Hola!

Welcome to my Haggis-scented Space Marine blog. You may have seen the Ravenborn about 5-10 years ago. I'm trying to complete them again after a five year hiatus. So, here's their story so far...


I've been a fan of 40k since before it's initial release. I saw an ad in an old Dragon magazine for a new game that was coming out called Rogue Trader. It had armoured steroidal space warriors blowing bite-sized chunks out of slavering space orks, all in a dark, gothic universe with no hint of high-tech phasers or a Prime Directive. One page of the ad was simply the weapons page with bizarre weaponry such as "Mole Mortar" and "Shuriken Catapults". All with a cynical british slant. How could I not get hooked in?

I'm more a painter than a player, but painting minis that might be used in a game is always more fun for me. Real Life(tm) keeps pulling me away from the game for years at a time, but fate always brings me back for another try at completing full DIY army. After my latest 4-year absence I found my half-completed Ravenborn while cleaning my garage, so I figured it's time to try again to complete the little buggers.

I'll warn you ahead of time that this is completely self-indulgent. I blather on about influences and stuff that's probably only of interest to me. But there will be some pictures, so there may be something of value in the following. The fun of making my own chaper is why I keep working on these guys after ten years, so I figured it might be fun if I made a blog here on my progress, and a good incentive to get me to finish.

Step 1: Picking a theme
Ten years ago I got back into 40k after my first absence, and decided to make my own space marine army. I was originally the only one who collected minis and I was trying to create three or four 40k armies simultaneously so I could have games with my friends. That got old after a while, since it 40k minis were scarce in those days and painting them all was too much, and so I eventually lost interest in the game.

Five years later I saw the new multi-part Space Marine plastics for the first time and it was love at first site. Building minis is as much fun as painting or playing, and it was a joy not having to tear apart metal minis to build unique poses. Plus it was obviuous the game was becoming more "mainstream" with better support in Canada. I figured it would be fun to just focus on a single army, and let other people worry about their own.

So the first step was to decide on a theme. I've always been a huge history buff, so I knew I wanted something grounded in history. My own heritage is Scottish, so this was a huge impetus for the research.

I'd also been reading Slaine: The Horned God at the time, and loved the art by Simon Bisley. The story was topnotch, and had a lot of that moral questionning that made graphic novels such a exciting medium for their time. The celtic mythos had always appealed to me, and Bisley really captured a look of savage and mythic wonder I'd never seen before. Well, for two out of the three books, but that's a rant for another day...



I ended up doing a tonne of research on Celts, Picts and Scottish history. There was so much to love about the stories and visuals. The Picts really caught my imagination, running into battle "skyclad" wearing nothing but woad paint, believing that their survival depended on their gods' whims rather than the protection of armour. The Celtic mythos had a lot of rich ideas as well, full of heroes defying the gods. Then there's the more typical view of the highlander; the proud warrior clad in his clan's kilt, fighting to save his homeland. Turns out most of the visuals were rooted in romantic notions of the highlander, rather than historical. Oh well. Kilts really didn't make their mark until the early 1800s, and what's thought of as "Celtic" usually borrows from older cultures that have geographical similarities more than cultural.

In the end, history be damned. I grabbed bits and pieces that appealed to me, rather than finding a single source of reference. This is what my art teachers called "artistic licence". That's why these guys are a pastiche of cultures. And that's why they've got woad AND tartan.

Step 2: Painting test models
Visually I knew Slaine would be the strongest influence. I really liked the idea of savage warriors with a strong connection to the land. The "skyclad berzerkers" really appealed to me, but just a touch less nekkid of course. I still wanted power armour, and I wanted natural colours. I never like blue or yellow space marines. Bright armour just seems silly to me.

"Camouflage is the coulour of Fear."
- Steroidal Monobrow, Lord High Commander of the Fuchsia Testes Marines

Sure buddy. And blues and reds are the colours of baboons' butts in heat. Why? To make them an attractive target. Whether applied to armour or asses, it's just asking to get... screwed.

