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Right, so let´s try this.

One blog for all my stuff, since it seems that this is the only way I´ll have the time to update it once in a while.

First off, some stuff about the new Dreadknight kit!

Some of you may remember that many moons ago I built a rather large biped death machine, that was intended to be the first in a household of Knights.


Well, as with so many plans, once I figured the cost of building just one, I had to push that idea to the side, at least for the time being.

However, the new GK releases have re-lit the hope I had of building these noble warriors, and I may even get to use them in a game!
So therefore, I present for your judgment, the first of my Knight Paladins.

Not done by a long shot, but the shape is there. I´ve done a lot of cutting, repositioning the legs mostly since I refuse the idea of these guys standing still all over the place.
I can´t imagine why GW didn´t make the legs modular.

Ah well, it´s still a beautiful kit, and perfect for my needs. I´ve built a new cockpit assembly from various junk in my bits box, mostly parts from a Valkyrie.
Still working on the pilot, I can´t decide whether I want him in an enclosed helmet, but I almost think I do…
Anyways, on to the Pics!


Before the kit even got released, I built a head/cockpit using bits from my box, and some plasticard. The pilot still needs a proper head, possibly with an enclosed helmet.


The first thing I noticed with the kit, was how static the leg design was. The legs are identical, and almost no reposing is possible without cutting them.
So I cut one of them off at the knee, and redid the pose. The bottom one is the original, and the top one is the redone one. Still needs hose reattachment.


Here´s a closeup, as you can see it still needs some GS work.


The pelvis, with the stubs of the leg attachments glued in. I´ve since pinned the legs in there, using .75mm wire. should do nicely.


And the entire leg assembly, as you can see this is no longer a static machine, but one out on the prowl, looking for glory in battle.


And there it is, in all it´s blue tacked glory! the weapons are probably getting a major redo, I really want to add a lance, possibly using the NDK´s sword.
Also, I may move one weapon so that it replaces the hand that holds it.


A shot from the side, to show how the head meshes with the body. It needs more work, but I think it´ll be good.


And a closer look from the side. the proportions are a bit off from this angle, but you can see the pilot. pretty sure that I need a non-yelling head for him!

On my list of things to do is:
Finish the join between head and neck.
GS over all the scripture junk on the armor plating.
Build one or two new weapons.
Design and build a lance or sword.
Find or make a new head for the pilot.
Figure out a paint job.



And now, some fluff for those of you who like such things.
”Built to a brutish humanoid shape, “Knight” class walkers of the Ancient Orders are singularly powerful war machines. Varying in height from 8 to a towering 14 metres, they hail from an ancient design, originally used in battles against Eldar Exodites on Mechanicus Agri-Worlds. This was during the age of the great crusade, and some say, even before that time.

These battles were fought in the rolling fields and scattered tree zones that marked the boundary between Imperial and Eldar influence areas, and the feudal Lords of the local populace desperately needed a way to counter the lightning fast strikes of the Exodites. The Mechanicus, normally uncaring in such petty squbbles, responded with the Knight suits. Built for a single pilot, and steered through a hard link between machine and pilot, they were almost able to match the speed of the Eldar, and brought heavy weaponry to bear as well.

The reason for the involvement of the Mechanicum was simple. During these times, they were forced to rely on close proximity worlds in order to import sufficient food for their vast populace, since war was ever close by. They could not station their God-Machines on the Agri-Worlds, since this would leave the forge vulnerable, and at the same tiem they did not want an armed populace that might rise up in rebellion some day.
Thusly, it was decreed that only those of noble birth might be considered for the honor, and a pledge of fealty to the Tech Cult was a part of the ceremony to become a pilot. Eventually, the pilots came to be known as Knights themselves, and many came to build legacies that last till this day, in the form of noble houses and knightly orders.

Some new suits are still made on then Forgeworlds, but the ancient Knights are maintained and rebuilt, if at all possible. These thoroughbred mounts have their own histories, and are thought to be of better quality than the newer designs.
From the beginning, the designs varied greatly, with each Manufactury-Priest using his or her own specs to build from. But the main classes have remained constant.

The Paladin is one such design. Often granted to a young and brash knight, it shines at the forefront of a battle, where the close range weaponry and Giant swords and lances these machines wield can make a mess of most other vehicles. It is usually thought to be beneath a knight to concern himself with infantry, and no honor is gained from slaughtering them. A big engine kill such as a main battle tank or walker, is usually added to the Knights pennant.

