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greetings Dakka. I recently took some inspiration from various other members projects as well as some ideas I had. This is what I came up with.

Firstly, I just hated the baby carrier idea. so I took some inspiration from a Contemptor/Dreadnought and placed the marine inside the main chassis.

Secondly, I hated the look of the arm hydrolics. there is no reason a machine would need those, other than to support the weight of those weapons. which got me thinking, why are they forearm mounted weapons? this is suppossed to be a hand to hand fighter AND a heavy weapons platform. its hard to swing a sword when you have a ginormous bolter strapped to your wrist. Taking some inspiration from the Tau, and Whirlwind Termies (quiet all you nay-sayers) I mounted the weapons on the shoulders.

This obviously left some space near the arms making them look rather small. I took some inspiration from Terminator Assualt Squads and added a shield, mostly for look.

I also made a GK Halbred for the Dread Knight, as its a staple weapon of the Grey Knights, and thought it would look cool.

Lastly, at the feet, I added a second "toe" if you will, mimicing that more of an actual foot being wider in the front and outward for stability.

All of the hands are magnetized for easy WYSIWYG configurations.

questions, comments, criticisms, compliments all welcome and encouraged.

Not a huge fan of the suspended pilot, either, so as long as it doesn't bug you, fluff-wise, dread sarcophagi are a good choice. The join looks a bit rough, but I like it, overall. I also like the idea of separating the ranged and melee weapons, but I'm not quite sold on the execution.

The arms definitely do look a bit weedy without the hydraulics and guns. Skinny arms can work if treated like a skeleton, surrounded by sufficiently bulky parts. I'd suggest either extending the shoulder armor and adding some more around the elbow or just beefing up the "bicep" a bit and going for more human proportions.

The weapons don't quite do it for me, either. The most glaring issue is the size. Even considering 40k standards, they feel too big (especially the shield), to me. They also feel a bit plain, especially considering A) their size and B) the fact that they're GK gear. The shield icons/scroll are a nice touch, but I think the overall shape of the shield could use some refinement and the trim neatened up (stamping some rivets in or adding them on top would add a bit of visual interest, as well).

For the halberd, the spike and power-plant-bit are steps in the right direction, but the haft just looks like a straw. I'd cover the bottom end with a butt-spike or decorative cap and work on integrating the blade and power-plant-bit, so as to avoid having a visible "card wedged into a slot in a tube" joint. Alternatively, you could trim down the sides of the tubs and use card or putty to slope them into the sides of the blade. Either way, I'd layer more card on either side of the blade to give it some bulk, then file a cutting edge in. The profile is good, but it's way too thin to support a discernible edge or provide the illusion of strength and heft.

Well, that should hopefully give you some food for thought, at least.

[edit:] Just noticed another minor point when I saw the first picture, again - the body of the flamer weapon is joined solidly, but there's a gap between the two sets of nozzles/shrouds. I'd recommend filling that in, either solidly or with an offset grid of holes, like the sides of the shroud.

I will take those into consideration thanks! Gotta dig out my bits bin!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
edited with a better response NOT on my phone. my comments in bold.

oadie wrote:Not a huge fan of the suspended pilot, either, so as long as it doesn't bug you, fluff-wise, dread sarcophagi are a good choice. The join looks a bit rough, but I like it, overall. I also like the idea of separating the ranged and melee weapons, but I'm not quite sold on the execution.

The arms definitely do look a bit weedy without the hydraulics and guns. Skinny arms can work if treated like a skeleton, surrounded by sufficiently bulky parts. I'd suggest either extending the shoulder armor and adding some more around the elbow or just beefing up the "bicep" a bit and going for more human proportions.

definitely in the works. I have a bunch of options i'm exploring to make them bulkier.

The weapons don't quite do it for me, either. The most glaring issue is the size. Even considering 40k standards, they feel too big (especially the shield), to me. They also feel a bit plain, especially considering A) their size and B) the fact that they're GK gear. The shield icons/scroll are a nice touch, but I think the overall shape of the shield could use some refinement and the trim neatened up (stamping some rivets in or adding them on top would add a bit of visual interest, as well).

the guns are giganunormous. I couldn't find a way to make them look good honestly. i'm debating taking them off and mounting up a regular twin linked heavy flamer and a regular sized assault cannon. that should bring the scale back down and make it appear to be large (might help with the problem with the arms looking small too). The shield, I wasn't all too impressed with its shape either if i'm honest. its almost too spear like. I need some other inspiration. I had considered a riot shield style like SWAT uses, I felt that was too large and not in the spirit of the chapter. I went for something a little more dark ages, hence the pointed tip. as for the rivets, TBH, i'm not a fan of rivets. they look very cheesy. we know how to weld now, rivets are unneccisary, but thats my opinion. I wanted to trin to stand up raised to look more decorative than functional, after all, its not anything that really does anything in the game, its more for intimidation than actual use.