So, yeah, natural colours. GW wasn't big on natural colours at the time. I'm overjoyed that they finally got around to producing Graveyard Earth and Catachan Green, but at the time I was a bit limited. I kinda' had a thing forVermin Brown though; at the very least, I hadn't seen it used for armour before, and I liked the coppertones. So, this is what I came up with:



This really worked for me. Not overly colourful, but not so dull it would disappear on a gaming table. The blue added strong contrast and a bit of visual interest. It's not based on any real tartan, as much as that had been my original plan. In the end I wanted something that wasn't too complex, and contrasted the orangey armour.

As I said before, I LOVE working with the plastic. It's easy to cut and customize, and I built a putty arm and added the helmetless head for the nod to "skyclad". It also let me add some woad paint, the sprinting pose, and the melee weapons. This fit perfectly with my ideas for a celtic army. I figured this would be fun to carry on for an army.

Step 2: Tying them to a Codex
So now that I had a theme worked out, I need to figure out where they fit into the game, and what rules would best represent my ideas.

I settled on the following criteria. They were space marines, but not all would be fully armoured. They had a strong connection to the land. They would be infantry based, with few vehicles (for purely financial reasons ) They would come from a society of boar-hunters and sheep sha... er, stealers, so scouts were a must. I wanted huge mobs of screaming infantry to overrun their terrified victims, so they'd be armed for melee more than long range shooting. Animals (totems) would be nice if I could fit them in.

Since WH40k v3 had just been released, there was a shortage of codexes, and I knew there was no point basing them off of an old codex. So I thought I'd make them into Khorne Beserkers. This fit perfectly with my bloodthirsty mobs, and I could throw in a bunch of mastiff's leading the charge using the demon rules. Problem was, no scouts, and I preferred loyalists. Hmmm...

Blood Angels? They're melee-based marines with a codex. I could do the berserkers as Emo Outcasts. er, Death Company.

"Screw you guys, you don't understand me! I'ma painting my armour black, and me and my other vampire-loving bretheren are starting our own club. Death Company!. Hellsyeah! I've even made our own DeathCo. logo on my binder with black and red sharpies!"
- Sgt. Slash Artery, former Blood Angel, current Death Company. Still living, still bitchin'

Nah. Couldn't do it.

So, uh, Space Wolves was it. Which seems kinda' "duh" at this point, doesn't it? I mean that's what I was describing from the very beginning, right? Lotsa heroes, melee-based, animals... and the ooberest scouts to boot! And a few months later, the SW Codex was released, so it was fate. Fate I tells ya!

To be continued...

Aces... haven't seen these boys for yeaaaaars... go you!

Also damn you for taunting me with my own inadequacy

Very cool stuff.

I've found it always helps to have a specific goal in mind when building an army. Aiming, for example, at a 1500 or 2000 point army list when purchasing and converting all my models is the only way I get anything done.

If all your minis are painted to this standard and quality, all your opponents will have Ld penalties just from shock and awe.

This is cool. I look forward to more!

I remember seeing these ages ago, and loved them.

Looking forward to seeing you add to them.

Wah! the return of the Mastiff and Slaine all in one.

I do remember the Ravenborn, so cool.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the responses!

I was going topost some current WIPs, but my camera died. Grrrr... Anyone know how to reset the OS on a Nikon Coolpix 4600?

Well, here's some pics in the meantime:


Old Man MacRoth is the current commander. He is also going to be replaced in my army list. I had him leading 13 Blood Claws into battle from a Land Raider Crusader, but since he prevents the unit from sweeping advances he's got to go. I'm working on a Rune Priest instead, allowing an additional BC to fit in the LRC, and to give them cover. This is from 2001.

The doggies are from Marauder Miniatures, which was a small minis company run by Trish and Aly Morrison. They were ex-GW sculptors who produced Warhammer minis with GW's blessing, even getting advertised in White Dwarf. These puppies were part of their Dark Elf range, and are the reason I picked "Mastiff" as a screen name. "Mastiff" does not describe me in any shape, way or form, and I have never owned a dog until this year. And that's a chihuahua/dachshund cross.



The Ambulatory BBQ. After the battle, we roast marshmallows! This is a venerable dreadnought, so I thought it needed some additional love. The fire is putty on an upside down shield. I'd like to replace the twin las cannons with a multi-melta, but I don't believe they had one in the kit. Do they have a plastic MM now?

I've used this camo pattern on all of my vehicles, although this is the only one with the bleached bone keylines. I'm debating adding the keyline to the other vehicles. It makes it stand out a bit more, although that seems to negate the purpose of camo.




