month once pay day rolls around again but can't wait to see what ideas I can 'borrow from yourself in the meantime.

I love the first marine pose

I know you'll be able to pull something amazing off with the Centurion models as you said it needs the odd spike here and there and even a trim on the legs like on the shoulder pads would look good to make the legs look less smooth and more decorative to Chaos

What would be cool would be a Khorn Wolverine

Nice take on the centurion kits. It's a pleasure to see someone else purchase those and show off the bits.

The base thing seems kind of odd. How many minis will really end up using the 50mm bases? So far, I think it's just centuriouns and a Hobbit mini.

Nice using the new centurion kits... I think they look silly myself but you can always convert something to look cool... and I know the bits that come with it are awesome...

I really like the second, I think it is a forgeworld helmet? Anyway there is also a good chaos champion one that looks like that as well, kind of ancient Greek style. They look heavier and more lordly. I'm not a fan of the skull ones or the horned ones, they look too cartoonish for my taste!

Great to see someone taking an awful looking kit, and turning it into something else.
It'll be interesting to see what you come up with.

Brilliant story to back up their usage .cant say I'm sold on the models yet, but I'm sure you'll do great things with them. I think the biggest area of it that I have an issue with is the fact that the legs are so rounded and sleek while the torso starts getting squared and angled.

Great stuff again kraut, I've really been waiting for someone to try to convert those loyalist centurions. If I were you I would use more WoC heads for them cause I think those make them fit better with the rest of the army.
Anyway, Great stuff as always, keep it up!!

^ As he said.

Maybe it's just the pictures, but the bodies seem awkwardly short and wide - maybe it's just the lack of arms, but I noticed that the loyalist centurions have waist armor, which, while I spot the Ogre/WE icon gut plates, may help to fix their silhouette. Then again, you've already said you planning on fixing it and that these are just early mockups, so I'm sure you'll figure it out.

I think the shoulders need some bulk, looking at what you've got and the original model. I do like the gut plates thuogh.

I really like the look of the 2nd and last helmet. I think the 2nd one would be good to mark out the leader of the squad. Can't wait to see how this progresses!

Thanks for the feedback, people!

@ Miss Dee: As a matter of fact, I do have a Chaos Lord that was built with the distinctive "Snikt!" sound in mind:



@ Biohazard: Ah, well, buddy: With you on the game as well, I am very certain we'll be seeing some fantastic Centurion conversions before long! As a matter of fact, your mockup of the legs already gave me some ideas

So, regarding those Centurion conversions, work continues at a pretty slow pace: partly because I am up to my ears in work, partly because I don't want to mess up this concept by forcing it too much. That said, I did try to take some of your feedback on board while working on the test model.

Regarding the head, I decided to use one of the standard heads from the kit with some added bunny ears. I think those heads are a pretty good fit because they look emotionless and somewhat brutal, which really lends itself well to what I imagine the Behemoths to be like.

I also carefully shaved off the Imperial imagery from the chest plate - which made me feel a little guilty, to be honest, because it's so beautifully detailed. Anyway, this is what I was left with:



I then built a bandolier of skulls across the chest, since you can never really go wrong with skulls on a World Eater:



I do realise that the leg armour poses a problem, although I am already hard at work finding a solution for that. Since I don't see myself trying something fancy, such as adding GS trim to the armour, the solution will probably depend on a bitz influx. Meanwhile, my main objective is to sort out the overall build of the model and make it all work out, then go back and add detail, accessories etc. So the next step was to mockup the arms:





As you can see, I tried to turn the heavy bolter into an autocannon by adding a new barrel. It still needs some more work, but I quite like the overall effect. I also played around with some pieces of armour to use as alternate pauldrons -- the jugger headpiece is just a placeholder, though, since I really don't have enough of those to just use them on any model I like.

So yeah, that's the current status of my test model. It's still a fairly early version of the model, of course. Nevertheless, feel free to let me know what you think! Getting some additional perspectives on this will be a huge help.
Oh, and on a related note, Dave Taylor has figured out a pritty nifty alternate way of mounting the Centurion weapons and significantly change the models' silhouette! Check it out here .

Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

I think the combo of the marauder shield and the ogre gut-plate-sholulder-pad gives too many rounded edges and makes him look a little chubby. More angular pieces I think would look more Chaos-y and a little less goofy. But I still like all the ideas you're cranking out. You could use Dave's idea of shoulder-mounting the weapon and add claws or extend his fingers into claws if the silhouette bothers you.

Liking the head chop buddy. I'd had the same thoughts of mounting the weapons on the shoulders. I'm glad to see it works. I like the Jugger plate but like you say that's an expensive bit to just throw around.

How big are the fists on the Centurions? Can they be replaced with say a lightning claw from a Termi?

Cheers, guys!

@ Moltar: Don't worry, more angular pieces are on the way -- at least, that's the plan...

@ Biohazard: While the Centurion fists are ever so slightly bulkier than the chainfists or LC from a Chaos Terminator, those would still fit reasonably well. The chainfist and LC from the Termie Lord would look almost perfect, according to the test fit I did a minute ago

Nice one, it was the twin chain fist from the Terminlord kit I was picturing. Good to know it'll work. I can't wait to get the rest of my centurion bits.

Just wanted to show you guys my remade centurion..

I still kinda think they need a bit more of a waist to even our their proportions. Otherwsie, looking great! That spiked pauldron works well.

 Moltar wrote:
I think the combo of the marauder shield and the ogre gut-plate-sholulder-pad gives too many rounded edges and makes him look a little chubby.

That's something that I noticed also. Have you thought of maybe adding plasticard to the legs to replicate the banding seen on traitor armour? Or maybe something like talons on the feet to further distinguish the not-Obliterators from the Centurian kit

 KrautScientist wrote:

While I like the concept, I think the model itself looks way too squat (especially in the first picture). Maybe that will change with more angular pieces, as you said before. I also think extending the feet and making them more claw-like would give a better balance to the model. The legs look like they could just tip over with a push. If they looked more like some of your dreadnaught feet/claws, it would be better and have more of a chaos feel.

On a related note, I really like the chest mounted missiles mixed with the skulls. I think it really captures the image of the legion.

Where did the head come from? Which kit? Thanks

 KrautScientist wrote:
Thanks for the validation, guys! I think I needed that for getting this thing finished Put some more work in yesterday evening and added some more details. Here's the model right now:





As you can see, the chest plate received some additional decoration to hide the hole in it. I also moved those circular trophy racks slightly to the sides.

Regarding the head, it was permanently attached and I used some cabling and part of a lasher tendril to build a neck/spine construction for it and blend it into the body a bit better:



A defiler armour plate is used as some kind of cowl over the models shoulders atm, though this may need more work.

I think I am now at a point where I can call the basic construction finished. I'll add more bitz to the model (trophies, icons of chaos) and some more cabling and techy bitz to the torso around the head.

The head itself will likely receive a bit or two as well, to better tie it into the 40k scale. For once, though, I'll probably pass on the bunny ears: I think the head has a nice and blunt silhouette as it is, and I wouldn't want to lose that. Maybe some tusks, though. Hmmm...

Again, thanks for the feedback! That has been a huge help!



As always, C&C are very welcome!

Its this kit you really should read his thread though

LOL, I never would have called that one!

Wow some of those later GI Joes were pretty dismal huh?

Again, thanks for the feedback, people! I think you've all realised by now that this is quite a complicated conversion, and I am figuring it all out as I go -- maybe not the best approach, but there you have it!

@ Shin-Rain: That's a nicely tweaked leg pose there, mate! That running Centurion looks like he means business. "I'm coming at you bro!" style

@ Dax415, lone dirty dog & Kid_Kyoto: Lone dirty dog pretty much spotted the source: The head did indeed come from a "Big Boa" G.I.Joe action figure, although mine was slightly smaller and less articulated than the image he posted -- which is probably either a later release or even a custom build by a hobbyist. Mine looked like this .

Regarding the feedback on my Behemoth/Centurion conversion, you guys make some excellent points:

- clawed feet for the model are something I definitely want to incorporate, although I have yet to find the right approach: I tried using the toes that came with the Raptor/Warp Talon kit, but those look to small and kind of silly. The main problem with the Centurions is that they are bigger than any other "regular" infantry model, so it's pretty hard to find parts that scale correctly. I'll figure something out, though

- Slightly extending the model's height by adding some GS in the joint between the legs and torso, as Biohazard has done for his first test model, is something I am also currently looking at. The advantage is that the model ends up looking more imposing (and more correctly proportioned to boot). On the other hand, you can see the regular Astartes strapped into the suit when you look at the model's back, so making the gap between legs and torso bigger could make the proportions of the "pilot" look wrong -- it's definitely a very delicate balance to maintain!

- when it comes to the weapons, each of the models in the squad will receive two different main weapons (on the arms), and maybe an added, shoulder mounted weapon -- I am still looking at that last option. I think that this will be a pretty good way of representing the "mixed" equipment of an Obliterator squad.

- all in all, it has to be said that I probably won't do anything to make these guys more agile and/or less clunky: I love the idea that they are these huge, ponderous colossi, and the fact that they are so heavily armed makes their stature a bare necessity.

Anyway, one of the next big steps will be to sort out the leg armour. I am currently experimenting with some armour plates cut from Ogre fists:





I also made my first bad decision, trying to replace the left hand with a chainfist from a Chaos Terminator. That would have added a suitably chaotic element with very little work. The problem, though, was that the Terminator fists are a good deal shorter than those of the Centurions. While not immediately obvious when looking at the parts, once you add a chainfist to the model, you realise that the arm ends up looking far too short, rendering the model’s already slightly funny proportions even more off-kilter. The one exception I can see is the slightly bigger chainfist from the Chaos Lord in terminator armour. Since I wanted to keep that particular piece of a possible use on the squadleader, though, I carefully re-attached the Centurion’s fist I had cut off earlier — we live and learn…


So yeah, that’s the current status of my test model. It’s still a fairly early version of the model, of course. Nevertheless, feel free to let me know what you think! Getting some additional perspectives on this will be a huge help.

Hmm, the first thing I would say is not sure if I like the shield/skulls arrangement on the front of the model. I is a little too busy, I don't like the shield, it is too cartoonish and doesn't fit with the style of the rest of the model (pondering, beefy machine). I would suggest finding some jewellery chains, and a chain tabard or some sort of tabard (at cheap jewellery/craft store you can often find a chain link bowtie or something like that... then cut it up into a tabard or chain cloak). that would not distract so much from the thigh pads, which look good. I would keep only the central skull, with it's chaotic grinning look, recess it more into the chest so it doesn't stick out quite so much, and add chains wrapping around it/other smaller fetishes surrounding and framing it, like a chaotic mirror of the aquila sign. and make that the focal point.

For clawed toes I would just use a very thick piece of plasticard, and cut it into a roughly triangle shape... doesn't have to be talon-like just more on the stubby but spiky side. I did the same sort of thing on my counts-as typhus model. It doesn't have to be perfect it is a shoe, you can always apply some mud or put it in grass or something.

Cheers, meade!

As you will see in a minute, I have now replaced the shield with a different bit, which should make you happy As for the skulls, I actually like the fact that they're not recessed into the chest: After all, these are the skulls of fallen enemies/comrades, honoured by being allowed to gaze upon the battle one last time (as per the World Eaters background).

Regarding the feet, I am still looking at several options, although a hobbyist over at one of the German boards suggested shaved down hooks from the flails that come with the Chaos Marauders -- sounds like an interesting idea to me!

In the meantime, I've done some more work on my test model yesterday. I realise that the model might look a little cluttered now -- fear not, this is just me trying which combination of bitz to use on the finished model





The Marauder shield was replaced with a chain tabard from the Chaos Lord in Terminator armour. I also added a horn from the Ogre Kingdoms Mournfang Cavalry to the model's helmet for the heck of it -- while it may be slightly too big, I like the distinct look of the helmet. I also decided to add a Multimelta to the left arm. I converted it using some Multimelta barrels on one of the siege drill bodies. As you can see, I also added a flamer on top, but I am not really fond of the result: The flamer's just a tad too much, if you ask me...



The Mechanicum seal on the model's back was also replaced with a suitably heretical symbol:



Here's a scale comparison with a Terminator, btw: The new guy is massive...



I also added a trophy pole to the model's back, although I am not sure whether I am going to keep it:





The model was also ever so slightly extended at the waist -- with modelling putty for now, later to be followed with a small amount of GS.

As always, let me know what you think!

Heck brother i think it looks fan freaking tastic. Continually impressed by what you put together

If anyone could make the Centurion models look sinister, it would certainly be you, KrautScientist.

Hey buddy, liking the progress but just want to throw a few suggestions at you.

I like the blade on the forehead it reminds me of one of Abaddons chosen from a previous editions codex, I forget which one. I think having the blade, the bunny ears and the trophy pole is a bit much though. I'd lose the trophy pole and maybe use some of the small skulls on the shielded plates or something?

I also like the chain tabard but think its mounted a little too high. I used a cut down part of armour from Centurion kit and shaved away the belt detail there and added a little chain mail on the legs rather than the torso. Like you say this is just o get an idea of bits so may not be the final design I'm just giving my tuppence worth.

The flail idea for the feet seems like a good shout. If be interested to see how that looks. You're right about the rear armour showing the marine inside and I'm looking at a workaround for that to try and disguise the marine legs as much as possible. Not sure what yet.

