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So, like so many others, I enjoy apocalypse. Back in the old days, whent he animals still spoke, epic 40K was cool and had units called "knights" in them. They were basically mini-titans, piloted by a single nobleman (a knight, so to speak), and were designed to protect herds of big animals. In time of war, they would join up with the imperial armies and unleash hell on the enemy.

This is what the old knight paladins looked like:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/cptmcmeaty/Vostroyans/Knight.jpg


I wanted to update my guy a bit, not to mention that he's 40k scale instead of epic. I definitely wanted to keep the feel and the weaponry, but the round shapes had to go. All newer models for the Imperium are more angular, and I prefer them that way. If I ever do a warhound, it'll be a Lucius pattern for that very reason as well.

It's not quite finished yet, but right now I'm waiting for a manufactorum to arrive for some detailing, so I thought I'd post it up here and maybe get some ideas

Still, enough rambling, here's some pics:

front view:


sides:




rear:


scale shot with a techpriest (fitting model IMO)


And the view the poor tabletop mini gets:


So let me say this again loud and clear: very WIP

Especially the torso needs some detailing, but I'm waiting for some manufactorum parts to detail it - and the rivetting makes me cringe .

Some questions I have:
1) Should I add titan-style greaves? I'm afraid they'll make the feet look dumb, but right now it feels a bit unarmoured.
2) Do the gubbins on top work? They're supposed to be field generators/comm arrays/ tech priest porn channel receivers.
3) How do you guys feel about the sentinel head? I used it because it's a one-man cockpit, but it's not very knightly. It does tie in with currect 40k however, where the old head was more space-marine like. Fine on 1" high mini, not on an 8" high machine of destruction.
4) I like the warlord-like silhouette, but I'm wanting other people's opinions on this.
5) Does the gun arm work? I like the chainsword arm, so that one is staying .
6) Should I reserve a spot for the heraldry? Right now I'll just use the front panels, but maybe I should a shield somewhere with the heraldry instead...

Let me know what you guys think!

that thing looks really awesome. Can't find any advice to give, because its been done so well, nothing wrong in my eyes. Looking forward to the finished model!

I think that the top looks a bit too blocky, as in too squared. Yes, I know Imperial technology is supposed to look blocky, but you might want to try some other angles than just boxes.

Otherwise the model looks cool, like what you did with the feet. Most Knights based on Defilers seem to have those Defiler claws as feet which just looks a bit off to me.

1) Should I add titan-style greaves? I'm afraid they'll make the feet look dumb, but right now it feels a bit unarmoured.

Perhaps try to make different feet? Use bits from your bits box in combination with plastic card to sort of try to create smaller versions of the Warhound's legs?

2) Do the gubbins on top work? They're supposed to be field generators/comm arrays/ tech priest porn channel receivers.

Got a close up shot of those?

3) How do you guys feel about the sentinel head? I used it because it's a one-man cockpit, but it's not very knightly. It does tie in with currect 40k however, where the old head was more space-marine like. Fine on 1" high mini, not on an 8" high machine of destruction.

Try to convert it a bit with plastic card to make it look like a helmet or something. Or perhaps try to change the angles on the front/lower part a bit so it doesn't look too obviously taken from a Sentinel.

4) I like the warlord-like silhouette, but I'm wanting other people's opinions on this.

It's cool, but yeah I already commented on that when I started this post.

5) Does the gun arm work? I like the chainsword arm, so that one is staying .

I think they are both handing a tiny bit too low, but that's just personal taste. As for the gun arm, drop the ammo box or otherwise try to make it smaller. Add some detail to the barrel of the gun (Leman Russ parts perhaps?).

6) Should I reserve a spot for the heraldry? Right now I'll just use the front panels, but maybe I should a shield somewhere with the heraldry instead...

On the loin part you could do either a loin cloth/banner kind of thing or a shield. The shoulders could also have heraldry like the Space Marine shoulderpads in a way. Perhaps have a banner hang from the gun?

Id say , why Knight Paladin? make it a Warhound and call it a day

Looking forward to the finished model!

