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Whilst I'm waiting to paint the last of my Knight to properly showcase them on the appropriate section of the forum, I though it may be interesting to someone to find out out I modeled and converted my Knight, since it has been much of a trial-and-error process. Long story short, I'm finishing a Household composed of 5 Knight (1 Cerastus, 4 Questoris) fully converted, magnetized, with interchangeable led for eyes, exhaust and weapons and with some other extra (scenic base, internal cockpit.... and the Cerastus will be fully pose-able).
I worked on them, on and off, for a couple of years (yeah, I purchased them without even looking at their rules during Christmas 2016)... but now that I'm near to the end I wish to publish my progress, so that I will have more will to finish them!
Also, now in 8th it seems that everybody and their dog have a Knight Houselhold... I think it's one of the best kit for converting and customization.
THE PROJECT - "Darchangels" I already have a big army of Dark Angel, so I wished to have a few Imperial Knights that I can either use as stand alone army or that I can match with my respectively my Greenwing, Ravenwing or Deathwing.
To search for inspiration, I thinked that, if a Space Marine is an Angel.... well, and Imperial Knight is an Archangel!
So most of my inspiration is biblical: I listed the seven classic Archangel, and then choose the 5 that I believe were, from a modeling standpoint, more interesting to do.
The entirety of my kits was composed by: 1x Acheron Cerastus Knight, 4x Imperial Knight, 2x conversion kit for Crusader, 2x conversion kit for Megaera.
But let's start with a little of fluff:
The Imperial Knight of Caliban
Spoiler:
As you probably are aware, the Order was a knightly brotherhood on Caliban, and all of them have been recruited by the Emperor when Lion'El Johnson was rediscovered. We knew that the younger of them has been trasformed in Space Marine, while the older undergo modifications and implants to raise them above the human condition.
That's where I introduced my personal Knight Household, the Knight of Caliban. I thought that if an STC has be rediscovered on Caliban (or, if it was always there.... it was a Chaos infested world inhabitated by human since the Dark Age of Technology and kept safe by a knigthly order.... what's more "Knightly" than that?), it will made perfect sense, for the older member of the Order, to ascend to the Throne Mechanicus rather than undergoing under genetic enhancement...
Those Knight remains on Caliban with Luther during the Great Crusade, but thanks to the influence of the Throne Mechanicus they remains untouched by the traitorous temptation of Chaos.
Then: we have no reference whatshowever of any Imperial Knight fighting on Caliban... so edivently Luther has did something to them before the Lion come back. The traitorous Space Marine destroyed the Knight of Caliban Household building with the first wave of bombardment, and in order to survive and get revenge, Gabriel's pilot (the one on duty at the time) sacrifice himself to activate a Stasis Force Field that protect the rest of the Household from everything that was outside, but freeze them making them unable to fight aside their Primarch.
When Caliban goes destroyed, as the Rock was protected by their force field, so was the Tower of the Caliban Knight. They drifted away into the Warp with the destruction of the planet, with the pilot and servant blocked within the Stasis Field, unaware of what's happened for ten millennia, before em emerging from the Warp.
Because the wreck of the fortress still was carrying the insignae of the First Legion, the Ravenwing and Deathwing belonging to the Lions of Caliban, a Successor Chapter, quickly reached it, purge any unaware witnesses and deactivate the Stasis Field.... only to discovered that the Knight inside were unaware of everything: the betray of Luther, the destruction of Caliban, the sleep of the Lion.
In order to guarantee both the safety of the First Chapter and honour and respect of the long lost brother, the Houselhold was granted the name of Lost Knight of Caliban, and introduced to the Imperium as a wandering ship-based Household after retrofitting their home monastery with warp capabilities (as was done with the Rock).
This is their Household description:
- Vows - Strategic Prognostication
- First Contact - Great Crusade, lost and the rediscovered in 41° millennia
- Sovereign - 1st Adeptus Astartes Legion (officially indipendent)
- Succession Law - Meritocracy (martial value)
- Ceremony - Rigid
- Demeanour - See, but don't be Seen
- Flaw - Honour any Oath
- Domain Size - Tiny (space hulk - wandering)
- Homeworld - Caliban (destroyed)
- Allied - Adeptus Astartes, Adeptus Astartes 1st Legion, Officio Assassinorum, various feudal worlds.