The melta weapon looks awesome but you're right I think the flamers a bit too much.

Sorry if it seems im being negative just throwing some ideas your way. Also the package of skeletons etc I sent should be with you soon for the Aegis

Can't wait to see your final design on this as I know if anyone can make a Chaotic Centurion it's you.

Cheers, Gentlemen

@ Master Azalle: Thanks man! Glad you like the model so far!

@ tinfoil: That is very nice of you to say. Do check out Biohazard's thread as well, though: His own Behemoth is very impressive!

@ Biohazard: No worries, buddy: In fact, getting this kind of criticism is just the reason why I am posting so many WIP pictures in the first place! Plus your suggestions are so good that I had to try them out right away

I had originally planned to conserve the crotch armour for some future project, but don't let it be said that I let thriftiness stand in the way of a cool conversion. So I moved the tabard downwards and added an armour plate on top:





As you can see, I also exchanged the huge horn/blade from the Mournfang Cavalry for a smaller horn that keeps the overall look but looks somewhat less overwhelming.

Oh, and I am also considering using Marauder shields on the backs of the hands:



Not only are they a recurring visual element across my whole army, but they also add some chaos gothicness without having to put in a lot of work

Anyway, your feedback so far has been really helpful, guys! So please keep those ideas coming

Not too sure about the marauder shields on the back of the hands. I see what you're going for but I'm not sure it works yet. How about trying the Ogre fist plates there instead of the thighs?

Loving the Obliterators so far mate
I have to agree with Biohazard, that those shields do look out of place but I can't think of anything to suggest to put in their place

 Nashbashem wrote:
Loving the Obliterators so far mate
I have to agree with Biohazard, that those shields do look out of place but I can't think of anything to suggest to put in their place

Khorne icon maybe???

I'm loving the horn, but I feel like that trophy rack might be a bit too much. Replacing the belly shield with the chain tabard was a great decision though, the model now looks balanced and proportional.

Again, thanks for the feedback, gents

As you can see from the last few updates, the changes between the different iterations of my test model keep getting smaller and smaller, which is always a sign of the basic design approaching completion. So, some small bitz or adjustments notwithstanding, I believe I have now found the basic template for my Obliterators: The models in the squad will more or less follow this design (I even whipped up an image in Photoshop for the occasion ):

Behemoth pattern heavy fire support suits



Even in an army as focused on combat at close quarters as the World Eaters‘ 4th assault company, there are those who hunt by different means. These brothers of the company are called the Behemoths, and they are an enigma to even their brethren.

During the Great Crusade, the armies of the Legiones Astartes were faced with an ever increasing number of deadly adversaries. Often enough, wars were only to be won by attrition, and the head-on assaults led by the death seeking Primarch Angron were threatening to bleed the 12th Astartes legion dry before long. While Angron seemed oblivious or even indifferent towards such concerns, there were those among his officers who sought a more balanced kind of warfare, at least until the bite of their Butcher’s Nails consumed the remnants of their sanity.

It is said that, during this time, First Apothecary Fabrikus himself experimented on a number of battle brothers, trying to adapt their cranial implants to a different kind of fight. These warriors were outfitted with heavy combat suits, almost on par with the fabled Dreadnoughts. Their suits were equipped with a plethora of heavy weapons, and where the regular World Eaters would throw themselves at the enemy with wild abandon, the so-called Behemoth squads would hang back and lay down a barrage of heavy fire. For Fabrikus had changed the battle brothers’ minds yet again, hardwiring their implants to their weapons systems. The members of the Behemoth squads started to find grim joy in killing, just like the rest of their legion, but the greatest joy for them was to pick out enemies from afar, tearing through flesh and steel alike with bursts of laser fire and plasma, and seeing a red marker turning green in their targeting recticles.

The Behemoths remained a highly experimental unit that only saw limited use during the Crusade and subsequent Heresy: The weapons systems they were outfitted with proved too difficult to maintain during the arduous campaigns, and Angron would always favour a more hands-on approach. Only few of the valuable suits have endured over the millennia, and only those warbands of the XIIth Astartes legion who still count a Warpsmith or Dark Mechanicus ally among their numbers can hope to make any kind of use of this hallowed equipment. For most members of the World Eaters, the kind of warfare exemplified by the Behemoth squads remains forever beyond their reach, replaced by frenzy and costly head-on assaults. Yet within the ranks of the 4th assault company, some of the Behemoths have endured, and in Khorne's Eternal Hunt, have become hunters in their own right: .

These frightening giants still fill the role of heavy fire support, yet the long centuries and millennia have wrought havoc upon their minds: Growing ever more divorced from their humanity, Behemoths are more machine than man, gripped by a tranquil fury where their regular brethren are frenzied. They can only perceive life through their targeting systems, and each situation becomes an equation that can only be solved by heavy fire. They tend to see living beings as either targets or inconsequential elements, even referring to their battle brothers as “fleshkin”.

When away from the battlefield, the Behemoths are normally content to spent time in deep, deathlike sleep. They dream of worlds burning and planets shattering under a barrage of heavy fire, while the other members of the company take relief in the knowledge that their troubled brethren are not at large. Even in an army of frenzied killers, the Behemoths are perhaps the most inhuman of all, since for them life and death are the only variables at any given time, and death is always the preferable outcome…


So yeah, here's the pretty much finished test model:









After looking at Biohazards very nice conversion, my own model was extended even more at the waist, and I think the visible waist improves the overall proportions. I believe I won't try to cram any more weapons onto the model, going with two main weapons for each member of the squad. Some chains and spikes may yet be added, and I'll maybe rethink the use of the Marauder shield on the right hand: Another option would be to use some of the very cool Ogre fists that come with the Mournfang Cavalry:



Once again, the imagery of the Great Maw makes for very convincing World Eaters symbols, don't you think? I only have very few of these, unfortunately, so I can only use them very sparingly.
I am also considering leaving off the hydraulich struts on the sides of the legs, because I really don't like their look. Not sure yet, though. The ones on back of the feet are great, though, because they look so similar to the Dreadknight (or, in my case, Wargrinder) legs.

In any case, thanks again for your constructive feedback! I think I might start work on the second model in the squad soon

Until then, let me know what you think!

P.S. Oh, and on a mostly unrelated note, since several people asked for a tutorial for my Wargrinder conversion, I prepared a detailed writeup about that. It can be found here.

Love the blueprint pic and the Mournfang plate looks a lot better. I'd save that for the unit champ though. The leg hydraulics I'm planning on leaving off. I have a small skull in the foot recess which almost disguises the fact that there's an astartes leg there. Almost. Can't wait to see your next Oblit

Really like the write up for the Wargrinder as well.

Looks awesome and I like the fluff. I would maybe add some spikes on his fists!

While I like the fluff I just can't bring myself to like those models. The heads in particular are really fuglly sculpts, alongside those arms and the power mittens. They are nothing compared to the awesome stuff you've posted before.

I can't remember where but i saw a bloke who had shoulder mounted lascannons on a similar conversion, looked gak hot, Personally for my khorne army i prefer the more daemonic looking obliterators but if i had an iron warriors army or something this would be perfect! I have had a great time reading though your blog, it inspired me to start my own ( http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/549440.page ) I definately need to start a project like centurion oblits or something along those lines, i love the creative modelling aspect of 40k

The great maw bit idea is inspired!

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

@ Biohazard: Cheers, buddy! I guess I have enough of the Mournfang plates to use one on each Behemoth. The only other models these could realistically be used for are more of my chaos spawn, and since I already converted three of those, I believe I'd rather go all out on the Behemoths than save bitz for some models I might never actually build.

Glad you like the background bit. As a matter of fact, ideas for an "action scene" involving those Behemoths are already forming in my mind...

@ Dinamarth:Additional spikes are always an option, mate!

@ Imposter101: That's quite alright -- I can't expect to make everybody love the conversion. In all fairness though, I really don't think the heads are all that bad: They look like a perfect missing link between a power armoured Marine helmet and a Terminator helmet, and I rather like the subtly brutal look of them.

@ The World XEater: Mate, stop plugging your thread already Seriously, though: It's good to know that I've managed to inspire you! I can respect your position regarding the regular Obliterators, it's just not something that works for me or my army -- that might change if they ever get new, shiny plastic models, of course
Regarding the shoulder mounted lascannon, I believe you're referring to Biohazard's Centurion conversion , which is indeed really awesome and possibly quite a bit cooler than my own! That guy just has a way with plastic...

@ tinfoil: Cheers! And it was really a bit of a coincidence too!

Sounds good, can't wait to see the whole unit I've also just ordered a few bits and pieces to build my own Warpsmith based loosely on yours. Also did you get the package yet?

I have to say, I really appreciate the effort you put into your fluff. It brings so much more depth to the army. A pleasure to read as always!

Lol I gotta do something to get some traction! Funked if I know how you guys got so many followers! Must be cos you guys have a way with conversion. People love unique models

beautiful just beautiful

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

@ Biohazard: Yay, your own Warpsmith! Looking forward to that one! Oh, and yes, the package arrived yesterday, after I had pretty much given up hope. Seems our friends at the post office had a field day with it again -- the stry warrants another PM, I guess Thanks a lot, in any case!

@ Freytag93: Cheers, mate: As a matter of fact, the fluff really helps me get a feeling for the army, so it helps with the conversions as well. A win-win situation, if ever there was one

@ The World XEater: Ah, well, much as I would like to believe that the amount of followers is only related to the quality of content, I can say from my own experience that getting people to notice your stuff can be pretty hard work. In my case, it took half a year of blogging and several threads on different forums to generate a steady interest in my postings, and even now, stuff I feel very strongly about doesn't manage to attract any attention. It's hard work, and there's probably no perfect recipe to do it. That said, you managed to have several pictures on the front page of the Dakka Gallery already, which is no mean feat. Relax, you'll get the attention you deserve in the end

Right, seeing how I am having a few days off at the moment, I started working on the second Behemoth model yesterday. Everything was going pretty well too, and then I almost managed to take my right thumb off with a forceful backhand swing of my exacto knife... Seriously, it wasn't as bad as that, but I managed to deliver a pretty deep cut to my thumb which has halted the conversion for now. Here's what I managed to do before the accident, though:



The early beginnings of the model, next to the first conversion.

And here's the current status of the model:



It may not be easy to make out in the picture, but I did steal Biohazard's brilliant idea for chest mounted flamers

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Man your Behemoths are great! So much better than the unconverted versions. I built a set of them and they just didn't do it for me. You have really brought them to life. Love the lore you wrote too.

The second Obliterator looks great mate. The bits arrived for my Squad leader today but I'm nightshift for the next week. :( Ill try and get time to work on him though. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to hear the fail mail story again. Haha

Im loving the look of the cetuiators lol. I would love to have a play at making a centurion into an iron warriors daemon prince take the guns off and give him a jet pack, maybe stretch out the arms snd legs make him a bit taller, add some spikes and a kickarse helmet.. and of course a big arse sword lol

@ 40kFSU: Cheers, mate!

@ Biohazard: Looking forward to your second Obliterator, buddy! You know, your Obliterators could even have come out of the same "Behemoth program" as mine. It's interesting to imagine how the suits would have been adapted to the individual warbands' needs, resulting in equipment that still recognisably originated in the same place, but still turned out slightly differently over the millennia.

@ The World XEater: Hmm, if I were to turn on of these guys into a daemon prince, I believe I'd start with something similar to Candleshoes' "Contemptor Centurion" , then work from there. It still seems like a pretty daunting task, though...


It turns out all it takes to pretty much incapacitate me from a hobby perspective is a couple of band aids over my thumb. Seriously, I might just as well have cut off my entire hand: I never realised how instrumental my thumb was when putting things together. Oh well, the good news it'll surely be back to normal soon.

Until then, though, assembly of my second Behemoth has become massively more difficult, so I may be excused for only managing to complete a couple of fairly minor steps.

Here are the two gentlemen in question again:



And the new model on its own:



As you can see, the beastman skull received another horn, since I thought the mono-horn look was just a little too Slaaneshi for my taste. You can also see the position of the left arm, which will be equipped with either an assault cannon or a Lascannon. For the right arm, I have started mocking up a heavy flamer:



While I think those siege drills look extremely silly, the great thing about them is that their bodies can be turned into pretty much any weapon by just adding some new barrels and additional bitz.

Not much, I know Still looking forward to any feedback you might have

You did a good job converting the centurions. I has it's own appeal the create such massive bulking models. And with the chaos decorations they look even more massive. The sheer mass of those models looks very imposing.
But to be fair those bulky models aren't my taste. They are imposing and i can see why people like the but i would rework them differently.
In that regard i have a question. How hard would it be to cut away the chest mounted weapons entirely including their chasing and move them on top of their shoulders? Looking at the sprues and your pictures i expect the need to close off the holes where the chest weapons will be cut away.
But how doable would such a conversion be for a decent converter? While those kits seem a great source for weapon bits i don't want to buy them blindly and later realize that the conversion i have in mind doesn't work.