These guys are WIPs. They were the most fun to build, andwill be the next unit I complete once I finish up some vehicles. I'll try and get tothem soon,'cause that old guy doesn't look like he'll be around much longer.

Welcome back Mastiff - I remember these guys from way back when.

I am really glad you ar back for some 40K lovin

Mastiff wrote:Do they have a plastic MM now?

There is plastic multimelta dread arm in the 5th edition starter set and devastator box has two plastic multimeltas for infantry use. From those the dread could get some plastic bits.

Anyways good to see these, they were one of my favourite figs in the Dakka of the past, these bring back some nice memories.

Hey man, good to see them again! Good to see you! Or atleast the familiar tag and the gorgeous models

I hope things are going great!

You have a lot of catch up to play. Lots of new plastic kits to pillage, plus a lot of people have decided the basic Marine kit just doesn't cut it anymore and built all manner of great takes on the "art scale marine" topic.

The new WHFB Chaos Marauder Cavalry have some heads that would be great for these!

see them here:
http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/shop/category_92/CHAOS-MARAUDER-CAVALRY.html?shop_param=cid%3D%26

That test piece is pure win, the blue is very striking and a combo of flesh and armor is a good choice, more kilts please...

P4NC4K3 wrote:The new WHFB Chaos Marauder Cavalry have some heads that would be great for these!

see them here:
http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/shop/category_92/CHAOS-MARAUDER-CAVALRY.html?shop_param=cid%3D%26

Wow! Those are fantastic! Thanks for that link, I'd never have found those. I used the older Marauder sprues for the scout arms, which are much easier and better proportioned then the ones I made in the past. These faces are amazing though. excellent character. I may have to pick a sprue up and build some more Blood Claws.

I've noticed the GW site doesn't seem to display individual sprues for sale anymore. Am I just missing the link? I've found a few "Bitz" links, but they are just parts that aren't sold as part of a larger kit, such as shoulder pads. I was looking to get the land raider crusader sprue to replace the metals bits on my old LRC, but couldn't find a breakdown of parts. Would I have to use a third party site like http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/ to get them?

Nope, you can't buy individual sprues, with the exceptions of ones listed in their Bitz kits.

I'd really check the third party prices before buying, sometimes a handful of bitz is almost the cost of the kit. Something to consider is buying the whole boxset, taking the bitz you want, and then trying to trade whatever is left over. For example: "For trade: Chaos Maruader Cav, missing heads, otherwise NOS." If someone out there has some extra heads, they'd probably trade about 1/2 of MSRP for the rest, and that could be cheaper than buying a bunch of bitz from a third party.

great to see you working on this army again. There were always one of my favorites.

Holy Crap these guys are sweet keep up the good work.

I love the walking BBQ its totally awesome, especially like the extra blades on the CC weapon, where are they from ?
I agree with you about the key lines on the camo, it makes no sense but looks better.

Anyway great stuff and I cant wait to see more

oh and the scouts are great too.

I approve! Very original scheme you got going here!

great job on those minis. i got into 40k at the beginning of 3rd edition and fondly remember your pics from scouring the web for ideas. you ravenborn and the white star WWII marines were (and pretty much are) my fav custom chapters.

Thanks for your comments. I've finally managed to borrow a camera and take some pics of where my army's at today. The quality's hit-and-miss as I tried some different lighting setups without enough real preparation. I'll take better army shots when everything is actually complete.




That's about 2200pts of Ravenborn in various stages of completion. Starting to look like an army!




A unit of "Grey Hunters". Notable for being complete (though I'll probably redo the bases for all of the minis)







This is the wheels for a large melee Grey Hunter unit I'm working on. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to weathering,but I'm pleased with the results for a tabletop army.I've learned to unclench a little and just things finished.

MUAHAHHA, take a look up me kilt and you'll get a woppin!! hahah, this army is great, an awesome take on space pups, now if only you could get a real viking converted army for an ally I would never want to play this army, just suffer some haggis and bearl.

Looking great Mastiff ^_^.

I would bring the dusting/weathering up a bit along the back quarter of the Rhino. More dust accumulates along the back end/quarter as vehicles move forward.