For the halberd, the spike and power-plant-bit are steps in the right direction, but the haft just looks like a straw. I'd cover the bottom end with a butt-spike or decorative cap and work on integrating the blade and power-plant-bit, so as to avoid having a visible "card wedged into a slot in a tube" joint. Alternatively, you could trim down the sides of the tubs and use card or putty to slope them into the sides of the blade. Either way, I'd layer more card on either side of the blade to give it some bulk, then file a cutting edge in. The profile is good, but it's way too thin to support a discernible edge or provide the illusion of strength and heft.

totally agree the Halbred needs work. but it IS still a work in progress. this is just where I left off with it. I need to get some more plasticard to chop up and add some heft to the whole thing. I want it to look like just a larger version of the regular halbred.

Well, that should hopefully give you some food for thought, at least.

[edit:] Just noticed another minor point when I saw the first picture, again - the body of the flamer weapon is joined solidly, but there's a gap between the two sets of nozzles/shrouds. I'd recommend filling that in, either solidly or with an offset grid of holes, like the sides of the shroud.

Rimmy wrote:definitely in the works. I have a bunch of options i'm exploring to make them bulkier.

I'll just have to wait and see what you come up with, then.

the guns are giganunormous. I couldn't find a way to make them look good honestly. i'm debating taking them off and mounting up a regular twin linked heavy flamer and a regular sized assault cannon. that should bring the scale back down and make it appear to be large (might help with the problem with the arms looking small too). The shield, I wasn't all too impressed with its shape either if i'm honest. its almost too spear like. I need some other inspiration. I had considered a riot shield style like SWAT uses, I felt that was too large and not in the spirit of the chapter. I went for something a little more dark ages, hence the pointed tip. as for the rivets, TBH, i'm not a fan of rivets. they look very cheesy. we know how to weld now, rivets are unneccisary, but thats my opinion. I wanted to trin to stand up raised to look more decorative than functional, after all, its not anything that really does anything in the game, its more for intimidation than actual use.

You know, I was mostly talking about the melee gear, which jumped out at me, but you're absolutely right about the guns, too - I think swapping for the smaller sizes would look better.

As for the shield, I've always loved the look and feel of heaters (done a bit of reenactment/stage/sport combat), which is part of why I said "refinement," not "a total rework" (although I would have, anyway - personal bias aside, it's really not that bad). I think this current shield's shape issue is that it's too triangular. There are some pretty simple geometric tricks to layout a heater with 90 degree top corners and more bowed sides (it can be done entirely with a piece of string and a pencil, in normal scale, or a compass, for minis) which looks much more solid and imposing, in my opinion, while retaining the pointed, medieval feel it seems you're looking for. This image doesn't show all the steps to do that (it uses measurements, instead), but it gives you the same resulting shape:


I still think the trim needs more, but admittedly rivets were just an off the cuff suggestion, sort of a standardized response for 40k models ("add rivets" = "needs more detail"). Even if you weren't personally against them, it really doesn't suit GK as much as it might a SM Dreadnought. Perhaps some decorative brackets at the corners, either laid over or incorporated into the basic trim?

You could tweak the bottom corner and use 90 degree brackets, like this:


Or perhaps apply trefoil darts pointing inward, like one of these (focusing mostly on the head, obviously - you wouldn't want them touching in the center!):




One more practical suggestion, regarding the shield trim: Have you considered using an overlay of plasticard instead of GS (basically just re-cutting your shield shape and removing the center)? It's easier to get a smooth, even surface with layered sheets than it is to sculpt it. If you went with darts or brackets for decoration, it'd also likely be easier to cut them out than to sculpt them on. The layering would also help you shield hold its gentle curve, which I'm glad you added - it's both a practical and attractive feature that's frequently overlooked. Just something else to consider.

great suggestions. I like the look of the brass tips. at this point, I'm not sure I want to do it all over again with this model. I might just leave this particular shield along and revamp V2 for my other DK. but I DO like your suggestions.

as for the sarcophogas, it appears to be too small. just kind of a thing stuck on there. need to work on something to buff the sides out more. I had planned on using Dread covers on each side, but found that look to squared off. (used it as the cod piece instead)

I have literally never used GS in my life before this. so I expected my results to be lacking. its more difficult to use than I expected, oh and I'm by no means a master sculptor. I have much playing to do with the model, but i'm happy with its progress for now.