Hey mate,

check out Candleshoes' conversion that I linked to in my last post (you won't be able to access it right now, because B&C is down. But hopefully, that problem will be solved soon), because it should answer your question perfectly: he cut away the chest weapons in order to give the torso more human proportions, and it seems to have worked like a charm. I don't even think you'll have to close up any holes, because the holes resulting from the cuts will be pretty much covered up by the arms of the model. And since the slots for the chest mounted weapons are separate parts, you might even be able to salvage them for a shoulder mounted approach. So yeah, I guess what you propose would be very doable

Looking good, I like what you do with the siege drill housings. As for my second fella head over to my thread and you'll see the bare bones of him now

Thanks for answering my question. I noticed B&C being down as i tried to follow the link. So i didn't know that there would be the answer.

Cheers, guys!

I did manage to put in some more work on my second Behemoth. I've also had a change of heart halfway through the conversion: After putting quite a bit of work into that heavy flamer, it just ended up looking too unwieldy, even for a guy wearing an enormous suit of armour...

So I adjusted my plan and went for a Lascannon on the right arm instead, while the left was armed with a converted assault cannon. And here's the model as it looks right now:







Still missing a few bitz and bobs (and a couple of fingers!), of course, but I think you get the idea

Let me know what you think!

Loving the assault cannon where's that from? This is gonna be an awesome looking unit buddy.

Thanks, buddy!

The assault cannon is from the Heldrake, of all places. It looks extremely awkward as a (too small) weapon emerging from the dragon's mouth, but as is the case with so many of the Heldrake parts, use it for something different and BAM -- instant awesome

wow i wish i could convert like that

Excellent thanks for the tip.

While I think the newer Obliterator is better than the last, I think the mid section looks a bit strained and just a tad to thin. Still, keep up the good work. I do think the chest mounted flamer idea is pretty awesome, and the use of the Great Maw as a World Eater symbol is quite effective.

Oh.
My.
Gawd.

Dat cannon.
I love it.

Now thats an assault cannon

 KrautScientist wrote:
Cheers, guys!

I did manage to put in some more work on my second Behemoth. I've also had a change of heart halfway through the conversion: After putting quite a bit of work into that heavy flamer, it just ended up looking too unwieldy, even for a guy wearing an enormous suit of armour...

So I adjusted my plan and went for a Lascannon on the right arm instead, while the left was armed with a converted assault cannon. And here's the model as it looks right now:







Still missing a few bitz and bobs (and a couple of fingers!), of course, but I think you get the idea

Let me know what you think!

I like this second one quiet a bit, earlier you where talking about giving them clawed feet. As a couple ideas you could maybe try using lightning claws as the basis or if your want to go for something a little more bulky you could order some of the claws from the Blood Angels Furioso Dreadnought, just an idea

I think they look great, really top notch for such a crappy kit

Nice! That is one sweet assault cannon. It looks old school somehow.

Nice seeing you working on these kits which I am not a fan of. Malika2 pointed out this thread on Bolter and Chainsword of a really nice Centurion conversion http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/280117-contemptor-centurion-body-head-complete/ I really like what this chap has done to the feet, though I am not sure about the length of the torso.

Thanks for the positive feedback, people! Having that assault cannon bit left for this conversion was really a lucky coincidence: I agree that it works very well with the Centurion heavy bolter housings

@ Imposter101: You're quite right about the model's waist, although it has to be said that it still lacks a pretty volumiouns armour plate on its lower back that should at least go a ways towards solving that particular problem. That bit is a female dog to tack on, though, so I've left it off for now.

@ Warboss Imbad Ironskull: Aye, still looking for a good idea regarding those clawed feet -- it'll be a delicate balance to maintain, though: The claws need to be big enough to look good but also small enough not to make those feet look any more clunky I guess I'll just be waiting for inspiration to hit -- that approach has always suited me well so far

@ PDH: candleshoes "Contemptor Centurion" is indeed awesome, and possibly my favourite conversion of the kit so far! As a matter of fact, I have done a rather detailed writeup on both the kit and the best conversions I managed to dig up for Dark Future Gaming. Check it out here , in case you're interested.

So, regarding the Behmoths, I am prepared to call two of three models basically finished at this point.

The test model you already know:



Like I said, there may be some additional spikes, chains and skulls, but that's basically it.

And the second model (still missing its hands in the picture, but oh well...):



I also discovered that yet another of the Ogre fists from the Mournfang Cavalry kit would make a splendid gauntlet for the model:



And finally, the two of them together:



Two down, one to go -- although I might take a break working on a smaller model before tackling the squad leader

The Second Behmoth looks phenominal, keep up the good work!

Thanks Kraut, that article you posted and the documentation here is the first place to look for anyone trying to convert these kits!

Can I make a request that when you make the leader, he has plasma nipples

Cheers, guys!

@ meade: Hmm, he'll aready be wielding a plasma cannon, though... Oh well, I can at least promise you that I'll be taking a look at the option.

 KrautScientist wrote:
Cheers, guys!

@ meade: Hmm, he'll aready be wielding a plasma cannon, though... Oh well, I can at least promise you that I'll be taking a look at the option.

Obliterators are armed with a plasma cannon and twin-linked plasma guns

just sayin'

 KrautScientist wrote:
Ah, well, much as I would like to believe that the amount of followers is only related to the quality of content, I can say from my own experience that getting people to notice your stuff can be pretty hard work. In my case, it took half a year of blogging and several threads on different forums to generate a steady interest in my postings, and even now, stuff I feel very strongly about doesn't manage to attract any attention. It's hard work, and there's probably no perfect recipe to do it.

QFT.

I've noticed that many P&M blogs seem to capture the attention of a small group of dedicated followers and the random passerby (like me, I haven't been here in a long time) but there's no rhyme of reason as to what keeps people interested. Updating frequently helps but you can fall into the trap of minutia and people lose interest because your update is repositioning the head to look left instead of right.

You can try promoting your threads through other threads (which I shamelessly do from time to time... check my sig!!! No really, go check it!) but that can become counter-productive quickly if you annoy people.

Then there's the issue of general interest. There's very likely a guy on Dakka that has the most skillfully built and beautifully painted Eldar army ever, but I'll never see it because I have no interest in Spandex Space Pansies. No doubt that same idea works against guys like me that paint dirty rotten things like Plague Marines (check my link!!!) and Cultists (check my link!!!).

I've also noticed that time of day you post your updates is very important. I've posted huge progress updates with relevant descriptions and pics at 2am EST. Other than the handful of people that sub my thread (and I appreciative every one of them) I have no random replies because it was buried under the avalanche of P&M updates by the time anyone was awake to see mine. People that post do bump it to the top, but it still seems that time of day when I originally post has had an effect on my traffic.

Why does it all matter? I mean really, why? For me it's validation of effort and result. I would be doing the work anyway as I have a use for the finished models, but if no one sees the model (except from 3 ft away during a game) it 'loses' something. Dakka has provided me with feedback from incredibly talented people that have taken the time to share ideas an opinions, and as a result I've not only improved my skills by a nearly immeasurable margin but I have the motivation to keep going and keep improving. It may sound needy or shallow to some, but when a Golden Daemon winner says your models look cool it's hard to not take some pride in your work.

So there's my rant about thread traffic.

Oh, btw.... nice conversions on those Centurion models.

Personally, I post to get feedback and to give it

If you really think about it, would you pay to have other people tell you 'hey man that's cool'? I know I wouldn't, but I would actually pay for other experienced peers to give me tips or an impression of what the models make them think... that I could actually use to improve the way I do things. So in that sense it adds real value to the community and that's what it's all about.

"There's very likely a guy on Dakka that has the most skillfully built and beautifully painted Eldar army ever, but I'll never see it because I have no interest in Spandex Space Pansies"

best thing i have read in ages, thankyou very much. I also like to bother people by linking my blog (http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/549440.page... see!) but i find that if you are only writing a blog to get others attention you will end up frustrated and fail, i write mine because i like looking at my own gak showcased and it often helps my think and focus on what i am doing. then again i am reletively new to the blogging game so who knows! I also blog becaus ethe only other person i really know that plays warhammer is my brother, i live in a small town far from any large gaming groups or anything like that so getting other people's opinion for me is quite difficult.

I also love reading P&M blogs, both Krautscientist and biohazard have exceptional work that i love to follow

I had actually considered using the centurions as the base for my own obliterators, but was put off by spending £75 on 3 models when you factor in the bits I ordered (one of my ideas was to mount the cannon from the khorne blood chariot thing coming from one of their chests).

I am also glad I didn't from the point of view that my modelling skill is nowhere near as high as yours so they would likely have looked naff.

In the end I went with the hi tech miniatures terrorizer resin kit.

They are a bit fiddly to put together, but look much better than gw's obliterators imo.

Oh and I love the warbringer conversion. You can hardly tell it was originally a dreadknight. What do you use it as in game out of curiousity?

IMO the spikes on the middle of the heads are way too much. Just because something is chaos doesn't mean it has to be covered in spikes. Having read fluff, small spikes (at LEAST 50% smaller) would be much more fitting, and would probably look much better. At the very least, for the love of god remove the wider base around the spikes. How does he look up with those things there?

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Regarding the matter of blogging, seeing my post quoted like that makes me realise it sounds far whinier than I wanted it to: Let's be clear here, blogging about your hobby projects is an immensely gratifying activity: It helps focus your own ideas, gets you in contact with all kinds of talented artists and hobbyists who provide you with very helpful feedback and ideas you wouldn't have come up with yourself etc. And that's great.

At the same time, I agree with Skalk in that figuring out which content will be successful and why (and when) is an art form and a science all of its own. And to be honest, I just cannot be bothered to figure out when the perfect time is to post an update. That would make blogging eventually turn into a day job, and I already have one of those, thank you very much. Still, it can sometimes be frustrating to post something you're very proud of / feel very strongly about / desperately need feedback on and then to not have it elicit much of a response. But such is the way of the world, and it wasn't my intention to sound like I was crying in my coffee over it. Rather, it should be the motivation you need to step up your game and create even better content (which will always improve your army projects as well, which is always great ).

That said, after giving it a bit of additional thought, another way to get feedback is to give it: Sure, it's great if you post lots and lots of stuff, but if you want people to care, you can start with caring about their stuff as well: When you see something you think is great, take a moment to comment on it instead of just saving it to your inspirations folder and moving on. If you take the time to comment on other people's stuff, they might take time to comment on yours. And who knows, you might even get to know them better, swap bitz with them or get wrapped up in all kinds of crazy, international hobby projects -- at least that's what happened to me


Phew. So, back to the matter at hand: My hobby stuff

@ rohansoldier: Converting these models really wasn't nearly as much work as you think, mate. In fact, it basically all boils down to a spot of kitbashing. I also have to be honest with you: Those Terrorizers aren't really working for me, since they are just another iteration of the "fleshy overgrown man/machine" archetype. That said, meade has recently proven that they can look rather sweet with the right paintjob, and the most important thing is that you're happy with your models, anyway

@ Nemesor: I respect your dislike of those spikes, but I really think they help in giving the Behemoths their own identity in the context of my army. Also, with all kinds of targeting mechanisms and sensor arrays doubtless in place, who is to say they even have to use their regular eyes any more?


And finally, I also have something new to show you:

After spending so much time on my Behemoths, I wanted to build something smaller and less involved for a change. So today’s post will deal with a model I completed just for fun and on the side. But why is that even interesting?

Well, you see, for this small gaiden project, I returned to an abandoned army project of mine: When I returned to the hobby in late 2010 after a longer hiatus, my original plan had been to use the (then) brand new Dark Eldar models to build some kick ass additions to the Dark Eldar army I built during the 90s. But then I found out that kitbashing Chaos Space Marines was simply more fun (at least for me). So I returned to the clutches of chaos and endeavoured to build a Word Bearers army, the Piercing Gaze Chapter. I had a fairly complete background in place, and so I began the project in the same way I always begin my projects: By building lots and lots of characters.

In this case, I built several Dark Apostles, because I really loved the idea of daemonic preachers leading a force of superhumans into battle. Among the several models I built during this time was also my model for Dark Apostle Gemnon, built, in fact, on Christmas Eve 2010:



One of the first models I built after my hobby hiatus, Gemnon was created by combining some leftover bitz from my first Khorne Berzerkers with some old WFB chaos parts and stuff from the brand new box of Chaos Space Marines cousin Andy had just given me as a christmas present back then. I didn’t even have a suitable head in my bitzbox to represent a Dark Apostle, so I went with a Tzeentchian head, which doesn’t really send the right message, visually. Still, I rather liked the model.

My Word Bearers army, however, didn’t quite get off the ground: Looking back now I can see that this was both due to a lack of suitable bitz (never start a Word Bearers project without lots and lots of books and purity seals) and a lack of vision: I thought the Word Bearers were cool, but I didn’t have an overarching theme in mind for the army, which proved to be my undoing in the end. So, long story short, I ended up playing around with my old World Eaters model which instantly reawakened my love for the followers of the Blood God. And what had originally been planned as a mere sub-faction in my Word Bearers project quickly took over, becoming my main army and the entity you might know as Khorne’s Eternal Hunt. And so on, and so forth — you know the rest…

Dark Apostle Gemnon and his buddies kept mouldering away in my cupboard of shame, and at some point there was even a small accident that broke the model apart at the hip. So he ended up spending his days in a miserable little pile of bitz on my desk.

But even while I am certainly not about to start a Word Bearers army, whenever my gaze returned to that pile of bitz, I felt that I owed this little guy another chance. So when I was looking for a small project to serve as a distraction between building all those lumbering Behemoths, I felt that Gemnon would have his day in the limelight. So I gathered a handful of bitz and got to work.