Me too! It's far from perfect though, but since I intend to make a household (3-5 knights), I should be able to improve as I go along...

@ Malika: Let's answer these one by one

1) I've made a mock up of warhound feet with some sprue offcuts, but they didn't work very well IMO; they were a bit thin. The feet right now were meant to be temporary; the 'heel' bit is ok, but the front bits are just bitz of dozer blade, even though they've kind of grown on me. The original plan is to replacee these with something chunky and stable looking. If I make greaves, I'll have to extend the front bit as well or it will look very stubby. Nothing wrong with big feet though, it'll make the model more stable. Also, warhound legs bend the other way, which means you need different feet as well.

Maybe this pic will make things a bit clearer:

As you can see the front bit needs lots of work.

2) Here's the close-ups




3) I'm considering changing the frontal armour to look more like a visor. If I get hold of some COD parts, I might try to give him an eagle-shaped visor like some space marine vets have.

4) When I make my second one, I'll add some more angles on the shoulders and on the bottom of the torso; those two parts annoy me the most with this one. Still, it's my first attempt at plasticard, so I'm reasonably happy with it. The pics also make it look a tad more boxy than it is. As always, the pics are to blame

5) The arms are too low because I decided, after building both torso and arms, to include magnetized arms. They add 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) to the arm length, which makes them hang a bit too low. Still, I don't feel like prying open the torso to heighten the arm mounts; it would mean wrecking the model. I'm not sure about making the ammo box smaller though. It's scaled up from a terminator assault cannon, and actually looks like it could hold enough ammo for a whole battle. The old models had just barrels, but nowhere to put the shells. . As for the barrel- I want to restrict myself to just a few kits and plasticard since I intend to build a bunch of them, so that's why it's pretty basic right now. A banner and some tech-stuff should be feasible though.

6) A banner hanging from the barrel of the gun would be pretty cool, nice idea! If I get the COD parts, I'll add an AM ymbol on one shoulder and his heraldry on the other one I think.

Thanks for the detailed reply! P.S.: are you the Malika from (amongs others) da gargant ownerz club?

Id say , why Knight Paladin? make it a Warhound and call it a day

For one, I like knight paladins . Second, it's too small: it only stands 8" (20cm) tall, instead of the 10-12" (25-30 cm) a warhound does. And it has a much smaller footprint as well. But the main reason: I wanted to build a paladin

Yup the same (annoying) Malika!

Excellent idea... the underloved titan-step child could use some representation. I do think you've gone a bit too far to the blocky end in an attempt to get its silhouette to match more closely with the Lucius Warhound (which I also prefer) but it's a good effort. If you clean up the torso areas a bit, I think it'll be a spot-on model.

Excellent idea... the underloved titan-step child could use some representation. I do think you've gone a bit too far to the blocky end in an attempt to get its silhouette to match more closely with the Lucius Warhound (which I also prefer) but it's a good effort. If you clean up the torso areas a bit, I think it'll be a spot-on model.

Thanks! I've always liked the background of the knights, but I guess I like all the stuff GW tends to hide away... I used to play chaos dwarfs as well . It's weird that forgeworld hasn't picked up on them either, since they could sell sets instead of just one model like the warhound... It'll be nice to put a household on the table (Bell of Lost Souls rules, 3-5 should do it) and watch everybody wonder what those small titans are .

The torso still needs a lot of detailing, so I hope that will cover up some of the blockiness (sp?). I'm leaving that till last becasue my FLGS didn't have a COD manufactorum in stock . Those wall sections contain some nice AM symbols and technological looking stuff to add some detailing.

Yup the same (annoying) Malika!

Thought so. Now add some constructive criticism!

So, on with the updates. I've started work on a new foot. Or rather, a decent foot instead of slapping on a bit of dozer blade just to keep the knight standing. Patience is a virtue I tend to lack . I wanted a foot that was stable enough to look like it could actually support a 15m high machine of war. I also wanted something that looked like it could take the recoil from a battlecannon and not fall on its rear end .

So, enter the new foot.

