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I have to say, after spending the best part of an hour (probably more, lost track of time) that you've created an amazing background.

Out of all the planets the one that drives my curiosity the most is probably Repasis. I totally have the vision of undead like mechanicus creations, dwelling, abandoned within the structures below, clawing at the surface. Perhaps waiting to be freed, or awoken by new masters...

Hyepasis is also very intriguing, I take it that it has both regular Imperial Navy in orbit and an actual PDF water based Navy? I love that it's under attack from Chaos from above and below, in the sense that something is stirring the denizens of the deep. Are you planning on creating any aquatic monstrosities

The Sun Titans are great too. I particularly like their coldness towards their allies, morseo than average Astartes. I have the feeling they're loosing interest in the system because the star is dying? Obviously stars don't die overnight, but I like to think it's perhaps a couple of hundred years from its collapse.

Do you plan on naming any other of the planets? I noticed that you'd shown off some of Meade's work, is Tekslav forge a planet or just a specific region of the Dark Mechanicus captured planet of Mageddon?

I think part of the reason your fluff resonates so well is that it brings back to mind the awe of introducing myself to 40k with 3rd edition. It's steeped in horrific darkness. A place where even heroes are villainous and unseen terrors lurking in every shadow.

I feel like we may have had this discussion at some point before, about not having enough time to get out that creativity 'onto paper' if you will. I like what your doing and your grim, Blanchesque take suits me very well, hopefully this site serves as a good way for you to get it out there.

On the subject of Wood Elves, I saw your beautiful 'mood board' for your army conception. Really, really wonderful piece to start with, I would happily find that within the pages of the army book or even framed on my wall. Do you have other work in this medium that I could see? But really I wanted to say that I share your view for the Wood Elves. Too many other projects in motion and GW consistently producing a range of toys for kids has stopped me diving into Fantasy via the Wood Elves and/or Beastmen. I wonder if you have seen Maleficent yet as there is surprisingly a couple of brilliant pieces of inspiration in there for a much darker wood elf army. The battle scene with the 'dark creatures' really wasn't dwelt on enough.

Edit: Also, what he said. ^

Haha, yes I had a bit of a shock watching Malificent - you know something is amiss when Disney does scarier forest folk than GW.

My secret project is indeed Wood Elves, I've got quite a lot done but I'm struggling with a few things and want to get it in a more presentable state before showing anything.

Profundis is on hold for now. The central concept is of dark things in the depths - depths of space, depths of the ocean, depths of imagination, etc. This is what Ex Profundis means - out of the depths (or close enough). Throne of Bones is catacombs and the elves are the depths of the forest.

I'm really into horror writing and this will probably come across more with the elves. There was a whole horror angle to Profundis that I never finished, the fallen Inquisitor and his book - the Pseudomonarchia Slaanesh - was going to be a whole Lovecraft homage thing. I'm not very inspired by Inq28 at the moment so it's on hold.

Tekslav I assume is on Mageddon, but I don't know for sure. I expect it is a house that has set up shop there. A corporate branch. Hyepasis was going to be an attempt to make a water-based battlefleet gothic (I have some nice water game boards). But also I just like dark oceans. None of the other planets in the Profundis system are noteworthy I think.

Thanks for the encouragement, I need to get moving with the other projects. I don't have much more artwork like that Dryad apart from all the images on my site.

If anyone has 15 ungor spear arms and 15 ungor shield arms, that would really help, nowhere stocks those old bits.

Well I have to admit I stumbled on Wood Elves as a guess. Really excited to see where you take them and to see how they match up to my own visions. And you're so right about Disney going darker than GW, what world are we living in?

I'd be surprised by the similarities here but it happens so often in our hobby that you find like minded creatives. I've actually been trying to develop my own universe and game based on horror and depths, what are the chances? What I've really struggled with is finding a kind of horror that fits me and that I can write well. I tend not to follow horror as a genre in much at all but I have a lot of interest in unlocking it within my own work.

What software do you use for those images? I'm trying to pick up a bit of graphic design using creative suite but I'm struggling. Gona buy some tutorial books if you have any suggestions.

And no Ungor sorry.

Wood elves are certainly sinister or should be at least. I think the Dryads and newer Treemen are actually quite sinister already. It'll be interesting to see what you've done with the wood elves.

Profundis is probably better that it's not forced and letting it develop when you feel inspired. That Aquatic Battlefeet gothic does sounds very interesting though.