The Tzeentchian head needed to go, obviously, and I also wanted to reflect the fact that some pretty cool bitz have been released since I built the original model, so I needed to update the model a bit. And finally, I decided that, instead of yet another Dark Apostle, I would rebuild Gemnon as a Coryphaeus, a military commander of the Word Bearers Legion that serves as the Dark Apostle’s right hand man.

So after a bit of work, Gemnon was reborn as Coryphaeus of the Piercing Gaze Chapter:





It only took some additional bitz, really: The bare head from the WFB Warriors of Chaos is one of my favourite sculpts anyway, and it’s certainly perfect for a Word Bearer, bellowing dark catechisms at the top of his voice during battle. I also thought the power sword from the new Raptor kit made a pretty awesome weapon for a war captain, and while I was at it, I also replaced the original left hand and weapon for a plasma pistol from the same kit.

The (Night Goblin) emblem on the chest represents the symbol of the Piercing Gaze chapter, by the way, and would have been a recurring visual motif in my Word Bearers force.

Oh, and the ridiculously over the top backpack is a very conscious callback to the brilliant Wayne England artwork of yore: He would always portray his Chaos Space Marines with extremely ornate backpacks, so I wanted to approximate that look:



All in all, building this model was a fun little project, and it also put my guilty feelings regarding this character to rest. And who knows, maybe the Piercing Gaze Chapter under his Dark Apostle Belzas Azalon will yet make a triumphant return? It’s definitely not a priority at the moment, though.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my rambling! And let me know what you think!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

This looks brilliant. If your after loads of books and skulls for Word Bearers try the Plague Monk and Flagellant kit. On the blogging motivation thing my best one currently is the number of times I've been told my paintings really improved recently. Which it has probably because of the complements and I really think you should do betters I got on Dakka Dakka for my 24th Islandlwanda

This was almost purely down to advice from Dakka Dakka.

First and foremost I want to say this:



THAT IS AWESOME!!!

I have at least a dozen of those kicking around and figured I'd never have a use for them. You just changed that for me BIG time. I see some new Raptors in my future. Wow that's cool. A lot.

Second, I didn't take your post as whining. It was a genuine discussion and I think good things came of it, specifically for me in that I've been remiss for some time checking the blogs / galleries of those that take the time to post on my threads. I'm going to rectify that.

I'm really enjoying the work you are doing and I'm really impressed with the ingenuity.

Those horns look great on a backpack, I've used them to good effect as las cannon muzzles on a Dread in the past but never thought to use them like that. Great work. I reckon you could have a lot of fun with a Word Bearer force mate. Would be interesting to see you working on some zealots.

I haven't commented recently because I'm still not really sold on the sumo-suit marines. I think you have probably improved the models but I think they are a flawed concept and however good you make the model it's still going to be a ridiculous (and arguably, from a money making perspective - cynical) idea - a Space Marine in two suits of armour. So erm, sorry. It's not just yours, I hate all of them!

Anywhoo, I just wanted to say that - regarding your blog interest post - I think there is another issue, which is that forums are just not really suited to this stuff. By which I mean, there is a limited amount of space on the page for threads and a new, carefully crafted minature only causes the same bump as any small-talk or discussion would. Ideally you'd want a different system - one where the update causes the bump and discussion doesn't, which obviously a forum can't do. Active threads stay at the top of the forum and so attract more participants, etc. And I'm not saying that discussion is bad, just that it's impossible to know if you are going to be clicking a thread to see five awesome new models or another brief off-topic comment. I'm afraid to say that on the occasions where I do browse forums I often get bored looking for the new content and give up.

I think as web software advances we will see alternatives to forums appear. I'm surprised there isn't some cool new web app alternative yet, quite tempting to have a go at one.

Well, that's my opinion anyway. I don't think it's a case of trying to publicise your work more, I think it's just a case of too many voices shouting in a crowded space - signal to noise.

Oh boy, seems like I managed to open several cans of worms here, huh? Oh well, I enjoy nothing as much as a good discussion -- or several discussions at the same time, for that matter. But all in good order:


1. On blogging

I'd like to respond in detail to the excellent points raised by some of you, but I don't want to overcrowd this thread for those looking for new content. Tell you what, I'll just put my ramblings in spoiler tags, so those of you just here for the pretty pictures can just zip past this




2. Regarding the converted Centurions:

@ Bruticus: I do realise that, at the end of the day, whether you like these models or not will always depend on how you feel about the Centurions as a kit -- even more so since I didn't exactly endeavour to radically change the basic setup. You may have to wait until people like GuitaRasmus tackle these in order to be able to enjoy the kit


3. Regarding the Word Bearers

Thanks for the kind words about that touched up Coryphaeus, guys!

@ Biohazard: Yes, I guess I might have some cool ideas for possible Word Bearers conversions, and nowadays I would probably even have the bitzbox to pull it off. The problem is, however, that this would only lead to me producing more stuff I'll never get around to painting, so I think I'll stick to my World Eaters for now That said, the Piercing Gaze Chapter is still written into their background (Belzas Azalon was the Dark Apostle who introduced my own Lord Captain Lorimar to chaos worship during a campaign in the Eastern Fringe), so if I ever feel the need to return to them, there's an easy way to add them to my existing army. And the Coryphaeus may actually be the next entry for my "Ruinous Powers" series of models

Tell you what, though, just for the heck of it, I'll show you the model that would have become the leader of my Word Bearers, since he was the first real Chaos Space Marine character I converted that I was ever truly happy with. I give you Dark Apostle Belzas Azalon of the Piercing Gaze Chapter:



Built in early 2011, he's admittedly a pretty straightforward kitbash. I always thought a Word Bearer should be wearing all kinds of scripture and arcane knickknacks, so I tried to reflect that in the model. The stylised daemon head on the pauldron was supposed to be a more ornate version of the Word Bearers' legion badge -- it may be a bit much, though...




4. In other news...

Thanks to fellow forumite Kuyash'Slaa (who seems to be a pretty great guy, in spite of being a follower of the thrice-damned Slaanesh ), I managed to obtain one of the last mid-90s metal World Eaters still missing from my collection. Yay! Here it is, with several layers of old paint stripped away:



I've also finally started to read ADB's Betrayer today, and whoo boy! That's one delicious pile of lore and background ideas for a fan of both the World Eaters and Word Bearers

Loving the recent work! so inspiring!
I love your Coryphuas, he seems to give off an air of power to him.

'Betrayer' is such a good book! I won't spoil anything.
The Shadow Crusade does give some decent background and army ideas though...

I'm of the same mind, that's why I'm going to be paying homage to your Ruinous Powers series with a few of my own. I'd love to one day have a unique army for all the gods (I'm really not a fan of Tzeentch but why have 3 out of 4?) but in reality more than half of my World Eaters are still unpainted so I need to curb my dreams for now.

Really like the Dark Apostle, there are a few really good ideas on there and I reckon with the experience you have now you can really make that guy stand out. I like the daemon head on the pauldron but think it should sit a little more flush.

Also Emperor be damned now I've seen this I want to build some Word Bearers as well.

Thanks a lot, guys!

@ Chaos Emperor: Absolutely agreed! Betrayer, which I completed in a single day - yeah, I was that hooked - is a great resource for every World Eaters aficionado, but also a good story in its own right! I even liked the Ultramarines, in those few scenes where they don't get beaten up horribly

@ Biohazard: I am extremely honoured by your picking up my "Ruinous Powers" idea, buddy. Although your models will probably give mine a run for their money soon

Regarding the desire to build Word Bearers, well: At the very least, the two legions did have quite extensive campaigns together, so there should be enough chances for adding a squad to your army, if you so desire Maybe Deimos' company is still accompanied by an ancient Word Bearers Priest, serving as a Dark Apostle to the company and whispering dark secrets and vile poison into the Lord Captain's ear?

Looking forward to the four chaos powers project!

I am also itching to do an assortment of the four powers as well. So far have only done Slaanesh (technically) but I think using Daemons rather than marines is the best way. All four powers have cool modelling/painting possibilities.

 Meade wrote:
Looking forward to the four chaos powers project!

Ah, regarding my own "The Ruinois Powers" project, there's no need to wait: The champions of the four great powers are here for you to check out (or can be found earlier in this thread. The part that I haven't yet managed to get around to is building one legionnaire for each of the original traitor legions, although the Coryphaeus I posted now may be a next step in that direction

Also keep your eyes peeled for Biohazard's "Four Powers" project that he has announced recently!

You must have a lot on still got the Night Lord .

That Apostle is a very impressive conversion. I really think the daemon's head mounted on his shoulder looks pretty badass, as does the use of the Chaos Knights daemon sword. That kit is pretty much the best place to go for daemon weapons and helmet alternatives.

@ Miss Dee: Yeah, I feel really bad about that. Sorry! Will try to get my act together sometime this week -- I am just hopeless atm

@ Imposter101: Cheers, mate! The Chaos Knights certainly have great value for the money, although there'll always be lots of leftover horses


A small update today, I managed to tackle the last missing thing I wanted to add to my Behemoths: the clawed feet. Take a look:



In the end, I just used claws from Warp Talon feet. It took some doing, but I really think it works now

The next step will probably be getting the first guy painted, because I really want to see a finished model at this point

As always, let me know what you think!

The tallons on the feet are cool. Next time you do rapters add some to the feet.

Love the claw feet. Damn good

Centurion based Obliterators for the win/Blood God!?!

They are some awesome conversion work, as ever with you! I actually think they are what Obliterators should be like. Although yours are obviously pretty Khorny, so Nurgle et al would get upset. But swap the head and a couple other bits and they would work for any Chaos God/chapter. Very nice work.

The clawed feet are perfect

Clawed feet are good Maybe they word on the hands in someway as well?

The keyboard put the model into perspective for me. Wow that's big. Wide. Lots of guns.

Thanks for the kind words, people! I really appreciate it!

@ Miss Dee: I fear I may have locked myself out of adding talons to my Raptors when I built the first squad entirely without them (since the Raptor kit wasn't available back then). Then again, the talons are a nice way of differentiating Warp Talons from Raptors.

@ rodgers37: You are right, it would be possible to build similar Obliterators for the other chaos gods (and legions) just by changing some of the bitz. Centurion based Oblitz would be great for Iron Warriors, for instance. And Nurgle's always easy: just add rot and decay. Doing Nurgle well, though: that's the true challenge

@ Nashbashem: I did consider adding some claws to the hands, but frankly I rather like the crude look of the hands: The fact that the fingers aren't even defined beyond the thumb and index finder really communicates the fact that these guys won't be brought in for the more delicate tasks, don't you think?

@ The World XEater, Crystal Geyser & Skalk Bloodaxe: Cheers, guys!


While the added claws on the feet were mainly an attempt to make the models look less loyalist, seeing how those talons made the feet look better proportioned as well for some reason really was a nice surprise! So it goes without saying that I picked up that element for the rest of the squad as well.

Here are the two models you already know, complete with clawed feet and all:



These are pretty much 100% finished at this point, and I hope I'll get around to painting one of them soon.

But I also couldn't help myself and had to start working on the third model. Have some WIP impressions:



I might add some more detail (and swap the loincloth for something different, so they all have a unique appearance), but you get the idea. Meade, buddy, I hope you're happy now: He does have the chest mounted Plasma pistols you suggested



As always, let me know what you think!

nice conversion

Plasmaguns "sprouting" from the torso weapons look ace !!

Did you try & assemble the other end of the rifles coming out of the suit's back ? If so, it looks more "realistic" than, say, a Typhoon Missile Launcher that just takes as much room than a bunch of grenades...

Great job on the trio, they'll look awesome !

The bear 'claws' look impressive. I think they'd be even cooler if they were mounted of the fingers of the centurions power fists too. The Bloodletter head is a nice touch, but I'm not a fan of the unicorn head piece.

Thanks, guys!

@ Yggdrasil: You're right: That would add some much needed plausibility to those chest mounted weapons Unfortunately, though, the cables that connect the torso and the arms attach at that very point, so no added realism, sorry

@ Imposter101: Like I said in my last post, I rather like the clunky look of the fingers. I might yet add a spike or two, though. Hmmm....

Anyway, less than 24 hours later, here we are with the model's arms mostly sorted out:





On the left arm is a stock Lascannon from the Centurion kit (that will need some chaotic decoration, of course). The right one wields a Plasma cannon (converted from the Dark Vengeance Plasma Gunner's weapon and a couple of bitz). This was the one instance where I needed to build my own cabling instead of relying on the stock parts that came with the Centurions, and it was more work than it had any right to be I also had to improvise a bit, which is why the cables turn into a horrible, spiky Talos spine somewhere along the way



As always, let me know what you think!

Newest guys looking awesome mate, really like the addition of the Bloodletters head and the chaos warrior instruments bit. Can't wait to see one painted. In itching to put paint on mine as well but I'm still struggling to decide on a head. Also which kit are the plasma pistols from? I tried using the Berzerker ones but the details on the side has to be removed as they're too thick for the weapon mounts.

Cheers, buddy! Those are bog standard Marine Plasma pistols, chosen for their sleek profile. Still had to do some minor filing to get them to fit into the slots, but nothing big.