Front:


sides:




The old 'foot'


And a view of the whole thing


So, how do you guys feel about it? Too blocky probably? . I still need to greenstuff it a bit, and add rivets. But I want it to sink in a bit and see if I like it before doing the annoying (and tedious) stuff.

I find the shoulders look very chunky. maybe put a plasticard triangle between the shpulder bits and the torso. It would tie the shoulders and torso together more.

I think it would look neat if you stuck some armor on the hip joints.

I'm no modeler though so i have no clue how didficult this would be. that being said you've got yourself something prety darn awesome already.

I agree with Alfred here, you should definitely put something between that plastic card and the part where the legs start to show. It looks somewhat odd, as if there are two completely different things glued to each other. Which they are of course, but the trick with a good conversion is that you can't really see that it's a conversion!

2) Here's the close-ups

Not so sure about those Sentinel legs looking thing on the Knight's back. I would definitely suggest adding more detail to the plastic card parts, look at Space Marine vehicles such as the Rhino and Land Raider hulls for inspiration!

Some links you might find interesting:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v168/Silphid/Deathguard/



http://warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21409

http://warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102676

http://www.hortwerth.com/My_own_projects/index.html

I find the shoulders look very chunky. maybe put a plasticard triangle between the shpulder bits and the torso. It would tie the shoulders and torso together more.

I think it would look neat if you stuck some armor on the hip joints.

I'm no modeler though so i have no clue how didficult this would be. that being said you've got yourself something prety darn awesome already.

Um I'm not quite getting what you mean with 'between the shoulder bits and the torso'... Do you mean somethin to break up the 90° angle in his 'armpits'?

I've considered armour on the hip joints, but the torso can rte right now, and hip armour would block the weapons, so it won't be possible on this one. I intend to have the weapons a bit more to the outside on my next knight, this should enable me to add some armour.

As far as modelling goes: I'm not a white belt, but nowhere near black belt either . The main thing you need to do is measure a lot, dry-fit, and be patient. Ans find the proper materials and tools too!

@ Malika: those first two make me want to throw mine away... . The last three I had seen already while researching mine, but I hadn't found the first two yet. Thanks for that!

Mine seems slightly bigger though. It's a shame there were no models included for scale, but judging by the legs they seem 1-2" smaller. I especially like the 'eagle pattern' knight. The head is definitely a source of inspiration. I'm aiming for mine to be like the UM honour guard: http://www.coolminiornot.com/204496

The main prob I have with those knight models is that their shoulders look very thin: the nurgle one is just two rhino sides stuck together, and the eagle one isn't very thick either, since he used a bit of track guard near the torso. In a very cunning way, I might add! The detailing on the eagle one is just great though. That's what I'm aiming for as soon as the COD parts arrive, which I regret to inform you, will take 7-10 days. Might be better of ordering online .

I've broken up the torso-chunkiness a bit with some detailing and finished both feet. I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow, but dakka has been giving lots of errors today and I don't want to add to any potential overloading.

CommissarKhaine wrote:

I find the shoulders look very chunky. maybe put a plasticard triangle between the shpulder bits and the torso. It would tie the shoulders and torso together more.

I think it would look neat if you stuck some armor on the hip joints.

I'm no modeler though so i have no clue how didficult this would be. that being said you've got yourself something prety darn awesome already.

Um I'm not quite getting what you mean with 'between the shoulder bits and the torso'... Do you mean somethin to break up the 90° angle in his 'armpits'?

I've considered armour on the hip joints, but the torso can rte right now, and hip armour would block the weapons, so it won't be possible on this one. I intend to have the weapons a bit more to the outside on my next knight, this should enable me to add some armour.

As far as modelling goes: I'm not a white belt, but nowhere near black belt either . The main thing you need to do is measure a lot, dry-fit, and be patient. Ans find the proper materials and tools too!

@ Malika: those first two make me want to throw mine away... . The last three I had seen already while researching mine, but I hadn't found the first two yet. Thanks for that!