Now, more about the project in itself:
Models and conversion
The first thing I made was a careful plan.
That's unusual for me, because I usually made thing off the top of my head: I start modeling and converting, and create what seems fit at the moment. For this project, however, I think a careful plan was necessary due to both the complexity of the kit and the amount of work involved.
So, as first thing I assign an Archangel to any of the Knight. There are seven classic Archangel in the bible, but three of them are usually considered the most important. Due to their sheet size (keep in mind that the Dominus Knight don't existed when I started) I naturally assign the Cerastus chassis to the three main Archangel, and most of the Questoris chassis to the other. I try to match color scheme, heraldry, led lighting, insignia, motto and poses for any of them.
Once did that, I had a plan for five very distinctive and colorful Knight.
Two of the are more "generic", while three of them were high connected to Deathwing, Ravenwing and Greenwing.
Also (by sheer luck), I decided to mix and use the Mechanicus elements I possess on many (basically all of them): this was a lucky shot, because when 8th Codex dropped allows me to use my Household as either Imperial or Mechanicus, with the 8th edition Codex. But, yeah, I can admit this was luck, and not planning
So, this was the summary I created for all of them. To be honest, I will never be able to finish the project without it. Specifically for the led: once you have dozen of small light, not easily distinguishable until connected and light up, the summary was extremely important.
Spoiler:
§CONVERSION APPLIED TO ALL - Magnet on arms, on waist. Full flickering led on exhaust pipe, various led into eyes (either fixed or flashing), battery inserted into torso, connector to attach led weapon arms and/or carapace weapons and accessories.
- Fully converted bases.
- Fully converted poses (legs specifically)
- [not yet done] Various magnet on legs/arms/carapace to attach hit point marker, Rotate Ion Shield marker and other effects.
- Swappable weapons and arms, some of them with different colour scheme (to make them immediately evident as Relics).
- MICHAEL -
This Cerastus Knight will take the aspect of an ancient statue: I wanted to made it poseable. My goal is to have, sooner or later, a Chaos Dragon under his feet, to match the classic depiction of Giorgio killing the dragon and/or Michael banishing Satan. Also, it is magnetized because I want to use it not only as Acheron, but also as Lancer and any other Cerastus variant.
It has a fully-poseable articulation, magnet on one feet and on the waist, an internal cockpit (so I planned to have a trasparent windows to see inside), green light on it, to paint it with a brown-bronze-oxide color scheme with traces of green. I also wanted to use a peculiar base: something that may also pass a statue basement, rather than a miniature one.
Since the Acheron has a peculiar head, with three small eyes, one of the most difficult challenge was to put a tiny-sized let into the eyes. Also, the space for the led-battery was a little tricky to create, because the inside of the cockpit was already partially used by pilot and internal details.
- Colour Scheme - oxide bronze on the body, oxide brass/green on the body armour.
- Led - three nano-led (green), one cockpit light (green)
- Motto - Paratus ad Anima Suscipiendas
- Extras - Throne Mechanicus, Glass ceiling, Magnet lock on Cockpit, Led connector x2, Small 3V Battery, Completely Poseable, Megaera Shoulder Pads instead of Cerastus ones.
- Fun Facts - I lose, during montage, one of the exaust pipes. So, also because those were full resin and difficult to light by led, I totally remove them and will replace them with something else (don't know what, yet)
- GABRIEL - the first Knight I build (not by design, but because it was the trickiest and I usually start with the most challenging conversions) it was the one on watch duty during the assault of the traitor. Reading the Styrix and Megaera fluff, I thought that a possessed Knight, that walk without his pilot driven by memories of hate and vengeance will be interesting. Only after I realized that the Stiryx is exactly that.
Gabriel is the torchbearer, the angel that bring the trumphet and that is red. So I wanted to build by myself a cockpit, remove the dorsal armor to let see inside, and exploit the red-based colour scheme to has it as the most Mechanicus-aligned. Also, since it was the Knight that wasn't caught in the stasis field, I want it to fully show the sign of ten millennia of aging.