As soon as my camera's got some batteries again, I'll send you some pictures of the leftover Raptor heads I could send you. Plus some more rambling on the matter of World Eaters lords in general and Malek Deimos in particular

Coolest stuff i've seen in ages.

That Plasma-cannon with the daemon head is fantastic.

Haha plasma nipples! He's looking awesome, definitely improved from the first two in the way it all comes together... the talons on the feet make it more anthropomorphic and he's spikey without being OTT spikey. The bloodletter skull frames the helmet well and the plasma cannon looks cool.

Love the plasma cannon and plasma nipples

Paint?

Paint!

Thanks for the kind words, people!

@ Crystal Geyser & Master Azalle: Whoa, guys, I appreciate your enthusiasm and all, but with hobby time being insanely short at the moment, I fear you'll have to be patient for a bit longer yet. I want to see those Behemoths painted as much as you do, make no mistake. But I'll need a bit of time and motivation for that.

On a slightly more positive note, there'll be a more substantial update really soon, dealing with a long time conversion project of mine...

Right I promised you an update, and here we go. No colour, unfortunately, just more converting and kitbashing for now

With very little time on my hands at the moment, I unfortunately lack the patience (and motivation) to crack out the paints and finally finish some of the stuff I have built, while my painting backlog is getting bigger and bigger. That is the bad news.

The good news is that, even while being completely swamped in work at the moment, my urge to create something hobby related remains as strong as ever, so what little hobby time I have at the moment is almost entirely given to converting and kitbashing, those most delicious of hobby activities — at least in my opinion

But what do I have to show for it? Well, today I would like to talk about a pretty long running project of mine that started out as merely wanting to do something productive with some leftover bitz and then quickly spiralled out of control, as will occasionally happen with my hobby endeavours. So what is this about?

Everything started over a year ago, when my cousin Andy gave me a WFB Chaos Lord on Manticore for my birthday. Now it shouldn’t surprise anybody that I quickly found a use for the fantastic Chaos Lord bitz that came with the kit: Some were used to create a wretched Chaos Sorcerer (to be used as a traitorous Primaris Psyker for my Traitor Guard), some others went into the creation of a Khorne Lord on Juggernaut that I have yet to show you.

But when all was said and done, there was still a whole Manticore left, and I didn’t really have any good ideas for that guy: He was simply too fantasy to be seamlessly absorbed into one of my 40k projects. The one idea that seemed to have some merit, then, was to try and use him for building something daemonic.

You see, my Khornate army is fairly short on daemons. And there’s a reason for that, of course: The image I have of my army doesn’t gel all that well with the stock daemon models: The warriors of the 4th assault company are doing their damnedest to keep functioning as a coherent fighting force, so it’s hard to picture hordes of daemons prancing around among them. If I were to use any daemons, they would have to fit the look and feel of my World Eaters, and the most obvious way of achieving that would be to make them fit the underlying metaphor of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt. So instead of regular Bloodletters, I might use packs of (slightly) daemonic hounds, hunting ahead of the legionaries. And instead of a standard Greater Daemon or Daemon Prince, I might use a huge daemonic beast an Avatar of the Hunt, if you will — hence my original idea to use the Manticore in that capacity.

However, my plan to build a four-legged monstrosity – not unlike a titanic Flesh Hound of Khorne – didn’t quite get off the ground: I would simply have needed too much sculpting to make that work, something far beyond my abilities (and my patience). So back into the box the Manticore went.

But then I came into the possession of some leftover Maulerfiend bitz, and my creativity was rekindled: What about using those to turn the Manticore into a hulking, biomechanic monster?

Here’s my first attempt at building such a beast:



As you can see, the combination of the Manticore body and the legs and arms from a Maulerfiend led to a hulking, almost apelike silhouette. While the model seemed malproportioned and brutish, I rather liked the look, though. It also got me thinking what this model would actually represent in my army, beyond simply being a way of using some leftover bitz.

The idea I came up with was that this monster would be used whenever a champion gets transformed into a Daemon Prince by a roll on the Chaos Boon Table. Now you might say that a) that seems to be a pretty specific and limited use for a model of this size and b) this monster doesn’t really fit the established look of a DP, right? Hear me out on this:

You see, A Daemon Prince doesn’t really fit the background of my army for several reasons: Lord Captain Lorimar is the supreme commander of the 4th, for one, so there wouldn’t possibly be any DP with more authority than him, least of all serving under him. What’s more, I feel the ascension to daemonhood wouldn’t necessarily be seen as a boon by the warriors of the 4th: The legionaries have done their best so far to keep mutation and madness at bay, rather electing to remain “human”, for lack of a better word. For them, being elevated to daemonhood would not be an ultimate price to be craved, but rather a horror not so far removed from the curse of spawndom. And with its hulking body, the WIP model seemed to reflect that: Where a “normal” Daemon Prince is a sinister, darkly angelic figure, and an embodiment of chaotic power and boundless ambition, I wanted my DP to look like this huge, malproportioned monster that is part ape, part hound and part Astartes. I imagine that, upon ascending, all the rage and fever for the hunt that a member of the 4th assault company has been bottling up for so long will overflow and turn him into a huge hunting beast, mindless and terrible.

So the next step in the conversion was bascially to make this guy look like he could actually have evolved out of an Astartes. And, of course, to add all kinds of bitz to make him look suitably imposing and monstrous:











As you can see in the pictures above, I added the warped remains of a CSM backpack and the shoulder pads from the regular Daemon Prince kit to hint at this guy’s Astartes origins. And the tail from the Manticore kit made the DP’s silhouette more interesting and ambiguous: The pose and proportions may seem pretty much like those of a gorilla, but the head and tail point more toward a hound or entirely daemonic creature.

I also started to use some GS to blend together the seemingly disparate parts:





You might have noticed that the model was still lacking some feet at this point. That was to become quite an issue, as fellow hobbyist Ben kindly sent me two sets of Maulerfiend hooves for this conversion, only for them to both be lost by those geniuses at the German postal service. Nuts!



Understandably enough, Ben didn’t have a third set of those hooves to spare, and with that setback, the conversion ground to a hold for a couple of months until another fellow German, Sagal, was kind enough to let me have some hooves from the WFB giant. That finally gave me the motivation I needed to work on the model some more. Here’s the model as it looks right now:





As you can see, I also changed the pose of the left arm to achieve a slightly different look: With both arms held in front of its body, too much of the model seemed to be obscured. The new hooves also gave the Deamon Prince a more upright pose than I had originally planned, and that particular element might need some more work.

At the same time, more GS and Liquid GS were used to make the transitions between the different parts of the body more organic and plausible. And I also emulated Dave Taylor’s really clever idea of adding metallic sockets to the creature’s body, using GS. I did this in order to represent the ports that used to connect the former Astartes’s black carapace to his power armour (For all those interested, Dave succinctly explains how to create this effect here ).





The finished model will probably be gripping some crushed masonry (or maybe an equally crushed loyalist Astartes) in its right fist. And it goes without saying that I will have to design a suitably impressive base as well. Maybe I’ll use the base to make the model lean forwards a bit more, making it look like it was preparing to barrel forward on all fours, as suggested by DexterKong — as a matter of fact, the longer I keep working on this guy, the more questions arise. But even though some parts of the model still need to be sorted out, I rather like the overall effect. It is an eclectic creature, to be sure, but eclectic and malproportioned was what I was going for in the first place

While this project seems to come a bit out of the left field, I have really been working on this guy on and off for about a year now, and it seems like he’s finally nearing completion. Much has happened in the meantime, and TJ Atwell’s fantastic “Bull God” , using a slightly similar premise, almost made me ashamed to show you this silly little conversion of mine. But then, I think that, with a bit more work, this could really become yet another model to define the specific look and feel of my army, and I like that a lot!

And in gaming terms, I imagine the model could even be used as a reasonably convincing GD or Maulerfiend: Maybe that spiky tail could even count as lasher tendrils…?


Anyway, I realise that this model might be a bit of an acquired taste. But working on it has taught me a lot, and actually using these bitz for something is certainly preferable to keeping them in my cupboard of shame forever, right?

That said, I’d be happy to hear any thoughts and ideas you might have! Let me know what you think!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Wow, they look awesome!

He's looking great buddy.

Well, I kinda like the concept & background, most notably the fact that the 4th Coy considers the ascension to Daemonhood as a bane !

It looks rather odd, I do agree with you, but I really like that simian pose !
I think it would looks better if you could further represent the "backpack" from the original armour...

But it'll be great as is !!

I like the last shot, looks like an evil corporate executive walking with an employee, about to give him the pat on the back for all his years of service

Edit:

Chaos Demon "One Day son all this will be yours."
Son (not pictured) "The Curtains???"
Chaos Demon swallows the son up because he decided to keep the universe and curtains for himself.

I'm always glad to see someone make a Daemon Prince that's not the standard "This is a big devil guy, with a big flaming sword and a weird long middle finger thingy". Chaos should always be more Chaotic, I've thought (I'm also a fan of the "Cubes of Tzeench" army). Too often they're just Space Marines with spikey bits, when they're actually one of the only armies other than Orks that really opens up the conversion possibilities while still remaining Fluffy.

I love the overall idea and it's a great use of bits, the only thing I don't like personally is the piece of rubble his front hand rests on. It doesn't seem brutal enough, seems like it should be the body of a dreadnought or Tyranid beasty or something. Just an idea

 Theophony wrote:
I like the last shot, looks like an evil corporate executive walking with an employee, about to give him the pat on the back for all his years of service

Edit:

Chaos Demon "One Day son all this will be yours."
Son (not pictured) "The Curtains???"
Chaos Demon swallows the son up because he decided to keep the universe and curtains for himself.

This made me laugh so hard! Also reminded me of the Lion King, for some reason: "Everything the Warp touches is our kingdom."
The thing in the background's just a bedsheet, though


Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback, people! I've been keeping this guy in my desk drawer for so long that I was beginning to fear that I might be on the totally wrong track

@ Warboss Imbad Ironskull: That piece of rubble is just a placeholder for now, and I am very open to suggestion when it comes to replacing it with something more interesting! While I don't see myself sacrificing a whole Dreadnought body just for a base, there are probably several options: Possibly my favourite approach would be to have the daemon prince clutch the fallen window piece from the Honoured Imperium kit , although I'm not sure I should purchase that kit just for the one element. It's a fantastic kit, though, so I am sorely tempted...

The other idea would be to use one of the leftover weapons from the Dreadknight kit - either the hammer or the sword - and have the DP hold the broken remains of it. The tricky part is to make it look like he's actually grasping the broken weapon of his fallen foe rather than just a broken weapon. Hmmm...

 KrautScientist wrote:

I love the manticore model, and you've done a great job making him into a DP!

What are the chances of remodeling the left are to be more "mid-slash" than the current "bless you, my child" that he currently has?

Keep up the great work!
Rawson

I love the Prince, he looks suitably bestial. Excellent!

One thing I would suggest is using Greenstuff or something to either fill in the pistons and such on the front legs to make them look more organic, or give him armour plates to cover up the mechanical bits. At present they look too obviously from the Maulerfiend kit.

Another week, and here I am, still happily pottering away in the small amount of hobby time I have. Let’s take a look:

First up, my kitbashed Daemon Prince. Thanks again for the extremely useful critcism! Not only was I pleasantly surprised by the fact that the model was far better recieved than I had anticipated, but I also got some extremely useful suggestions out of the deal as well! So I ended up spending some more time on this guy, trying to take the various suggestions on board and further improve the model.

DexterKong, among others, remarked that he felt the original, more crouched pose was a better fit for the bestial, animalistic feel of the model. Dexter said that,

(…)in my mind I keep seeing this guy bounding forward on all fours. In most of my visions of him, his front “paws” are on the ground, and his rear legs are kicked back in the air as he savagely runs at a target, like a wolf or a wild boar. On the off-chance the limbs are not all attached, I would experiment with lowering his chest and head toward the ground, and go for more a quadrupedal pose.

Now while the original pose didn’t work for me (because it made the prince look like he was trying to hold on to the base for dear life), I certainly wanted to channel the look Dexter was talking about. So I slightly changed the pose of the left arm and made sure the model was posed closer to the ground. Here’s the result:



I am pretty happy with the pose and think that this is really the best of both worlds: The left arm is still held away from the body in a more open pose, but now it somehow looks less like the Daemon Prince is giving one of his underlings a paternal pat on the back and more like he’s mid-swing while tearing something apart.

Some people on the German forums pointed out that the model’s back seemed to feel a little empty, making it look too much like the monstrous mount it originated as. So I used a leftover Crypt Horror back piece to add some suitably gross vertebrae to the Daemon Prince’s back:



Since this picture was taken, some GS and Liquid GS have been used to blend in the new additions with the surrounding area, and the effect is pretty convincing. The picture also clearly shows the lumps of modelling putty used to fix the model in its more crouched pose — this will obviously have to be achieved by the design of the base on the finished model…



Speaking of which, the piece of wall on the base is really just a placeholder for now! Like I said earlier, I would love to use the fallen window piece from the Honoured Imperium kit or something similar -- I am very much open to suggestions and/or bitz donations, though

All in all, I am hugely thankful for the constructive criticism I have received regarding this model, because I think it has really managed to improve the Daemon Prince:



But the Daemon Prince is not the only model on my desk: Having to wait for the various coats of (Liquid) GS to dry left me with some time to kill, which I used to revisit and touch up some older models.