I really like the vehicle designation on the front plate. Very nice touch.

grey_death wrote:Looking great Mastiff ^_^.

I would bring the dusting/weathering up a bit along the back quarter of the Rhino. More dust accumulates along the back end/quarter as vehicles move forward.

I really like the vehicle designation on the front plate. Very nice touch.

Good call on the weathering, I'll give that a shot. Thanks!

did you handsculpt the arms on the blood claw? i tried matching that arm and couldn't find anything similar in the current plastics (nor in my old bitz catalogs from way back).

Regarding a plastic multi-melta, there are a few people on Ebay selling individual weapons from sprues for a couple of quid each. Alternatively there is this place, which is great value if they have the parts available.

Gorgeous minis, you should be very proud.

beautiful collection I remember falling in love with these when they were featured in White Dwarf one year. They are truly a great force. Did you sculpt all your early marines' bare arms? Cause they are amazing looking.

Yep, the arms on the Bloodclaws are greenstuff. I've since switched over to using the Chaos Marauder arms. I found I was making the arms in scale with the head and chests, which make them a bit too long overall. There's a couple that could scratch their ankles without even bending down...

So for the scouts and unpainted BCs the plastic have much better proportions overall.

A beautiful collection of marines indeed.

These guys where in the very first WD I bought!

really cool, always thought about doing Celtic Irish marines after seeing them!

Awesomeness, my brother is going to flip when he sees this, a Scotish heritage fanatic. Great models.

...but I'm pleased with the results for a tabletop army.I've learned to unclench a little and just things finished.

Yea you sometimes have to "unclench", your army will still be better than 98% of the stuff you see at most tourneys on the table.

Mastiff wrote:Yep, the arms on the Bloodclaws are greenstuff. I've since switched over to using the Chaos Marauder arms. I found I was making the arms in scale with the head and chests, which make them a bit too long overall. There's a couple that could scratch their ankles without even bending down...

lol, i thought that was part of the space wolves geneseed along with long teeth, a hairy back, and BO. they are the neanderthals of the adeptus astartes, you know!

warboss wrote:

Mastiff wrote:Yep, the arms on the Bloodclaws are greenstuff. I've since switched over to using the Chaos Marauder arms. I found I was making the arms in scale with the head and chests, which make them a bit too long overall. There's a couple that could scratch their ankles without even bending down...

lol, i thought that was part of the space wolves geneseed along with long teeth, a hairy back, and BO. they are the neanderthals of the adeptus astartes, you know!

Hehe, yeah... technically these guys have the Raven Guard geneseed, but I'm pretty happy to have them based closely on the Space Wolves. They always seemed the most "human" to me. While the other Chapters devote several hours per day practicing their scowls and praying to the Emperor while shooting bolters blindfolded at pretend heretics, I like the thought the the SW's spend their free time desperately trying to overwhelm their betcher's gland by consuming vast quantities of alcohol before it can be neutralized. SOMEBODY in the 41st millenia needs to be having some fun!

cool stuff mastiff...
the dread is especially awesome

I've been trying to come up with a logo for years, but never been happy with what I've come up with. But I think I've finally got it:



I wanted to use a raven, oddly enough. But I can't do celtic knotwork, no matter how much I try. I'm absolutely horrible at it. I finally got the idea of a triskele that doesn't use knotwork. A triskele is a symbol with a three rotated components, common in celtic designs.

So, what do you think? It'll be a bit of a pain putting it on every pad, but I've got a few ideas on how to make that less of a chore. Decals, stamps, resin pads, something will allow me to automate the process.

Top and bottom are the same except for the rotation. The bottom fits better on a pad, but the top looks better on vehicles.

Any feedback appreciated!

Brilliant man. Works too if you think of that old pagan god, who was it, that was represented by the raven... who was it... oh ya, Odin. Norse mythos but still cool.

I'd do just what you stated, pads and infantry bottom, and armour, and vehicles as the top one. It's your chapter and logo do what feels right.

Brilliant chapter symbol. The top one looks better than the bottom one.

Mastiff wrote:

P4NC4K3 wrote:The new WHFB Chaos Marauder Cavalry have some heads that would be great for these!

see them here:
http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/shop/category_92/CHAOS-MARAUDER-CAVALRY.html?shop_param=cid%3D%26

Wow! Those are fantastic! Thanks for that link, I'd never have found those. I used the older Marauder sprues for the scout arms, which are much easier and better proportioned then the ones I made in the past. These faces are amazing though. excellent character. I may have to pick a sprue up and build some more Blood Claws.