- Colour Scheme - body in brown-oxide-bronze, red body armour (sooner or later it will became of red marble instead, one of the material traditionally associated with Gabriel... but I learned this tecnique properly only AFTER painting this and not being able to repaint it yest).
- Led - Orange on exaust pipes, flashing nano-white on one of the additional eye, fixed purple on the main eye (the Megaera has a ciclops head) and an extra fixed white light to represent the torchbearing.
- Motto - Imperator Superveniet in Te
- Extras - Extra removable light, Internal Cockpit (kitbashed), Damaged armour and elements, Kitbashed Gauntlet (heavy-lifter). It also have a Reaper Chainsword and a "Mechanicus" Cannon (the Megaera ones) painted for it.
- Fun Fact - in my initial idea this Knight should have been used with a Legion of the Damned army - So, the "possesed" theme here and the colour scheme works pretty well. That's the reason for a few modification like the torture table and the "belt-knuckle" in shape of a skull. Also, because I inherited a small Blood Angel army that I am gradually converting into a Dark Angel Successor Chapter with Green and Red colour scheme, the red colour was particularly fitting. Finally, in my original plan Gabriel (along with Michael and Rafael) is one of the three main Archangel, so I supposedly should has built it with the Acheron chassis. But, you know, plan changes, and in the end I'm happy to have used the Quaestoris for it (also because a lot of tournament around here doesn't like FW).
- BARKIEL - This is a angel of penance and repent. What could be best suited for the Deathwing? In order to match it with a Deathwing army, I planned the most "warfare" base for it (using real shell casing, titan-size for 40K) and mix-match the Imperial and Mechanicus body armour to make it as bulkier as possible.
- Colour Scheme - golden body (probably I will match the body with Gabriel instead), white body armour.
- Led - red fixed eyes, red exhaust pipes.
- Motto - Auditor ne derelinquas nos.
- Extras - A special magnet on the head to represent the new Helm of Nameless Warrior Relic (made by a bits from Cawl dorsal piece).
- Fun Facts - If I knew before that the Valiant and Castellan were a thing, probably I converted it to be one of them. The base is perfect for them! Unfortunately, I knew about them too late... when the construction was complete.
- AURIEL -
This is the angel that goes with the Ravenwing. Originally was probably the lamest of Knight and the one I liked less. Except for the poses, that caused me more than an headache, he didn't have two magnetized arms (only one instead), no spectacular ledding colour ("classic" orange) and, aside from a few armour pieces from the Mechanicus set, nothing very significative. Than, one day, once it was almost fully assembled and ready to be painted, I've got an epiphany and decided to go much more toward a "Raven" look. I take the super-sized Cerastus shoulder and use them horizontally instead of vertically to add suggestion of a wide profile, like they were wing. I added a couple of extra red led below the tank wreks (because I was thinkering with exaust fumes and smog), decided to create an handmade mask and adds a few bits and insigna from the Ravenwing set.
And that's how the lamest of Knight has became my favourite of the three I've finished.
- Colour Scheme - Black and silver. The tecnique I used was an experiment, but I'm quite happy with the weathering (that is simply a very light white drybrush on a solid black): I think it conveys very well abrasion from atmosphere rather than oxidation.
- Led - Orange in eyes and exaust, red in the base. Currently ranged no weapons has been painted specifically for it, but it's mostly used as a Gallant.
- Motto - Flammescat igne caritas
- Extras - Handmade mask, extremely complex base with led. Due to the fact that is the only one with a single led connector, and that it is linked to the base, I'll use it almost exclusively as a Gallant Knight.
- Fun Facts - Originally the model was rotate 180° on its base. I wasn't happy with the final pose anyway, so a day a friend of mine wondering about the magnet in the waist rotate the legs 180° degree and said "wow, that's a better pose". So, I did that to achieve a more dinamic and natural poses, but also to revert the articulation in the legs to give it a more "birdy" look.
- JEHUDIEL -
It's the "standard" Dark Angel Knight. It possess an easier pose, and I wanted to make it noticeable almost exclusively by paintjob.
- Colour Scheme - Gold body with silver details, dark green with bone details on the armour.