The first of these I tackled were some additional, kitbashed Raptors (called “Harriers” in my army). You might remember the first bunch of those I built and painted, back before the new plastic Raptor kit had even been released. Well, my Raptors were still missing some Meltagunners, so I whipped some up. I also built another champion for good measure, while I was at it



All three models are based on some leftover Khorne Berzerker bodies I picked up as part of an ebay auction a while ago. Most of these were in a pretty rough condition, but I swore to myself that I would find a way to use them. So with an influx of fresh bitz, I believe I may have managed to rescue them from the rubbish heap. Let’s take a closer look:



The first model is a fairly simple kitbash, just adding some new arms, a new head and weapon as well as a dash of chainmail to the existing berzerker body. I imagine all of these will look far less rough around the edges, once they are completely undercoated. I also added a MaxMini jump pack, since my other Raptor models so far are using the same bit.

The champion originally started out as an additional icon bearer, but I was just never all that happy with the icon, so I remade him as a champion (because you can never have enough champions, right?):



A Warp Talon claw nicely complemented his pose, so I used it instead of his original arm. The helmet is also a slightly more involved kitbash — a cookie goes to you if you manage to spot where the original helmet came from…

And finally, the third Raptor with another Meltagun:



For this guy, I was feeling a little more adventurous, so I borrowed an idea I had seen on somebody else’s thread (GuitaRasmus’s, I believe) to build a more interesting looking weapon for him.

Once I manage to get those painted – whenever that will be – I will have quite a few Raptors at my disposal. And I really like those guys, because they seem so right for a World Eaters army. Also, there is a special kind of joy in revisiting existing models after a while to give them a little extra flair and further improve them.

As a matter of fact, you might remember my post about going back to older models to spice them up, going the extra mile, as it were. Biohazard’s World Eaters bikers were what originally inspired me to write that post (and work on my squad of bikers back then), and now Brother Heinrich’s fantastic Night Lords bikes made me pick up the same squad yet again in order to add even more detail



Nothing big, though: I just added a couple of trophies and small weapons here and there, to make it look like these guys were used to living in the saddle. I also spent some time cleaning up the conversion work, drilling out all the barrels and exhaust pipes, etc. I only have the – slightly fuzzy – group picture right now, but I hope I’ll get around to showing you some better pictures (and maybe even more bikes) at some point in the future.
So yeah, as you can probably see, today’s post is not so much about breaking new developments as it is about incrementally doing small things that make your army better and better. Not as flashy as some huge centrepiece model, I’ll admit, but both approaches are important for an army, and both can be fun!

I am always interested in your feedback, so let me hear what you think!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Bikers are looking infinitely better than before buddy. Liking the progress on the DP as well. Ill mention again though that I have another of the open hands from that kit if you want it. It's a left but I'm sure with a little tinkering it could pass as a right hand?

Looking great still, this model has so much WIN its amazing

"Sorry Hun, forgot my imperial briefcase, I'll see you at dinner."

Loving the new daemon prince. Loving it!

Particularly the way the snarling beast aspect seems to be exploding out of the armor from the neck up. Really nice.

Great new additions mate! Particularly like the last of the Centurions and the Beast Prince.

Can't wait to see them painted!

Daemon Prince looks epic and I'm loving your Harriers! Khorne would be pleased

Awesome work man just awesome
But I keep wondering...how would the Lord of Skulls chainaxe look on that prince (though I'm not quite sure about the size )

Thanks a lot for th positive feedback, guys!

@ Theophony: Huh, seems like there's no end to the possible image macros for this guy

@ migs: I am truly honoured, mate!

@ Legio Ultra: I think the Lord of Skulls axe might be quite a bit too big, even for this beast. Plus a regular weapon would make the DP look more "civilised" and lucid, and less like a feral beast, so no weapon for him

Hey everyone, it's update time. So what is this about?

World Eaters riding juggernauts of Khorne, often referred to as “Brazen Knights”, are a bit of an ongoing dream for those of us who have pledged themselves both to the Blood God and the XIIth Astartes Legion. Even the fact that no rules for using such a squad on the table are available doesn’t stop hobbyists all over the world from building their own version of this Khornate cavalry. As a matter of fact, I myself also built and painted a test piece some time ago:



My original plan was to add a couple of models to form an entire squad, but for some reason the plan fell by the wayside for a while, and then GW went and released their spectacular Skullcrushers of Khorne for WFB.

And of course, it didn’t take me long to pick up the kit: After all, it’s chock-full of fantastic Khornate bits and bobs to squirrel away for conversion projects: If you want to add some extra flavour to your World Eaters army, that kit is the place to go! Plus you get three juggernauts and their riders on top — what’s not to love?

Well, here’s the problem: So far, I had mainly been using pieces from the kit to spice up some Chosen and Biker models as well as building special characters for my army, such as my custom Warpsmith, Huntmaster Deracin, or even the supreme commander of the fourth assault company, Lord Captain Lorimar . The actual centrepiece of the kit, the juggernauts and riders, sat mostly untouched in my bitzbox while I squandered all the beautiful little bitz on different models

But no more, because this last weekend finally gave me some time to build three Brazen Knights! Of course I do realise that this leaves me with even more unpainted stuff in my backlog, but I simply cannot help it — kitbashing World Eaters is just so much fun!


So what did I want to achieve? The Skullcrushers are fantastic models in their own right, but I did want to make them look a little more 40k: The body and legs of the Skullcrushers are very archaic and medieval looking, but they are also fantastically detailed (and, to make matters worse, a bit bigger than your standard Marine parts). So I wouldn’t cut them up in the attempt to make them look more futuristic, but would rather try to incorporate elements that are fairly representative of Chaos Space Marines, such as chainswords, power weapons, backpacks and CSM shoulderpads.

I also didn’t want to use the – admittedly really cool – lances that came with the kit, because those would make the models look a little too static and encumbered for my taste. I went for less cumbersome weapons, and since there are no official rules for these guys anyway, I was free to do as I pleased, with the Rule of Cool as my only guideline.

And, my last objective: I wanted to make each of these guys look like a true champion: Winning the gift of a daemonic steed from the Blod God is certainly no mean feat! So each of the models would have to look the part, impressive enough to serve as a Chaos Lord in any lesser force.

Now while the models were taking shape, I had yet another idea: Fellow hobbyist Brother Heinrich has been offering people to name models in his (fantastic) Night Lords army for a while now. I myself have been thus immortalised as a heavy weapons specialist in the Night Lords’ 15th company (more on that soon, I guess). And while I was working on my Brazen Knights, or Brazen Hunters, as it were, I realised that I too wanted to take the opportunity to honour some fellow hobbyists who have enormously inspired me in the past.

Now choosing three people to be honoured in this way might seem a tad unfair — after all, there are many more people who have managed to inspire me and influence my hobby life over these last years, and each of them would be worthy of their own model. So for now, in order to keep things fair, I chose the three guys whose work has provided the most inspiration for my actual World Eaters army — after all, it makes sense that they should earn a place in the army they helped to shape, right?

Anyway, before I knew it, my three Brazen Hunters had been assembled. Of course they will need some more work and attention to detail here and there, but I am already pretty pleased with them. Let me introduce you:

Brother Hynnark:













Since I knew that one of the juggernaut bodies would be charging forward aggressively, I wanted a rider to match that look, swinging his sword in a wide arc and aggressively snarling at the oncoming enemy. I think the finished piece captures that look fairly convincingly!

The sword came from the Bloodletters of Khorne, since I think their sinister, serrated Hellblades make for a perfect weapon for any champion of Khorne. The arm holding the blade was slightly tweaked in such a way that it looked like Hynnark was swinging his sword at his opponents while plowing through them on the back of his daemonic mount.

When it came to choosing a face for this guy, the bare head of the GK Nemesis Dreadknight pilot came in handy, since the cabling on the head made for perfect Butcher’s Nails. The rim of the psychic hood was carefully shaved down to make it look like the cables were emerging from the champion’s very head. And finally, a very cool plastic power fist from the mid-90s was used on the model’s other hand. I only ever had one of these in my bitzbox, and I thought this was a worthy occasion to use it!

Brother Hynnark was named for fellow hobbyist Brother Heinrich, whose brilliant Night Lords army is not only a constant source of inspiration, but who has also made me look at the individuals in the army in a new way. Cheers, mate!


Next up, Brother Rask:













I knew I wanted to make use of the fantastic banner that came with the Blood Crushers, so Brother Rask became a favoured banner bearer of his god. To balance out the extra archaic element, I went for a chainsword in his left hand — the essential 40k weapon, if you ask me. The model also received a rebreather head as another piece of visual shorthand for the futuristic setting. I also like this particular head a lot, since it seems grizzled and scarred without being over the top.

The model was named for none other than the ever-inspirational GuitaRasmus, who owns some of the snazziest World Eaters on the interwebz and whose mindblowing kitbashes are a constant motivation for me to push the envelope on my own conversions instead of just settling for “good enough”.


And finally, a champion among champions, I give you Brother Garic the Hound:













I really went all out on this model, making it look like Garic was issuing a challenge to an opponent. A sword from the WFB Chaos Knights made for a suitably impressive weapon, while the left arm came from the Raptor/Warp Talon kit, featuring one of my favourite lightning claws in the entire set.

Maybe you’ll remember that shouting head with the mohawk from my look at the Centurion kit. Even then, I was sure that it was the perfect face for a World Eater, and I believe this model offers pretty good proof of that!

Garic is my favourite model in the squad, and who better to choose as his alter ego than my buddy Biohazard, whose boundless generosity in exchanging bitz as well as ideas have made many of my projects possible in the first place. And his kitbashes, particularly his amazing daemon engines, are truly something to behold as well! Here’s to you, buddy!


So cheers, guys! I hope you like your new function in Khorne’s Eternal Hunt! And I hope you like the models I chose for you! As for the names, I tried to find a middle ground between the design sensibilities of my army and either your true names or forum handles. If any of you should want to come up with a better name for “his” model, though, just shoot me a message! Likewise, if you have any suggestions regarding what to add to the models, let me know as well!

In any case, these guys do need some more detail work as well as a couple of additional bitz. And there will have to be a Chaos Lord on juggernaut to lead the squad, of course…

Oh, and I actually think I may continue to name models in the honour of fellow hobbyists! And with a long list of spectacularly talented and generally awesome people to work through – PDH, TJ Atwell, DexterKong, migusla or Kari, to name just a few – I imagine this army will keep expanding for a looong time

So yeah, here are my three Brazen Hunters together, ready for a new day of hunting:



So what do you think? Was I successful in coming up with some badass models? Are they 40k enough? I’d love to hear your feedback, so post away!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

I think they look 40k enough, although not too sure about Centurion's huge earphones ^^ Although I can imagine him listening to death metal while choppin' stuff

 DRommel wrote:
Although I can imagine him listening to death metal while choppin' stuff

Khorne has a long history of Death Metal





Back on topic, the new Crushers you shared the link to look so completely sick and I want them just to have them. Wow.

The Brazen Hunters you are building surpass them though. My respect for conversions frequently trumps stock models and your work is inspirational as always. I like Brother Rask the best. He is very 'action-orientated' with a pose that conveys a focused assault and it's clear that he's ready to finish off whatever the Jugger crashes into.

I can hardly wait to see paint on these monstrous warriors. Blood for the Blood God indeed. Lots of it.

Looks awesome! You managed to make the riders not look awkward in their riding poses which I know is very hard to do. They look very natural and dynamic.

These look awesome powerful and dynami true dark knights of Khorne. Brilliant choices of some wonderful bare heads as well.

Wow, you honour me brother! Loving the new models. They work really well together and I cannot wait to see some paint on them. Excellent job with my name as well

Brazen Hunters look absolutely fantastic, KS! You have successfully brought those juggies into the 40k look with a touch of baroque meets future. Great job! Ready to see some paint on them.

EDIT:

Those Night Lords are awesome! Thanks for linking!

Leave it to Skalk to bring up Bolt Thrower. Also awesome.

Loving the Brazen knights the armour from the Fantasy set really lends them a brutal and ancient feel and how do you find such great blogs?

These guys look truely amazing, great job!!! but I (though my so far inexistant prsence here gives me no right to critisize ) feel they might need a few guns

They do look rather epic Your always giving me ideas

Thanks for the kind words, guys!

 Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:

 DRommel wrote:
Although I can imagine him listening to death metal while choppin' stuff

Khorne has a long history of Death Metal

Personally, I think that the really bad guys are not listening to Death Metal while doing the wetwork, but rather to something more...sublime. Case in point: This gentleman. And this one. [WARNING! Definitely not family friendly!]

And isn't it hilarious to imagine a World Eater listening to stuff like that during battle?


Anyway, glad you like the models!

@ Biohazard: You're welcome, buddy: The honour is well earned!

Oh, and yeah, do check out Brother Heinrich's NL army if you haven't already! It ROXXX!

I certainly can see the irony of World Eaters listening to something like Handel's Concerto Grosso as they rip spines from their enemies.


I want to share an IRL experience here, but will put into a Spoiler so I don't take your thread completely off course:

Thanks for sharing that story, Skalk! I am glad to hear I am not the only one who can get all wrapped up in looking at my finished tabletop models You get an additional cultural bonus, though, because you listened to classical music while doing it.

