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Hey guys, I'm youidiotkid. A couple of months ago, I started a project with the purpose of both breathing some life into the Tyranids and bringing back some old inspirations from a different time in wargaming history. After drafting up some concept pictures, I decided to go the route of a Genestealer Cult, but with some slightly different fluff. Rather than existing solely on one planet, this Genestealer family uses its wealth to spread the infection via trade. This is my interpretation of how that might look. Enjoy!

Preview:





I HAVE MADE A CONDENSED VERSION OF THE BLOG - (READ HERE)

Original First Post:

I like this second one. The first one looks pretty closely related to the gaunt but the second one... that's something pretty unique.

It looks almost Phyrexian, if you play MtG. If not a quick Google will show you what I mean. I like the long spindly fingers. It gives it the appearance of some kind of morbid surgeon.

I got the impression of a cross between a warrior, zoanthrope and a malanthrope. Maybe not the brains of the operation, but definitely a synapse creature that, like the Malanthrope, dissects its prey and broadcasts its weakness to the swarm.

Tyranids are distinctly horrifying for that ability and I think it should definitely be represented as well as the "eat eat eat" theme.

The bugs are a lot more cunning than most people give them credit for

@bocatt: The idea of lethal adaptation is where I'm headed, now.

I've made a few more sketches with some more humanoid features. I'd like to exploit the elements that make the 'Uncanny Valley' so... uncanny.



The idea of a Genestealer Cult army has been running through my mind a lot lately, and I'm feeling seriously inspired by WeirdingWay's Navigator Household (http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/584689.page), so I'd like to start working on miniatures soon. I plan on picking up a pack of VC ghouls tomorrow as a basis, to see what I can make. I'm still learning the ropes on sculpting, but there's no time like the present to improve my skills.

I like the direction you're taking the nids in. The only request I'd register is not to fold digitigrade legs right over on themselves. I constantly see it in other creature designs, when the point of digitigrade legs with elongated cannons is just that - to lengthen the leg and the stride. Folding it all up effectively makes the leg even shorter than before, and to me makes the joints and movement seem pretty awkward...

It's your project, though. YMMV. But I hope this little nugget of creature design philosophy has some effect.

(Oh, and most photo editing software should have a 'resize' function. If you didn't get any with your scanner or camera, look at gimp.org.)

That's a very good point about the legs. I hadn't thought about that.
I'm slowly finding that I'm moving closer and closer to sort of tip-toeing plantigrade legs than digitigrade (like a raccoon's hind-limbs), since the semi-human aspect of it looks more unsettling to me.

Raccoon bone structure:

Well, I've decided to take this in the Genestealer Cult route, but with a bit of a twist. The concept is that a wealthy merchant family, who owns a powerful galactic trade conglomerate, guards a dark secret: their patriarch is a purestrain GS. They use their pecuniary influence to spread the GS infection across countless worlds, all while turning in a handsome profit.

To represent their wealth, I've decided to clad their Magi and officers in some form of deep-space armor, as seen here:


This would conceal their grotesque, tendril-sporting faces and protect them from the elements. The monkey is an exotic pet, of sorts, that the Magus might use as an assistant.

For the clan's patriarch, here's what I have in mind:


I don't want to make him look like he does much fighting on his own, but I'd also like to make him look somewhat menacing. Maybe some Cthulhu-esque tentacles or a levitating throne could make him more ominous and less of a bobble-head.

I picked up a pack of Empire Handgunners as a basis for my first contractor team (running them as AM plasma-vets), and I'll be using the classic blue & purple GS color scheme, but with a more modernized grittiness. Thoughts?

This looks like a fun and ambitious project.

If you don't have one, I recommend picking up a Tentacle Maker http://www.greenstuffindustries.com/store/p1/Tentacle_Maker_Tool_Box_v2.html

I suggest having a few tentacles sticking out from the models like they are trying to conceal the horror underneath but a few bits still find their way out.


Look forward to seeing more.