At times, one or several Knights will embark on a quest, campaigning with an Imperial army to gain fame and honor. The great wish of each Knight is to best a “Dragon” in single combat. This term has come to encompass a multitude of terrible beasts from mutated monsters to daemonic foes, and the slaying of such a Dragon will be written down in verse and preserved as a tale for future generations. Many Questing Knights never return to their worlds, but the tales of their exploits fuel the passion of future generations, and if at all possible, their suits will be brought home so that another Knight may take to the field in the name of the Emperor and the Mechanicus.”


So, C&C welcomed, as always. (On the Knight, not so much the fluff since that´s just for fun).

Very nice so far. But the head seems to stick out a little too far. Still very awesome though, and 10x better than the original NDK!

Lol... holy god! That thing is awesome! Equal parts WH40K and Battletech. I like the initial one, but the enclosed cockpit using the kit looks amazing!

Subscribed!

Like the concept Xanthos, the cockpit looks great! I can still remember how I used youyr old knight as an inspiration for
mine. With your new knight though, I feel the head and body are out of balance. Maybe you could put it up higher and integrate it more into the body?

If you're looking for a head: the old sentinels had a non-screaming head with similar attire.

@ Nobaconz4you: Thanks, the head does need a bit of work still, I agree.

@HF Izanagi: Heheh, Thanks a lot, battletech is an old favorite of mine, so it may very well shine through. The big difference, and the thing that will tie this firmly into the 40K universe, will be the paintjob.

@CommissarKhaine: Glad you like it, and even happier that my work inspired you.
The machine´s head is an issue at the moment it seems... After moving it back and forth last night, I think that part of the solution may be to extend the Knight´s body a bit in the torso. I´ll make some mockups today and we´ll see..

Any thoughts about weapons would be great, I am tempted to add a shoulder mounted missile pod at the moment..

For the weapons, having them underslung would be pretty neat.

Okay, a few days on and some more work completed.



This is how the Knight looks now. I´ve put some aluminum tubing onto the incinerator to close the gap between it and the Hellstorm Cannons a bit.
Also added a Missile launcher, considering it instead of the Psycannon, since it is essentially a single shot cannon/explosive type weapon...


A side shot, showing the Incinerator better.


The Incinerator arm, need to do something with the bare plasticard.


The torso, with an added 15mm or so. Should help give it an even more imposing stature on the field of battle.

I still have quite some GS work to do, and a little plasticard work as well, but soon I´ll be onto painting, wheeee.

I´m thinking a deep blue, with heraldry on one shoulder and one legplate. And if I can make it fit, a banner.

I´m not sure about the sword arm, I think I may need to switch it out for a huge chainsword instead. Thoughts?

Also, I got struck by a bit of inspiration. The Kjights in the old WD articles had "Men at Arms" accompanying them.

These were pretty much standard IG, but I thought, well this is 10K years later, so they might have upgraded a bit. So I´m thinking about getting some GK terminators, ditching the helmets and re-sculpting the torso, possibly new shoulder pads to move away from the space marine look, and calling them Men at Arms...?

Well, that´s all for now, heading to the FLGS for a session of modeling and painting tonight, more pictures soon, I hope.

Wow! Really nice work there, I love what you've done with the ML and Incinerator(?).

I will definitely keep watching this thread.

My only (tiny, tiny) issue is the sword. For the theme of the model, the sword seems too stylised, it should have a more 'practical' look to it. Maybe remove the =I= symbol cut-out, and make the sword edged on one side (as opposed to both). This is just my opinion, but do what you feel is right, not what some random said over the interwebs! (it's your model, and your cash!).

I won't end on a negative note, so I'll say it's awesome again.

It's awesome.

Heheh, thanks a lot, Yeah the sword is my biggest concern as well... Making it single edged could work actually... Hmm, will make some mock-ups tonight.

The =I= symbol is definitely going.

Amazing work! I was comnemplating a similar project with the dreadknight Wouldn't look as good as yours though Keep it up, I cant wait to see more!

tony_nids_10 wrote: I was comnemplating a similar project with the dreadknight Wouldn't look as good as yours though

Or, it could look 100 times better. Don't put yourself down because of the quality of work you can see daily on dakka. The guys n' gals who post this stuff aren't doing it to show how much better they are, they're doing it to share their work, to inspire others. So, moral of the story is, if you see something great, try and outdo it. Or something.



Yeah.




@ Xanthos - I believe I posted this in another similar DK titan thread, but I'll do the same here. At the moment it looks as if the cockpit if fixed coming out of the chest area. I don't think it looks that great, unlike your original Knight Titan, which looks perfect. I think, if you moved the head up slightly, maybe reduced it's size, or even put the head at a dynamic angle (To stop it looking fixed looking forward) will really lend itself to the miniature. Regardless of my personal gripe, I think this miniature has the callibre of becoming something that looks absolutely ace, especially if you put the same amount of time and detail into it you have done with your other projects.