Oh, and I think this would also be an obvious musical choice for the World Eaters. The name really says it all

So, in time for Christmas, let me show you glimpses at two highly inpirational hobby projects that double as crowning hobby moments of awesome for me – but we’ll get to that in a minute…

1. Mini Me

You may already have heard of Brother Heinrich’s amazing Night Lords thread over at The Bolter and Chainsword, and I already mentioned that Heinrich was awesome enough to immortalise various hobbyists as models in his army (I chose to repay the favour by turning him into one of my Brazen Hunters). Anyway, Brother Heinrich has been hard at work for the last few weeks, and so I can now proudly present a miniature version of me serving in the Night Lords’ 15th company under the nom de guerre of Brother Berias. Check this out:



I am the guy on the right, rocking that awesome custom Reaper Autocannon. On the left you can see the Night Lords avatar of fellow hobbyist Dragonkin Arenis, now my partner in bloodshed for the millennia to come.



Not only do I love the weapon and choice of helmet, but my favourite part may be the half-deathmask Brother Heinrich painted onto the model’s helmet. Take a look:



Together with three other weapon teams, these guys will be used as counts-as Obliterators in Heinrich’s army — a perfect way of representing that particular choice, if you ask me! Here’s the merry little band of rascals:



And while the models are amazing enough on their own, 1000Heathens also did a killer job on the accompanying piece of background he wrote. So be sure to check it out, along with the rest of this stunning force, over at Heinrich’s B&C thread . And, of course, a huge thank you for Brother Heinrich for this fantastic opportunity!


2. Images from a past life

Now this second thing is just as awesome, and for slightly similar reasons. Fellow German hobbyist AgnostosTheos has been building and painting one of the most impressive Pre-Heresy World Eaters armies on the net. And while I myself have no ambition to start a pre-heresy Astartes army (or rather, yet another one next to my kitbashed Custodes), I couldn’t help but wonder what “30k” versions of the characters making up Khorne’s Eternal Hunt would look like. So I approached AgnostosTheos and asked him whether he was game for a small experiment: Would he be interested in building some 30k versions of my characters for his army? Being an all around nice guy, he agreed.

And now imagine my happiness when he just posted the first two characters just the other day. So let me show you both of these characters, with their background as well as their 30k and 40k versions, respectively. Here we go:



Brother Marax the Fallen

When Lorimar ascended to the rank of captain of the 4th assault company, brother Marax stood at his side. Likewise, during the years of the Great Crusade, he proved to be a loyal retainer, time and time again.

But after Marax had undergone the psychosurgical treatments introduced to the legion by its primarch Angron, he began to change. The occasions when Marax would succumb to frenzy and insatiable bloodlust on the field of battle grew ever more frequent. But the negative effects of this development were ignored, for Marax had become an insurmountable warrior. While the World Eaters grew more and more fervent in their worship of Khorne, Marax was one of those who welcomed the bloody rituals. During all this time, Lorimar kept his brother under close scrutiny, for he feared what Marax might become. Though he was a force of nature on the battlefield, his frenzy made him more and more difficult to control.

The Skalathrax campaign, during which the legion tore itself apart in a single night, marked the decisive point in the tale of Marax. After Kharn the Betrayer had begun the senseless slaughter, Lorimar had to use all of his authority to keep at least his company together as an organised force. But amidst the chaos of blood and flame, he was opposed by Marax. The once loyal battle brother considered Lorimar’s refusal of bloody slaughter to be treason and threw himself at his captain, filled with daemonic rage.

While the World Eaters were tearing each other apart, Lorimar and Marax were locked in a fight for life and death of their own.
Marax was an unfathomably powerful warrior, and his anger transformed him into a whirlwind of destruction, but in the end, it was his rage that spelt his doom: He fell for a feint and was almost cut in two by Lorimar’s axe. The battle was decided.

Even with death drawing near, Marax still tried to reach his foe. When he breathed his last, Lorimar, towering over his shattered body, promised him this: He would receive a grave that was worthy of a true warrior. And he would be feared for eternity.

Apothecary Dumah had to employ every mystery of his art to trap the last spark of life within the shattered form of Marax. But he was successful: Marax was interred into the sarcophagus of a dreadnought and thus sentenced to an eternity of war – truly a worthy grave for a warrior.

Being trapped inside the dreadnought for millennia has irrevocably shattered Marax’s mind, and all that might have been left of the once proud warrior has been drowned in a sea of bloodlust and insanity. When the 4th assault company is not at war, his eternal grave is secured within a stasis field, which is only deactivated once the battle begins. On the battlefield, he rushes forward like a wild beast, tearing apart enemies and war machines alike with crackling lightning claws, howling with rage and hatred. And it is not easy to decide who fears Marax more: Those who have to face him in battle or the warriors of the 4th assault company themselves, to whom he has become an undying reminder of what will befall them, should they give in to the curse of blood frenzy.



So, meet the 30k version of Brother Marax: By the look of the model, Marax is already well on his way to becoming and unstoppable madman by this point. And isn’t it heartening to see how he has stuck with his trademark weapons for over 10,000 years? Awww….



And here’s the second character in his “youth”. Take a look:



Brother Khoron the Undying, Keeper of Trophies

In a way, Khoron the Undying was old already when the World Eaters legion was still young. Having been a warrior from a very early age, he was already a battle-hardened veteran, forged in the fires of the Unification Wars, when Lorimar ascended to command of the 4th assault company. Brother Khoron had seen battle and he had the scars to prove it. He served unter Lorimar’s command, but he was a trusted friend of the young Captain, full of experience and wisdom and gifted with a deep understanding of what it was that bound the legionaries together as brothers. He stood with Lorimar during his search for an identity for the legion. And he stood with him when the Captain decided to follow his Primarch to Terra to depose the false Emperor. For many years, he was a tower of strength for the company and came to be respectfully called “older brother” by the legionaries.

Shortly after the Skalathrax campaign had sundered the legion, Khoron was mortally wounded during a hunt. The man who had survived a thousand battles was powerless in the end, as the alien powers of a Xenos weapon tore his body apart. With his dying breath, he implored Lorimar to let him continue fighting, accepting the dangers of being entombed within the sarcophagus of a Dreadnought. Lorimar was hesitant, for he had witnessed the effects of such incarceration on the Fallen, but in the end he granted his old friend’s wish.

And thus the “older brother” became the being known as the Undying. For the last millennia, his colossal frame has continued to be a sight of inspiration to his brothers. Where Marax the Fallen is a warning of the damnation awaiting the company, the Undying symbolises a way of keeping this grisly fate at bay. It is only at the most chaotic moments of battle that he will succumb to rage and frenzy, and each time this happens, his brothers hope that he will come to eventually. And they fear the day when their older brother’s mind will finally cave in on itself.

When not in battle, Khoron the Undying serves as a master of rites to the company, residing in the Hall of Hunters aboard the company’s capital ship, Aeternus Venator. There he guards the trophies and weapons assembled by the Warriors of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt and presides over the ceremonies held by the legionaries since the times of the Great Crusade.



I love how the face used by AgnostosTheos captures Khoron as an older, more grizzled veteran, even during the days of the Heresy. And the skull on his chestplate could even be seen as a shoutout to his later countenance…



Anyway, this is clearly a fantastic chance of getting a glimpse at the past lives of the legionaries in the 4th assault company. And AgnostosTheos‘ paintjobs and conversions are more than worthy representations for the characters — in fact, his versions are more than giving me a run for my money ;-)

Will we see more glimpses at this unremembered empire, I wonder? What would Lord Captain Lorimar have looked like at that time? Hmm…

In any case, many thanks to AgnostosTheos for this lovely and unexpected Christmas present! Be sure to check out his WIP thread as well as his awesome Flickr gallery!

So yeah, two awesome examples of me somehow managing to wiggle my way into other people’s hobby endeavours

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Such an awesome idea of having 30k representations of some of you warband. That other guy's Night Lords army is simply stunning.

How many more 30k versions of your Warband is he going to incorporate?

I love seeing modelers working together on dakka. Some superb work once again! I hope we get to see more 30k versions.

Those are awesome. They paint such a vivid picture of who they are

Just wanted to pop in again to say I'm still throughly enjoying your blog. Very inspiring work for sure, and a copy cat project of my own is at the top of my to do list for 40k. Well after actually painting 1850 points worth of models I already own to actually use my own fully painted army at a tournament for the first time ever. But thats going off topic.

Seriously lovely work in this thread. Just a quick question, how different are the Warriors of Chaos Skullcrusher Jugganaughts compared to the Bloodcrusher ones?

Cheers, guys! After being thoroughly lazy for my entire Christmas vacation, I am slowly returning to hobby mode, so expect something new to look at in the near future!

@rodgers37: The bodies and poses are virtually the same, and I believe the Skullcrusher juggers are actually slightly reworked Bloodcrusher juggers Some of the ornaments on the legs are different, though, and you get some subtly different heads and headdresses. The main difference is the fact that the Skullcrusher juggers have with a saddle attached to their backs (to which the rider's legs are attached on either side to form the rider's lower body). Hope this helps!

Alright, update time, like I promised!

Having been unbelievably lazy for a couple of weeks, I have recently undertaken a couple of steps to get back into hobby mode. As is so often the case with restarting an engine that has lain dormant for a while, the first moments aren’t pretty, with lots of sputtering and grinding. But it finally feels like I am slowly getting back into the swing of things, so today I would like to show you a number of smaller projects I am currently working on:

1. The Brazen Wall – revisited

First up is an Aegis Defense line for my World Eaters. I started working on this some time last summer, but then it more or less fell by the wayside. So, time to get some more work in! Here’s the aegis as it looks right now:



While I wanted the defense line to look like it clearly belonged to my army, I didn’t want to go overboard with the spiky bitz. I basically used some spikes an armour plates from the chaos vehicle sprue to spruce up the different segments. Nothing amazing, certainly. But the true achievement was to get rid of all those pesky Imperial aquilas.



To be fair, though, after I had found the right approach for doing this, it turned into an almost relaxing task. I was able to shave off all the loyal iconography in a single evening.



And while the defense line will still need some additional bitz, mostly trophies, skulls and impaled Astartes, it’s definitely getting there! Again, not the most creative and groundbreaking endeavour in the world, but just the right project to slowly ease me back into hobby mode!


2. Death from Above

Let’s continue with something slightly more involved: I also finally found a way to make what may be my favourite model from the Dark Vengeance boxed set into a member of my World Eaters:









I always thought that the Chosen wielding lightning claws would make for an excellent jump infantry officer or lord, so I added a raptor jump pack and some clawed toes from the warp talons. It’s a rather simple conversion, of course, but one I am nevertheless rather pleased with. It also resembles GW’s own Chaos lord with jump pack (as a matter of fact, I had originally intended of using that model’s jump pack for this conversion, but abandoned the idea when it turned out to be far too unwieldy).

Oh, and I do of course realise that using a flowing cape like that directly underneath what ultimately amounts to a jet engine may not be the smartest idea in the world, but there’s always the Rule of Cool, isn’t there? Let’s just pretend it’s made from flame-retardant fabric, okay?


3. Hammer Time!

Building chaos lords is one of my favourite hobby activities, of course, and with the Raptor Lord out of the way, another traitor officer was quick to follow. I was beginning to feel more adventurous, too! But we’ll get to that in a minute.

First things first: Does anyone remember these guys?



Long before FW redesigned the whole Pre-Heresy stuff, there were a number of highly interesting older models put out by GW proper. One of them was the Mk I Tactical Dreadnought Armour, indeed going back to one of Jes Goodwin’s concept sketches for the later Terminators.

Anyway, this small scrap of half-forgotten lore was lying around in my inspiration folder. And then I came across an illustration by the ever-inspirational Greyall, depicting an Imperial Fists marine wearing an updated form of Mk I TDA.

Seeing that image made me realise that it might be interesting to build a model that took design cues from that rather ancient design, and another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Things really got underway when I started messing around with a couple of leftover armour plates from the Heldrake kit, because they almost look like those Mk I shoulder plates, if you only look at them long enough.

So I formulated a plan for yet another chaos lord conversion: I would build a chaos lord wearing custom armour that would take inspiration from both the Mk I and Cataphractii designs. Not a straight recreation of either, but something that incorporated elements from both in order to create an armour that looked archaic and massive. And of course, my beloved plastic Terminator Lord would be at the heart of the conversion once more.

Anyway, after messing around with a pile of bitz for a while, here’s an early mockup of the model:







As you can see, it’s a fairly simple kitbash, any by no means an involved recreation of either armour pattern. But some of the elements are inspired by those seen on the Pre-Heresy armour: The shoulder pads and slightly recessed, helmeted head recall a more ornate Mk I design, while the topknot and pteruges skirt are a clear reference to the Cataphractii armour. And the decorative trim and heretical symbols clearly communicate the fact that we are dealing with a member of a traitor legion, after all.

I wanted to create a hulking character in highy archaic armour, and that much seems to have worked. And while the thunder hammer was only intended as a placeholder, I think that it really nicely complements the overall look of the model — even though it’s not really a weapon associated with followers of Khorne…

Another possibility would be to use one of the mauls from the Deathwing Knights that I have conveniently lying around:



As you can see, the model’s only tacked together for now, held together by lots of modelling putty and my prayers. But I am already rather fond of this guy, even though he’s only a rather simple kitbash and nowhere near as involved as, say, Dark Rage’s faithful – and incredibly cool – recreation of actual Mk I armour. or the attempt at building faithful Mk I armour I discovered just now in the Dakka Gallery . I can imagine this guy as one of Lorimar’s bodyguards, encased in ancient armour and ruthlessly efficient: a silent and deadly warrior crushing everything in the Lord Captain’s way…

Anyway, these are my first small hobby projects for this year! And of course, I am always happy to hear any feedback you might have! In any case, it’s good to be back in the game, especially considering all the crazy rumours about new CSM kits to be released soon-ish.