Take care and be well

Love the idea! Go with the genestealer cult and run with it. You're sketches look great. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with actual models

Thanks, guys. I've been thinking about picking up that tentacle-maker kit for a while, but I've also got an abundance of old guitar strings that I can try to work with first. For some suitably squiddy heads, I'm looking at these: http://chapterhousestudios.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=81&product_id=215 from Chapter House.

I apologize for not updating in over a week. Things have been... hectic. Fortunately, I have been able to produce some work for this project.

First, I've decided upon a name for the clan - Prufrock (fake internet points for the first person who knows where the name comes from). Here's a mockup of their family crest, which may appear on a banner or vehicle at some point:

and a more simplified logo, which will be printed on helmets, weapons, etc.:


Please excuse the less-than-optimal photograph quality, but here is a very-WIP of a 'Contractor,' a mercenary for the GS trade conglomerate. Because they are essentially normal humans, they won't be sporting any visible GS features, although their squad leaders might feature some spooky tendrils - I'm a sucker for spooky tendrils. These will be my veteran squads, as I'm going to be working with the IG codex (or AM, if we're keeping current). This is mostly to show the color scheme that I'm going for:

I'm trying to stick to the classic blue & purple GS cult colors, but with some additional grittiness. The purple will be very dull, and the blue will be a deep shade. The metals will looked tarnished, and you can expect a healthy amount of grey on the vehicles. I've freehanded the logo on the side of his helmet, but it doesn't exactly come through in the picture.

Just for fun, I've mocked up an HQ. The bobblehead in a chair concept isn't entirely mine, unfortunately. I owe it largely to WeirdingWay and his Navigator Household, which I've previously linked to above.


Any thoughts?

[copy+pasted from my P&M post]
This is what I've been working on as a 'sergeant' for a mercenary team (AM plasma vets) in my army. I based it on some parts from the CCS and the Empire Handgunners kits. I'm relatively new to sculpting, and I've only been back into wargaming for a few months now. How does this look?






Do you think that the sleeve cuffs are too wide? What about his carapace armor? I've stylized much of this sculpt as a nod to the early-90s GS Hybrid models by GW.
I apologize for the phone-quality photos.

Well, it took me long enough, but I've finally (almost) finished that rifle vet.


I've taken down the shine since then with some matt varnish.
I think that the dried mud on the base contrasts nicely with the model (more so than the pale grey dust that I had planned to use would have). What are your thoughts?

EDIT: Due to a botched varnish coat, I might have to do some repainting. Dammit.

I'm wary about badgering you about your hobby (feeling a bit guilty about my first post in this topic), and while I like the oldschool purple 'n' blue, I wonder if it all pops a bit much besides the grey and beige of the lower half. I can think of it in the same terms of a medieval soldier wearing his lord's colours over his normal clothes, but if you're going for rich blue, I wonder if the purple could be made even duller? Towards (let me see these newfangled paints) slaanesh grey? Or the lower half brightened in some small way. YMMV. tho.

Feather colour... you mentioned deep purple with fuschia highlights? Sort of a hot, reddish, pinkish purple? I think that could work against the blue, yes.

@Vermis - Please, badger away! I appreciate all of the input I can get. I agree that the color is sort of... top-heavy? The photo obscures a purple ribbon that hangs off of his satchel (he doesn't like when you call it a purse), which adds some brightness to the lower half of the mini. Maybe I can give his shoes a brighter color. I had avoided doing so before, because I didn't want my tough mercs to look like they're wearing Nikes.

[copy+pasted from my P&M post]
I've been working on a little assistant for the Sergeant. Because he's a fairly wealthy guy, I'd imagine that he has some pretty exotic pets. The first thing that jumped into my mind was a monkey - but that wasn't exotic enough, and didn't quite fit in aesthetically. Thus, I've begun work on a 2nd/3rd-generation monkey-Genestealer hybrid. A key feature for my brand of Genestealers is spooky facial tendrils, so that was an immediate must. As you can tell, it's very early-on in the process. I might end up re-sculpting the entire face if I can't make the transition from the tendrils smooth and believable enough. Once this layer cures, we'll see how much work is required.
[TL;DR - The GS space pimp now has a pet monkey with tentacles and a nice hat.]