The fantasy related stuff is fantastic though. I think the themes of a a dead city/catacombs that's being reclaimed by ancient forrest could work in bringing them both together. I appreciate that you're probably keeping them seperate.

It might interest you to know (you too Casey) that there have been a series of Gothic documentaries on BBC4. They're still on the iplayer at the moment. I think they've been quite interesting so it might be worth checking out if you have the time. Even background noise for modelling.

It's called "The art of Gothic"

 Medium of Death wrote:
It might interest you to know (you too Casey) that there have been a series of Gothic documentaries on BBC4. They're still on the iplayer at the moment. I think they've been quite interesting so it might be worth checking out if you have the time. Even background noise for modelling.

It's called "The art of Gothic"

It does indeed interest me, thank you!

I use Photoshop.

I saw part of that Gothic thing, I'll have to dig up the rest, particularly if there is an episode on Poe.

MoD - when are you going to bump your thread? That Tzeentch thing is seriously great.

The Gothic documentary just seems to be up to episode 3 and from what I gather it's up to mid 1800's in this episode. I'll let you know if there's a Poe mention.

Thanks man, I really need to get back on track with my blog. I need to figure out how I'm going to do the legs. The idea will be swirling columns of Chaos daemons/fire.

EDIT:

Just noticed that you had commented on the thread. I don't have the long legs spare, the way I intend to to the legs involed keeping the robe part, so I just sawed out the legs. I'm going to wire up the gaps and start sculpting/pinning various bits and pieces in.

My biggest problem is getting a solid base to start from. I think it'll be going on a 60mm, but it is pretty huge, the 90 by 120 oval would probably be better.

I've had time to write up my ideas for the Throne of Bones:

http://www.exprofundis.com/throne-of-bones/

A joy to read as always Bruticus, thanks for linking it for us. I like how you took the time to explain where this all comes from at the end there. I never bit with Cthulu in the past but I feel it drawing me in these days as I look for more horror, I can't believe it's taken me so long to take the lovecraftian pilgrimage. Also adding Berserk to my list of research material thank you, I've been told a few times it's right up my street. What sort of collaboration are you looking to do? Not that I'm offering to get involved but I'm interested.


And on the subject of Photoshop I currently find it absolutely terrifying.

Fantastic reading there. Seems like it'll be an epic project. I really smiled at the mention of the current Vampire families.

I see scope for Wights and skeletons, which is something I think is sadly missing from the Mordheim book. I love skeletons more than zombies primarily because of this.



Certainly Dark Souls, I'll need to watch Beserk if it was an inspiration for the game, has a lot of skeleton based enemies, The Skeleton Lords come to mind.

Casey, you should pick up the Call of Cthuhu & other weird stories. It seems to be a fairly good spread and I enjoyed it having never read his stuff before.

I'm not such a fan of skeletons, I think it's a bit weird that they exist as anything other than just zombies that have less body fat. I mean, where is the cut off point? Do skeletons have to get their bones scrubbed clean before they are accepted into the ranks? I think there should just be walking dead bodies and that's it. Some much older ones with less flesh. I can't imagine a necromancer dividing up his corpses to make regiments: 'oh this one is definitely a skeleton, this one could go either way' , etc

For Lovecraft I suggest listening to Wayne June read it on YouTube. Probably The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Great voice and easier than trying to read Lovecraft's often pretty tedious prose. His ideas are amazing but the writing isn't always.

For Berserk, watch the 3 new films, they are great. The old amine series was how I first saw it and it's amazing, but I think it is replaced now really. The mangas are very good, some of my favourite ever art.

Thanks to both of you for the tips, I'll be looking into all of the above. Oh and I now have quite a few new threads to read after a quick flick through your stuff again Medium.

Hilarious images of Necrobureaucramancy.

Looking forward to whatever you work on next.

Think I'll need to watch them at some point.

I get what you're saying about skeletons. I view them as more automaton like. Fantasy robots, unhindered by rotting flesh but still bound to the will of the Necromancer. I can see truly ancient places having skeleton warriors. Plus I'd imagine that with the amount of insects and other gribbly critters that any flesh would be stripped in short order.

Necrobureaucramancy. Love it.

'I keep telling you I'm not a skeleton I'm a zombie... Well yeah the insects got at me overnight and now... Yeah skeletal exactly but it's not that simple is it. I can't just go in that regiment, we've got nothing in common, they don't even eat brains. Also I don't know how to use a bow or a spear. Zombie coordination - look, I'm a shambles. Totally different things mate... Nah I'll just go with the other zombies and wear some baggy clothes, should be fine.'