Now if I can only find my misplaced painting modjo, everything will turn out fine…

Anyway, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Man, I love both the terminator and raptor models. I like the use of the maulerfiend parts as shoulderpads - I'm going to keep that one in my kit bag for future use too!

I think the mace is alright, but it smacks of Nurgle to me. Something about the holes in the head makes me think of leaking gases and such. I'd go with the tried and true axe, but he still looks good as is.

The biggest change I've noticed working with pre-heresy terminator kits is the head area. It's very recessed in both patterns, and the head hole is small enough that a full sized head won't fit. You have to trim it down so only the nose-up is visible. That'd be the only thing that screams newer MK armor about your lord to me, but honestly I like it better anyway.

Keep up the great work man - your conversions are awesome.

Dan

Cheers, mate! Your stuff is also always inspirational, so consider the compliment returned

While you're right about the head area, I think I like the actual head to much to further obscure it though: Call it a case of "Rule over Cool" over "historical" accuracy

You may be right about the maul -- I do like the idea of a smashy World Eaters Termie, though. I suppose my best bet is to track down one of the vanilla loyalist Thunder Hammers (since the detail on those will be easy to get rid of) and suitably convert it using spiky bitz and brass etched Khorne symbols.

There's also an interesting update:

Fellow hobbyist carnosaur93 over on B&C suggested to turn the shoulder pads around to make them look even more similar to the Mk 1 look. And while I didn't believe him at first, I tried it and was amazed:



Consider my mind blown! The model actually looks 100% more like the old Mk I Termies now! It even has that slightly "alien" look to the shoulders, I don't know how to describe it any better: The curvature of the shoulders is quite unlike anything seen on modern (traitor) Astartes models.

I have yet to decide which version I actually like better, but the changed one really looks more like the older armour pattern. And it also has a certain "je ne sais quoi"...food for thought, definitely!

Oh, and because this was noticed on the other forums: The gap on the Raptor Lord's arm is actually a result of the parts not being glued together yet, so you can expect that element to disappear on the finished model!.

Wow, this terminator is looking awesome! Even more awesome now that you changed the position on the shoulder pads!
Not seen anything to do with Mk.1 armour for years model wise or even artwork wise and forgot how cool it looks

What an intimidating looking mother-trucker! This makes me want to start some chaotic antics!...*schemes*

Good idea, I think it looks better with the pads turned, although if you could fill in the gaps that would be ideal, make him look more solid. Oh and add a band of ribbing across the middle of them like the classic look.

I like that head, looks like a cylon. Where is it from?

I think you should give him a stormbolter in the mark I style, the double sickle magazines are a cool idea.

Yep, looks awesome, I thought that the Space Wolves Thunder Hammer looked great too, better than the maul anyways.

This is a truly phenomenal job, almost makes me want to turn to the dark side hahaha...

@wonkobaggins You should take a look at the Justaerin terminators from Forgeworld. They actually made them so you can fit a full head or helmet in and move it around too, seems they are evolving the models beyond the first cataphractii's limitations with the stupid sliding in the half head thing. And the spiky areas on it would suit a Khorne themed army

Loving te revised Termi Lord mate. The plates look a lot better the second way round. As for the PM. Consider my mind truly blown.

BFTBG Brother.

Personally, I think the maul works better- it should be relatively easy to either fill the holes in, and maybe put a more flanged pattern on the smooth sections instead. But the round shape fits better with the roundness of the shoulder armour- in relation to that, I feel like using GS to build out the 'cowl' of the current Termie armour so that it's smoother, rounder, and projects more to the middle of the head (rather than ending behind it) would effectively change the look to match the overblown shoulders better as well.

Thanks a lot for the positive feedback, guys!

It goes without saying that the model's far from finished. So all gaps will be filled in the end, and a suitable set of weapons will be sorted out -- although I am pretty sure it'll be a combination of CC weapons, in keeping with the rest of the Terminator bodyguard intended for Lord Captain Lorimar.

@ Bruticus: The head came from the WFB Skullcrusher kit, with the "bunny ears" clipped off.

@ Anvildude: Good point about the cowl! I am only messing around a bit, but would this work?





I have also started to slightly convert the vents on the back of the torso, bringing them more in line with the power plants on the backs of Cataphractii armour:



As always, let me know what you think!

I think the last configuration, with the cowl, looks the best. that dude certainly is imposing!!
looking forward to seeing what you do with this

Words cannot describe how slick that conversion is. That is such an awesome re-imagining of that original Terminator Armour, I hope GW is taking notes.

The cowl is exactly what I was thinking. Brilliant!

See, I think the theme here is gonna be the rounder surfaces- and something you could possibly do with the painting is to do those up as bone- bringing to mind the curved surfaces of skulls, as opposed to the flatness of pools of blood.

Thanks a lot, guys!

In just 24 hours, this guy has evolved into something much cooler than my original plan through your comments, and I really like that!

A grey knight front torso with the I details removed could have the head sitting deeper into the torso. I have to say I'm really enjoying the progress on this guy

Cheers, buddy!

To be honest, I am not really looking for a way to move the head further into the body -- the bit is too cool for that, so I'll go for less authenticity in this case. I also think that I am on a good course with the chaos knight shoulderpad acting as a cowl of sorts. It'll need some more detail work, of course, but I am rather psyched for making this guy as awesome as I can, so I suppose it'll all work out in the end

In other news, woohoo, my 1000st post on Dakka! -- and I am a Berserker BIker now? Go figure!

Damn! Your new chaos lord in terminator is....

Damn! What a fine, fierce conversion!

Hmm if your looking for a smashy maul whih I reckon is the way to go for this guy wouldn't either of the knights maul arms look even better on him. He looks excellent now but both of them would look more solid and chaotic.

Cheers, guys! Regarding the weapon, my next step will be to try and convert a loyalist thunder hammer, like I said. I actually have the chaos knight mauls in my bitzbox, but they are not 100% what I am looking for. Still, no option's totally off the table yet

So, while we wait for the Chaos Lord to take shape, let me show you something rather different today that hasn't got anything to do with my World Eaters

Among the first steps on the way to rediscovering my missing painting modjo was to do some experiments using two of the new Citadel Technical Paints. Yes, I realise that I am rather late to the party when it comes to using these, but I had picked up a bottle of Agrellan Earth and Nurgle’s Rot, respectively, shortly before christmas, and now it was time to put them to the test.

And what better way to play loose with paints than to paint a follower of Nurgle? Not only do the Technicals chiefly lend themselves to doing rather squicky effects related to decay and bodily fluids, but painting Nurglite models can also be a ton of fun — and if something goes wrong, you can usually pretend it was planned to look that way, too…

That said, I didn’t want to sacrifice a highly involved conversion, so I chose a really old, early 90s’ plastic Plague Marine as my test subject. I also rather like the slightly corny charm of these early plastic models (the Khorne Berzerkers from the same time are still one of my favourite retro designs). A missing arm was replaced with a mutated CSM arm from my bitzbox (which also gave me the added benefit of being able to paint an area of distressed flesh). Then I broke out the paints and let rip with all the effects at my disposal in order to create weathering, decay and just general unpleasantness.

Here’s the finished model:













As you may be able to tell from looking at the pictures, I went for a quick and dirty paintjob, mostly using washes and brushing techniques to achieve the effects I wanted. I wanted to make sure painting this guy would be fun and not get bogged down by intricate detail work. And it worked, I mostly had a blast — even though the resulting model is not very likely to win me any trophies

But what about those Citadel Technical Paints? How did they perform?

As you can see, Nurgle’s Rot was used to create…well, Nurgle’s Rot, actually: I added a healthy amount of it to the Plague Marine’s twisted claw, for one, to make it look like a daemonic stinger of sorts, leaking virulent fluid:



The colour was also used on the model’s backpack, creating disgusting slime leaking out of the vents:



And finally, it was added to the torso, showing where the rot is actually breaking through the legionnaire’s armour, especially around the tubes and cables:



All in all, it basically performed like you would expect it to, creating a wet-looking, glossy slime in a pretty evil green hue. It’s a really easy and effective tool for adding slime to followers of Nurgle, but I think it would fare just as well when adding puddles of toxic sewage to your bases or terrain pieces. Granted, it may be a bit of a one-trick pony, but being able to open up a bottle and just add the slime is definitely preferrable to having to mix your own stuff by combining green colour(s) and gloss varnish (or having to work in several coats). The fact that it’s semi-translucent also really helps, making it actually look like slime instead of green colour with gloss addded on top.

The picture above actually nicely leads us to the second technical colour in question: I experimented with Agrellan Earth, hoping to create an effect at least slightly similar to the corroded armour on LuckyNo5′s excellent Mariner’s Blight models. I think we can all agree that having a simple way of creating flaking paint and a general crackle texture on the armour of Nurgle Marines (or on terrain pieces, of course) would make hobby life easier and more interesting. Well, here’s how that went:

I began my experiments by adding Agrellan Earth undiluted (and in a rather thick coat) to a base. I followed the instructions given by GW themselves, and this was the result:



A rather nice crackle effect, don’t you think? In fairness, it is slighly less pronounced if you see it with your own eyes instead of having an enlarged photograph. But the effect’s pretty cool — and also proof that I didn’t get a bottle from one of the bad batches.

So my next step was to add the colour to the marine’s armour, mixing it with a different colour to arrive at a suitably Nurgly colour scheme. Having to add light brown to the green led to the armour having a slightly lighter shade of green than I had originally planned, but that was quite alright.

The problem, however, was that getting a noticeable crackle effect here was way more difficult than when working with the colour on its own: I actually used several passes, experimenting with the ratio between Agrellan Earth and green paint. But even when using only very little green (and slathering the mix on rather thickly), I only managed to get a very slight crackle effect on the model’s stomach and shoulder pads. It’s nice and subtle, but it could be a bit more pronounced. Plus it’s really hard to get the colour to perform consistently: Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, with no discernible explanation for the inconsistency.

Worse yet, when mixing Agrellan Earth with Vallejo Negro Black for the base, the paint refused to crackle at all. Take a look:



Maybe this means that using non-GW paints messes with the crackle effect somehow? Or maybe I just couldn’t get it right by that point…

To be fair, GW themselves are advertising the colour as a means for base design, above all else. So painting flaking armour with it might never have been all that promising a plan in the first place. Still, I would have hoped for the colour to be somewhat more flexible — or am I doing something wrong? Anybody out there among you readers who knows how to make the most of this particular Technical colour?

Anyway, while I am slightly disappointed with Agrellan Earth, I do believe the colour warrants further experimentation. Here’s an idea, for starters: Do you think it would be possible to paint the colour onto an unpainted model in order to create the desired crackle effect, then add the undercoat on top of that, thereby conveniently sealing the effect in place? I may just have to try that next…

In any case, the overarching goal in this small project was to have fun painting again, and that worked out swimmingly. So we can maybe look forward to some more painted stuff in the near future? Keep your fingers crossed!

Until then, though, let me know what you think! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

I do think the key to using the technical paints for texture alone will be to do 'pure' technical paint, let it dry and get the texture you want, then paint over with whatever color you want. The reason they get the crackles or other effects is because of a specific chemical mix and viscosity- mixing anything else into it will disrupt that mix and cause a lessened effect or kill the effect entirely.

Wow.

Wow. Wow! I've been gone for about a month, Kraut, and you just keep on truckin'. Lords look incredible. Termi lord, in particular, looks awesome. Nurgle guys look great too. Love those old school plaguemarines.

Thanks, guys!

@ Anvildude: You're probably right. Even so, I would have wished for the colour to be somewhat more flexible. After all, GW themselves used it on their website to create a lava base, painting Agrellan Earth mixed with black over fiery reds and oranges -- with the lava visible through the black earth after the crackle effect had set in. I hoped something similar would be achievable for armour. Oh well...

@ Moltar: Aw, mate, that's too much honour!

I have not yet given up on the subject of creating a convincing crackle effect, so the experiment continues! This time around, I kitbashed a Plague Marine, using some of the more decrepit bitz I had lying around, and added Agrellan Earth to the model before undercoating:



As you can see, the crackle effect is far more pronounced this time around. So far, so good, right?

In principle, yes. But it is rather hard to retain the effect through multiple layers of paint without covering it up. While it worked until after undercoating, the following layers of paint destroyed some of the subtlty. I tried to counter that by adding a bit of Agrellan Earth on top again, but it performed just as unevenly as before:





I'll still finish the model, because I've grown a little fond of it, but for the future, I believe I'll have to turn to dedicated crackle medium to achieve the effect I want. Still, playing around with colours again has given me a new appetite for painting, even if I have yet to tackle anything bigger...

Meanwhile, here's the status of the slightly tidied up Mk 1 conversion:





And a size comparison with another Terminator lord:



While there isn't that much of a difference in height, the shoulder pads add much more bulk to the model.

As always, let me know what you think!