I had avoided doing so before, because I didn't want my tough mercs to look like they're wearing Nikes.

Lol! I getcha.

That monkey was a bit creepy-looking before. Now it's downright weird. Good job.

This is really interesting. I enjoy the pet and all the custom work you are applying here. I will follow this thread for future lookings.

That's an awesome monkey. Also, your giant sketches are terrifying.

Whoa, it looks like my shameless self-plug on another P&M blog actually worked! Thanks, man.

Well, last night I brutally murdered my wallet with a pack of Genestalers from my FLGS. The sculpts are quite fun to pose, but one detail left me in a state of deep despair:

There are only two of these per pack! (that, and my desk is absolutely revolting).
I'm facing a crisis of sorts now, as this means that I'll need to do some more sculpting than I had intended to do. On a more positive note, there are also two Genestealer skulls included in the box, which will make for some interesting servo skull conversions in the future.

I've tacked together this guy here, but I'm not content with just leaving him as-is. I'd be selling the rest of my army short if I didn't do any conversion work here.


This is where the folks at home get to contribute. What do you guys think that I should do to class him up? What role could he fulfill in an IG army? - carapace vet? squad leader? special character?
Make outlandish recommendations if you wish, they'll provide a good opportunity to improve my sculpting/converting skills.

I like where this is going. If the merchant house is very wealthy and trade with far-flung worlds, you could toss in some high-tech weaponry. Maybe give the patriach a hover-chair?

Does the first sketch have a gun on it's back biovore style? If so, that's and idea that I tried a while ago and despite getting crappy results, I love the idea. I'll probably get a lot of flakk (heh) for this but I love biovores and pyrovores. Backguns are cool. Do it .

Thanks guys, I appreciate the replies.

@Zogg: I do like the idea of a hover chair, but I worry that he'd look a bit helpless unless I make him a full-sized hover throne which would probably involve moving up a base size to 40mm, and that has its gaming disadvantages. Plus, I think that long, flowing robes with tentacles poking out of the bottoms would look pretty ominous.

@LeCacty: I'm not entirely sure where I was going with the early drawings. I'm not fond of the way GW has fused the Termagant guns and hands together. Limbs like that would get in the way of mobility and are hardly practical outside of solely firing the weapons. A Pyrovore-esque 'Backgun' is a solution to that problem, but it also makes aiming the weapons pretty difficult and unwieldy. For now, the idea is on the back-burner until further inspiration hits.

This is what I've been working on (along with slowly painting up the vet squad), and I've hit somewhat of a rough spot. I'm not sure what sort of head this guy should have. I'm considering adding a third hybrid arm and giving him a full Genestealer head, but a big feather hat and some fancy equipment would also reflect a vet sergeant pretty well too. I've decided that the miniature that I had sculpted to be the Sergeant would be better suited as a Magus, possibly fulfilling the role of platoon commander or CCS advisor.



What are your thoughts? Which direction do you think I should take with this guy?

Very cool!

The combination of the empire feathered and puff-and-slash clothing and the classic ribbed gene-stealer cult armor works surprisingly well.

If you're looking for more hybrid head options, a lot of people have used WHFB ghoul heads, which do have a bit of a hybrid look to them. The hunched ghoul body is also popular for hybrid conversions for a similar reason. I also think with a little green-stuff work Daemonette heads and even Ungor heads could also work very well. In fact I think both Daemonettes and Bloodletters could actually be very useful for hybrid conversions, giving you inhuman body-shapes without the outer carapace of a full-blood stealer. Kroot might even do the trick ...

...

Awesome start.


I want to see your Merchant Genestealers take on that Navigator Household in a series of well lit and photographed battle reports....

I want that very much.