(Personal question: How is your ash wastes stuff coming along? I really loved the Sand Crawler you were building, and was hoping to see the finished product)

Nice! I still feel the head is a bit too big,, but I like what you did for the range weapons. Inbstead of the sword, couldn't you use the hammer haft as a start for a lance, with the Nemesis greatsword blade as the lance blade?

XAN MY FRIEND! Brilliant work mate!! Looking forward to more and getting my own hands on that kit.

@tony_nids_10: Thanks a lot. As ghosty says, don´t sell yourself short, the reason most of us keep these blogs is to bounce ideas and inspirational moments off each other. And I promise you that if I were to show you some of my earlier conversions you would be torn between laughing and crying... Hmm, maybe I should do that...

@ghosty: Damn you, now I need to repose the head. You´re right, it´s way too static, something I´m trying to move away from! :S
Will show you the progress on that as soon as I finish swearing at you for mkaing me see it.

(As for the Ash Wastes project it is on pause for now, lost a bit of my oomph for it when I found out after about 250 rivets or so, that the plasticard I´d used was too flimsy. And trying to reinforce it ended up making it worse... (Might actually be a good candidate for "scratchbuilds gone wrong"). So the situation at the moment is that the frame of the crawler is fine, as is the cargo bay area, but the entire cab unit needs to be rebuilt. Therefore I have put it in my display cabinet for now, to stare accusingly at me until I´m struck by inspiration again.)

@CommissarKhaine: The head will get a repose, but size-wise will need to stay the same, or I´ll have to ditch the Valkyrie bits, which would mean biiiiig redesign issues... The combination of hammer haft and sword blade might work, still working out ideas for that. Hadn´t looked at them together though, hmm.....

@Migsula: MIGS! It´s been WAY too long since I´ve had the pleasure of sparring with you. Thanks for the kind words, as I progress I´ve no doubt that You´ll bring your keen eye and help me spot problem areas.

I took a long look at magnets of varying sizes tonight, and ended up magnetizing the Incinerator arm and torso/leg joins tonight, so the machine will be somewhat transportable. I also did some further mockups of the build, and found that I´ll need to construct armor for the thighs of the Knight. Other than that I talked to some of the local gamers and there seems to be an agreement that the GK Termies could look interesting as "Men at Arms" if suitably converted. One of them also remarked that the front of the cockpit might benefit from some detailing, possibly some cabling or holes, akin to a Knights helmet.

Some fluff for the Men at Arms:
When the lords and nobles of the Knight Worlds go to war, they often bring units of armed retainers, trained brotherhoods of paid soldiery. These heavily armored soldiers are duty bound to protect their liege at whatever cost. In return they are granted the finest weapons and armor that their status can bring, and in very rare cases may even be granted nobility by a grateful lords hand. In battle they stay close to their Lord, throwing themselves at lesser foes, that he may find the truly worthy kills. They bear no colors of their own, but paint their Wargear in the colors of their patron lord.
It is not unusual for some units of Men at Arms to fulfill the traditional "archer" role, where they will be armed with a variety of deadly ranged weapons, to better support the advance of their brethren.

Brilliant work on this I don't think the Grey Knight Terinators would be a good base for Men-at-Arms I'd see them more like Skitarii so roughly equivalent to Stormtroopers. I also reckon the sword would look better if you made it more tool like less practical.

Thanks Llamahead.

I see what you mean about the Men-at-Arms. Following the old fluff they were about midway between Skitarii and IG, so stormtroopers would be good. I´m trying to establish some sort of identity for these guys that doesn´t revolve 100% around the Mechanicus however, throwing in bits of Bretonnian chivalry and such. And I thought, an elite group of heavy infantry to follow the knights around, that sounds like Terminators alright.

(Also, I really want to convert something cool from the new GK terminator kit...)

As for the sword, it will be getting a remake, just not sure exactly how at this point. I´ve been looking over those old Knight models a LOT for the last weeks, and I think the solution may be a shorter chainsword, will see how that works...

And now, onto some pictures of where I´m at today.


I turned the head a little to the left, to make him face the way the Incinerator is pointing. I also magnetized him, both waist, head and left arm. The right arm will be magnetized too, but not until the sword is done.


I also added a few power cables and hoses between the body and the head. Need a few more higher up, but getting there. The hoses are all attached to the body, and head can be easily removed for painting and transport.