Mine seems slightly bigger though. It's a shame there were no models included for scale, but judging by the legs they seem 1-2" smaller. I especially like the 'eagle pattern' knight. The head is definitely a source of inspiration. I'm aiming for mine to be like the UM honour guard: http://www.coolminiornot.com/204496

The main prob I have with those knight models is that their shoulders look very thin: the nurgle one is just two rhino sides stuck together, and the eagle one isn't very thick either, since he used a bit of track guard near the torso. In a very cunning way, I might add! The detailing on the eagle one is just great though. That's what I'm aiming for as soon as the COD parts arrive, which I regret to inform you, will take 7-10 days. Might be better of ordering online .

I've broken up the torso-chunkiness a bit with some detailing and finished both feet. I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow, but dakka has been giving lots of errors today and I don't want to add to any potential overloading.

Like underneath the shoulder conecting to the torso.

Oh OK! Then we're talking about the same thing. I've been working on that, but need COD parts for the major "shape-distortion" . I'll try and post up some pics showing my attempts at teching it up (which automatically alters the shapes) and detailing some of the plasticard areas.

Sorry to other readers of this thread 'cause this will make no sense to you but here goes:

ComissarKhaine: No not that one, interesting everone has the same sort of idea...
It had a leman russ chassis as the body, not as big or as good as yours but I thought it could have been a prototype or something.

No not that one, interesting everone has the same sort of idea...
It had a leman russ chassis as the body, not as big or as good as yours but I thought it could have been a prototype or something.

For the other readers: we were discussing another knight model

Sounds interesting... Do you have any pics of it? I think most ideas are similar are because of the materials available: there's only that many 1-man imperial cockpits to use that look good on a walker model... Same goes for the defiler legs.

So, very small update today (newborn kids eat up lots of time). I finished both feet, and since most comments were about the chunkiness of the model, I added a few modifications just to show how easy it is to break up the shape. This is actually my first attempt at plasticard, so I figured that simple shapes would be best for starters. Also, if you look at any intricate model, it can be reduced to a number of basic geometric figures, which are then 'hidden' by all the cool detailing. I'm aiming for a similar effect - or at least I hope to camouflage some of the more glaring simplifications/mistakes .

Sorry. I did not get any pics, all I know about it is that it was done by someone in the GCN. I have googled for pics several times but no luck.

Its looking good so far but the center torso and shoulders really need more detail. They are too boxy and uncomplicated when compared to the rest of the model.

ShumaGorath wrote:Its looking good so far but the center torso and shoulders really need more detail. They are too boxy and uncomplicated when compared to the rest of the model.

Like said before: waiting for the COD parts .

The front panels will remain relatively undetailed though: I'll just add some armour banding and then use the flat space to paint on some heraldry. The torso will get lots of detailing, once I get hold of the right parts.

So, guess what my LFGS had in stock for me yesterday



I must say the manufactorum is brilliant: lots of tech bits, and the piece are thick enough that you can saw them in two and use both of the (very detailed) sides.

So, what did I use it for? A new gun barrel looked pretty nice, and I need to tech up the hull to break up the rather basic shape. This involved ripping of some old stuff, but it was worth it. The only bad news is that the AM symbol is too big to use on the knight, so i'll have to scratch build those. Nowhere near finished, but as far as I'll get today. Next pics will probably be totally bitzed up, and maybe even greenstuffed as well. Then, it's onto the painting. Siggestions are welcome by the way!

SO, pics:
- front and side with shiny new barrel



Thye front panelling didn't have any detail added. That's because I intend to run some iron banding on it and use the flat space for heraldry.

The rear with some easy detailing:


And a view from the top. The left side is pretty much finished, the right side and middle need some more detailing.


So, looking less chunky now? Also, any ideas for paint schemes would be appreciated. Right now I'm leaning towards a dark green armour with a white cockpit, and lots of metal working bits.

i love looking at titans that people make on here. yours looks pretty good man keep it up

could i possibly steal the idea for this from you? i'm making an ad-mech army, and the basic concept would meld well with what i have in mind for some personal touches.

lord marcus wrote:could i possibly steal the idea for this from you? i'm making an ad-mech army, and the basic concept would meld well with what i have in mind for some personal touches.