Thanks guys! I'm currently away from home right now, but tonight I'll try to set up a booth to shoot some updates on the army. I have a 1000 pt. list in the works with plenty of vehicles, so you can expect some fun with those in the near future.
I had initially planned to use some VC Ghouls, but my FLGS never restocks on WHFB stuff, so there's going to be quite a wait before I see any of those. I hadn't thought of using Daemons or Kroot before though. That's definitely an idea that I'll look into. The grotesque, barely-endoskeletal look of the Daemonettes in particular could find a way into some conversions.
The Navigator Household P&M blog is like the bible to me; it would be a dream come true to play against that force.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
As I said I would earlier today, I have finally made an update! I appreciate any advice on improving these photos, as well.

Well, here are the four Prufrock mercenaries. I thought that a crossbow might make an interesting stand-in for a Plasma gun that wouldn't require me buying any further kits for the time being. The colors are a little bit washed out in these photos, but you get the general idea of the effect that I'm going for.

(and another closeup of the first one, since he's my favorite so far)


Here is the fifth merc who will unfortunately not be joining this squad in battle, instead accompanying a Meltagun team. He's still a WIP, as you can see, but I'm proud of the skin tone that I've achieved so far. Please ignore the glare, as he hasn't been hit with the matt varnish yet. I quite like the little details that are packed into the Handgunners kit here, even if they are a bit crowded. It was difficult to combine the two gun halves, but I think that my GS work was effective enough to get by. It's just a shame that you don't quite get the full effect of his purple mohawk in this picture. Once I've accustomed myself to this camera again, you should be able to make out the colors more clearly.


Here's the next batch, primed and ready for paint (except for the poor chap with the helmet - he needs to be primed again due to a spark-of-the moment headswap). I think that they have more interesting silhouettes, and should round out the unit nicely.


Here you can get a better look at some of my GS work on the magi.



I hope you enjoyed this rather long update. What do you guys think?

P.S. Up next, I've got something spooky in the works...

(if you really must know what it is, you can look in my gallery and see it)

[EDIT: according to Dakka, I now live in Singapore. weird.]
[EDIT 2: god, I hate auto-append.]

Well, it's been a good while, but fear not! I have been saving up diligently for my next purchase, and, as of Wednesday, I've made some exciting additions to the army. First up is a Chimera (pictures will be posted when I return to home in a week or so), a set of Empire Handgunners, a Cadian Command Squad, and a pack of VC Ghouls. With those parts, I should be able to make my next two squads of veterans, and a ride to carry the first bunch.

I love the idea of reviving an old army seeing this actually got me running to my book case to dust off one of my old tomes, I just wish I could find some of the old models... if you'd like I can PM you some of the art and the rules if you like

That would be awesome if you could PM me a few fun pages from the old GS Cult codex. Seeing the old models brings back plenty of memories for me as well (albeit not quite as deep-rooted) from around eight years ago during my first venture into wargaming. As a munchkin at the time, I was intrigued by this talk of some mysterious, long-forgotten faction with sinister motives and a taste for the color purple. It's a dream come true now that I have the means to make them a reality.

Going back a while when gw cared more for their customers you used to be able to mail order out of production models, including a really cool looking calagar on a throne... Just wish I could've got one of those limos

Well, this is the first of many vehicles in my army. It will transport my first squad of plasma vets into battle.

Here is the tank commander, or possibly just the turret operator, considering how tiny the box is.

(I apologize for the terrible focus. I'm still figuring that part out on my camera)

Inspired by my mohawk-vet who will be the first of the next squad, I've decided to make the rest of his group a bit more rag-tag than the last. Here is a 3rd-generation GS hybrid, pre-greenstuff work.


The first order of business will be to blend his three arms more smoothly into his torso, so that they don't look like they've just been stuck on. From there, I might give him a classic GS forehead crest. I'll be painting the spines on his back as bony protrusions, remnants of the previous generation's hard carapace.

So what do you guys think?