The pose is more visible from this side, there is a much improved flow to the model, I think. I twisted the right arm at the elbow so the sword points a bit outwards, I think I´ll be reposing the hand as well.
(Chainsword still to come).


Finally, here´s a little test picture, with back banner. I´m seriously considering it, to take him further towards the old school image of the epic models, and closer to the "Knightly" concept...

Any thoughts, comments, good and bad welcomed as always.

Looking really nice, can't wait to see the finished product.

Wow, I am impressed.

That conversion is amazingly appealing, it looks as if the Dreadknight kit was made for it!

The pose / dynamism is great, the cockpit facing left is a nice touch! Those cables add much details and are not OTT, too.

A great execution on a nice idea!

Very good execution Xan. The flamer is a highlight for me. The weak points are the sword, that is just too grey knight and doesn't blend in with the military walker style and imho it's ugly as it comes, and the second point is the already mentioned front weight due to the protruding cockpit. The cockpit doesn't look bad and it's in line with the balance of most walker type suits, but I think it could use some kind of counter weight on the back side or maybe shift the torso a little bit towards the back, to give him a slight hunchback to balance the bulky head.
Anyway it looks very cool and I'm sure even though there will be hundrets of dreadknight conversions in no time (the kit just screams to be converted) yours will be one of the best executed.

this is why i love dakka,ideas like yours kickstart me into thinking about original looking machinery etc.i like the extended flamer on display and may poach the idea for my dk.
great work.

the knights look great good work.

I was going to do this! Still will if i can scrape the money together

Glad to see you back buddy, and its looking like a good start.

I personally would give it a chainsword, especially if its a paladin. The powersword seems a bit too much at odds with what i know (which isnt much tbh ) of the fluff.

The repose worked really well but i cant help but feel the cockpit sticks out too much, still. Have you considered putting it vertically? Ignoring the pilot for the moment, if you put the bottom of the cockpit at the top and then put it vertically it might look better. Obviosuly this is just me throwindg ideas out, feel free to listen or ignore!

Hey, comments!

@fox-light713: Thanks, I´m hoping to have construction finished in a week or two, and then get on with painting.

@Yggdrasil: Thank you, I thought the same thing when I first saw the kit, it is almost perfect for the job. I´m glad the cables aren´t too much, I was a bit worried they might be.

@Baiyuan: Thanks a lot. I felt the flamer needed something more, it just seemed too stubby the “old” way. I agree that the sword must go, working hard on a chainsword equivalent.

I´ve done something similar on a model before:


The cockpit on the Knight is, as you say, modeled on the style of both the old Knights, and the newer sentinels, but I ended up being a bit longer necked than originally planned. My original thought was to go for something resembling a horse´s head, with the cabling bringing to mind the bridle. I´ll have a look at shifting the torso back, though it may end up causing more issues than it solves.
There are so many cool ways to convert this model, I may end up getting another one to try some more of them myself. I think it would be difficult to get a running one, but I really want to try it…

@shingouki: Yeah, dakka is great for bouncing ideas back and forth, if/when you get yours please post it as well.

@neil101: Thanks

@Vitruvian XVII: Heheh, it´s good to be back here. Chainsword is on the way, I have about six different types of swords and bits thereof on my desk as we speak.
Tried the vertical cockpit today, it actually looked a lot better than I had thought it would. If I make another one, I´ll try and make the cockpit that way.



Not the most productive of days today, modeling wise, but we did redecorate the bedroom, and tons of other stuff as well.
Hopefully I´ll have something update-worthy in a day or two.

You could try to get your hands on a chain weapon blister from Inquisitor, they are rare I know, but I happen to own one and the Eviscarator could work. Or you buy stompa bits from ebay, that chainsaw arm could work, quite big though.

Otherwise I'd like to suggest to go for a buzzsaw. There was some genius (yes, that's me) who just recently did one, you could try something similar for your walker.
Here is a pic:

I saw your buzz-saw actually, and looooooooved it! I´ve been thinking about a way to do something similar but for a chainsword actually. I´ve got to hand it to you, the amount of work and thought that you put into that saw was spectacular!

Weird I had that same exact idea. Except I would use a closed sentinel cockpit as the head.

Holy crap thats one of the best uses of the dreadknight ever.

i really like the way you use the dreadknights!

I like the model, even though he has a big head . Could you do a comparison with your old knight?

Oh, and I forgot to mention, but I think the Valkyrie cockpit looks much better than the Sentinel one (as you did on your previous Knight).

Just personal preference, uh!