When you put it like that, kinda starting to see your point.

One thing that did shout out at me while reading about the Throne would be the possibility that some Khornate Warriors might mistake the nature of the Throne. Hearing whispers and half truths. Mistaking this Vampiric legend for a relic of Khorne himself. Foolish mortals not comprehending this far darker artefact.

oh my god i want to play throne of bones, your vesion is hat i want the vampire counts to be in WFB just a huge horde of zombies skeletons and ghouls led by a single vampire is awesome, but im a skaven player at heart any chance the vermin might burrow their way in

also have you seen this
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Sporocyst

that Mucolid Spore would make a great giest i think

My kickstarter arrived today, I think it's about a year overdue and I was having a bit of buyer's remorse - do I really need another giant project right now? But the components are really great, nice high quality casts in a lightweight brown resin that look pretty good even before any detailing or paintwork. And I have two huge boxes full of it.



I need a bit of advice though, these things are literally covered in powdery mould release agent and I know they won't take paint at the moment. I was thinking a full bathtub of hot soapy water might help, but I reckon maybe some cleaning product could be more effective. Any ideas?

And suggestions for a cheap, extremely durable undercoat spray would be good too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also Ken - they would make good geists although possibly more expensive than the very reasonably priced forgeworld ones. Nice tattoo art by the way.

that kickstarter stuff looks really cool for washing it warm soapy water should be fine just use a soft brush so as not to rub away details i used to do fine art sculpture at uni and thats all we used

yeah they would work out a lot more expensive but maybe you could get one through a bit seller cheap, after seeing what you have done with the forge world ones im thinking of using them as a base for mini blight drones on an armies on parade board

oh n thanks for the compliment haaha

Awesome terrain and yeh I've heard soap and warm water is as effective as you'll ever need it to be.

Very atmospheric for plain resin. I imagine it's going to look sublime when it's painted up. How much area does it cover?

Wilkinsons stocks cheap acrylic spray paints. Plastikote is the brand name

 Bruticus wrote:
And suggestions for a cheap, extremely durable undercoat spray would be good too.

I use Krylon matte black / white for all my undercoating needs, with far fewer complaints than many modeling primers I've had over the years. Standard rules apply of course: don't spray too cold, too humid, too thick of a coat, blah, blah

Annnnnd now that I've stopped lurking your thread, great work, really quite inspiring take on small-scale 40k modeling. You've actually got me and my brother working up some three-man warbands for a spot of 28mm Inquisitor this winter, so bravo

- Salvage

Cheers all. It's enough to cover a 6x4 board I think (actually I think I have far too much of it, I might sell some). I am concerned about painting it as reports from other buyers are that primer is flaking off.

I've always liked this hirsts arts stuff, but I can't imagine using plaster to cast it, even with a dense plaster you'd have to be so careful.

I'll add some details but really I want it to stay very durable, so good primer and varnish is essential.

Not a huge update from me, been busy moving house and haven't unpacked my tiny men yet.

I have finished a short story that serves as an introduction to the third project i have on the go, the Black Sloth Hell. It's a Wood Elf fantasy battle army with a horror theme.

Everything I do has some horror influence, but here it is a bit stronger than usual, based on Lovecraft, Ligotti and Laird Barron in particular.

I have plenty of half finished models to show off soon too.

Read it here: http://www.exprofundis.com/black-sloth-hell-prologue/

A couple of new things, I haven't been doing much hobby recently due to real life distractions. My elf army is on hold for a bit while I figure out what to do about basing (ironically I had originally planned to put them all on round bases in movement trays but then decided to go for square so I could maybe play one day...) Decided to paint some older models instead:

Necrarch Vampire:





Bit of a quick job as I never loved this conversion, apart from the hood thing anyway. I think he looks suitable though. I smartened up some zombies for his retinue in the Throne of Bones. More info on my blog.


Orlat Vor, the Sin-Eater. Cannibal Prince of Slaanesh.







Quite good fun to paint actually, not as overwhelming as I had expected.

Can I ask what you did to the zombies and are they mantic ones ?

I did those a while ago, just some greenstuff vines, tissue paper and textured paint.

Works wonders especially the vines I gather that's what gives the hair appearance ?

That's flock I think. There is an unpainted pic in my gallery somewhere