- Led - Violet in the eyes and blue on exhaust. To be honest, today I'll be doing this differently: cold light is extremely wearing on the batteries, and this knight is by far the fastest to finish any batteries I put into it (possibly on par with Gabriel).
- Motto - Imperator laudantibus praemia retribuo
- Extras - An extremely heavy and big close combat flail.
- Fun Facts - It's still slightly unfinished, I forecast to add some depth to its base and paint the banner. It's the first one that I converted (leg-wise). I also needed a lot of time to find some suitable flail bell, as you will see in the picture for a lot of time it has much bigger balls
But, having said enought, I'll upload some picture in the next post
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/06/18 12:10:30
I can't condone a place where abusers and abused are threated the same: it's destined to doom, so there is no reason to participate in it.
2019/06/18 12:02:43
Subject: Re:Imperial Knight - the Knight of Caliban
Auriel was the second Knight that I completed. I give it a paintjob as simple as possible, since the scenic base with the led and the pose will caught most of the attention I don't want to overdo its paintjob.
Funnily, I never intended to put led on the base.... but I've got some extras, and it was a little too dark.
I can't condone a place where abusers and abused are threated the same: it's destined to doom, so there is no reason to participate in it.
2019/06/18 12:16:54
Subject: Re:Imperial Knight - the Knight of Caliban
Then Barkiel (or Camael). Its base was very simply (I used oversized bullet to represent an engagement with or vs proper Titan).
Since it was the least converted, I take my time with the paintjob. Not entirely satisfied, but at least it's bright enought to be noticed.
Also, my Deathwing isn't painted in bone, but with pure white: that's the reason why it is so bright and not with a little more of brown.
I can't condone a place where abusers and abused are threated the same: it's destined to doom, so there is no reason to participate in it.
2019/06/18 12:28:03
Subject: Re:Imperial Knight - the Knight of Caliban
I finish to paint Jehudiel few days ago, so I haven't a picture together with its brother (yet). I haven't documented in detail the painting scheme because, if before I made a lot of experiment, here I used a pretty straightforward tecnique with highlight and wash as usual.
I can't condone a place where abusers and abused are threated the same: it's destined to doom, so there is no reason to participate in it.
2019/06/18 12:37:19
Subject: Re:Imperial Knight - the Knight of Caliban
Last but not least, Michael. I still have to paint it because, first, I need to solve the issue of pose. Right now, this Knight is more akin to an action figure: any articulation can move, and my idea was to create different set of base, elements and enemy in order to use it as display showcase (one idea that sooner or later I will implement is about recreating the classical depiction of Micheal banishing Lucifer to Hell, using part of an Heldrake or a Renegade Knight).
I also take some non-miniature piecese: and old mirror frame for the base, a pendant for the waist and a ring for the head. and I'm particularly happy of its effect, up to the point that I won't paint it and instead I will try to match with the Knight the colour of the real metal under its feet.
LEd in the eyes are 3 nano-led. To save some space, it uses a rounded clock battery instead of an AAA battery like everything else.
You can open both the cockpint AND the torso, which are kept in place by small magnets.
I can't condone a place where abusers and abused are threated the same: it's destined to doom, so there is no reason to participate in it.
Looks like you have more room in a 40k knight for LEDs than I did with AT scale Warlords, the bodies were too small to integrate the battery in the torso.
Well, it also depend from your wiring and battery size. I used AAA battery and at least with one of them (Gabriel, the first one) I've been extremely lucky because the bit from Heroquest was a perfect fit for the battery slot...
For the last one instead I've had to shorten up the wiring repeatedly and using a watch battery to fit everything in half the space.
My suggestion is to always protect the critical point of the wiring with some green stuff: more often than not compressing everything put some pressure on the weak point.
(also note that I purchased pre-cutted led and wiring from www.ModelTrainSoftware.com (which I will never recommend enough).
I can't condone a place where abusers and abused are threated the same: it's destined to doom, so there is no reason to participate in it.
I soldered all my own stuff but I couldn’t fit the watch battery in the Warlord torso and mocking up running wires to a battery mounted on the base was taking too long. I didn’t want to lose my spray priming window last fall before it got cold...
...and I still didn’t get my Warlords painted over the winter. :(