Feel free; it's probably the best compliment I can get . If you need any help with measurements or other stuff, just ask; I don't have templates, but the plasticard structure is pretty basic. I would advise you to gather all the stuff you'll need first instead of starting with just some stuff like I did, it'll make your life a lot easier. Patience is a virtue . Also, good tools are a must! A good saw, a solid crafts knife, etc. are pretty much essential. I've upgraded a lot of my tools because I found my regular ones not up to the task.

What kind of personal touches did you have in mind? I'm always on the lookout for inspiration.

Now that is starting to look like something!

How big is the model by the way? Could you put it next to a Guardsman or another 40k infantry model?

Malika2 wrote:Now that is starting to look like something!

How big is the model by the way? Could you put it next to a Guardsman or another 40k infantry model?

Thanks . Still have some way to go though. Then again, now it's just careful cutting; all the "careful" planning is done now.

Here are some scale pics; from left to right: IG sentinel, tech priest, sergeant and regular grunt, and Fabius Bile





Scale is in cm. It stands 21 cm tall now (8" and a bit for the metrically challenged ). I feel this puts it in scale with the warhound (25- 30 cm/ 10-12") and other titans. It's not too big, but it's clearly a super-heavy walker. Can't wait to try out that stomp attack .

CommissarKhaine wrote:

lord marcus wrote:could i possibly steal the idea for this from you? i'm making an ad-mech army, and the basic concept would meld well with what i have in mind for some personal touches.

Feel free; it's probably the best compliment I can get . If you need any help with measurements or other stuff, just ask; I don't have templates, but the plasticard structure is pretty basic. I would advise you to gather all the stuff you'll need first instead of starting with just some stuff like I did, it'll make your life a lot easier. Patience is a virtue . Also, good tools are a must! A good saw, a solid crafts knife, etc. are pretty much essential. I've upgraded a lot of my tools because I found my regular ones not up to the task.

What kind of personal touches did you have in mind? I'm always on the lookout for inspiration.

thanks for the advice. measurments would be appreciated, at least of the shoulders/torso.

i'd be running it using leman russ rules, so i would add shoulder mounted box guns (warlord-esque) as sponsons.

Looks good, the only thing I might be worried about is that it looks about the size of a Warhound Titan and I know that Knights are definitely smaller than Titans.

measurments would be appreciated, at least of the shoulders/torso.

Ask and thy shalt receive - so sayeth the Omnissiah!

Note that I used some older pics since the plasticard is a lot more visible here.

i'd be running it using leman russ rules, so i would add shoulder mounted box guns (warlord-esque) as sponsons.

I still have one defiler leg left over. Since I already have one heavy bolter on the cockpit, I've been thinking about making an arm with two heavy bolters attached to it so it can be proxied for a leman russ. People aren't too difficult in my LFGS, so I might just leave it like that and use the chainsword as a 'counts as' dozerblade.

Looks good, the only thing I might be worried about is that it looks about the size of a Warhound Titan and I know that Knights are definitely smaller than Titans.

Let me quote myself

It stands 21 cm tall now (8" and a bit for the metrically challenged ). I feel this puts it in scale with the warhound (25- 30 cm/ 10-12") and other titans. It's not too big, but it's clearly a super-heavy walker.

And another scale shot. The warhound is about 25-30 cm tall if I'm correct.

looks fantastic, excellent scratch build! Cant wait to see some pain on it!

thank you so much. btw, where do you get your plasticard?

looks fantastic, excellent scratch build! Cant wait to see some pain on it!

Neither can I, but I still have quite some work to do first . The torso still needs some greenstuff lovin', and the legs still need quite some work as well.

thank you so much. btw, where do you get your plasticard?

You're welcome . As for the plasticard: I get mine from a modellling shop that sells regular model stuff and radio-controlled vehicles. Apparently they use it there for modelling/repairing/scratchbuilding as well. Pretty smart, those radio-control guys .