I've noticed the GW site doesn't seem to display individual sprues for sale anymore. Am I just missing the link? I've found a few "Bitz" links, but they are just parts that aren't sold as part of a larger kit, such as shoulder pads. I was looking to get the land raider crusader sprue to replace the metals bits on my old LRC, but couldn't find a breakdown of parts. Would I have to use a third party site like http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/ to get them?

Firstly, glad to be of service! Secondly, yeah it sucks that GW's bitz service sucks now compared to the old one... B&K might not be the best choice for you because you live in Canada (or so your flag says) but there are other, US based sites that I don't use (coz B&K are best for us limeys IMO) I've heard good things about Battlewagon Bits and the Warstore (that's the names IIRC)

I've always loved these guys. Very cool.

P4NC4K3 wrote:

Mastiff wrote:

P4NC4K3 wrote:The new WHFB Chaos Marauder Cavalry have some heads that would be great for these!

see them here:
http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/shop/category_92/CHAOS-MARAUDER-CAVALRY.html?shop_param=cid%3D%26

Wow! Those are fantastic! Thanks for that link, I'd never have found those. I used the older Marauder sprues for the scout arms, which are much easier and better proportioned then the ones I made in the past. These faces are amazing though. excellent character. I may have to pick a sprue up and build some more Blood Claws.

I've noticed the GW site doesn't seem to display individual sprues for sale anymore. Am I just missing the link? I've found a few "Bitz" links, but they are just parts that aren't sold as part of a larger kit, such as shoulder pads. I was looking to get the land raider crusader sprue to replace the metals bits on my old LRC, but couldn't find a breakdown of parts. Would I have to use a third party site like http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/ to get them?

Firstly, glad to be of service! Secondly, yeah it sucks that GW's bitz service sucks now compared to the old one... B&K might not be the best choice for you because you live in Canada (or so your flag says) but there are other, US based sites that I don't use (coz B&K are best for us limeys IMO) I've heard good things about Battlewagon Bits and the Warstore (that's the names IIRC)

Thanks for all your help P4NC4K3! The Warstore sells all of the heads together:
http://www.thewarstore.com/product45357.html

Unfortunately they are not in stock at the moment, but this is a perfect solution.

You rock!

for the angular camo on your vehicles how do you keep the lines so clean? do you use some kind of masking agent or tape or do you just have really steady hands?

The logo design is very unique and I think it would look great on banners and everything. I like the top version the best.

Grimhowl wrote:for the angular camo on your vehicles how do you keep the lines so clean? do you use some kind of masking agent or tape or do you just have really steady hands?

The logo design is very unique and I think it would look great on banners and everything. I like the top version the best.

The camo is freehand. I've got pretty steady hands and good brushes. But believe me, I screw up a lot and have to redraw lines to get them right.

a great idea and army mate! you really good at painting.


just needs a tiny bit of OOOMPH! maybe some good basing?

I really like the concept for the symbol!! great idea, but would prefer a more stylized, sharper and austere graphic. "More Native American, less NHL"

Utterly awesome concept. I can remember seeing that tartan in a WD and going WOW. If your looking for Celtic ranges for inspiration and model pinching Rackham did a great one. Both Warlord Games and Wargames Factory make multipart plastic Celts as well which may be worth checking out as a source for bits and bobs.

migsula wrote:I really like the concept for the symbol!! great idea, but would prefer a more stylized, sharper and austere graphic. "More Native American, less NHL"

"Less NHL"? But I already have the jerseys made!

I think it's the outlines that make it kinda "cartoony" like a sports logo. You make a good point and I might revisit this later, but at the moment I'm just satisfied to have something I don't hate.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Llamahead wrote:Utterly awesome concept. I can remember seeing that tartan in a WD and going WOW. If your looking for Celtic ranges for inspiration and model pinching Rackham did a great one. Both Warlord Games and Wargames Factory make multipart plastic Celts as well which may be worth checking out as a source for bits and bobs.

Thanks for the suggestions. I already raided the now-defunct "Celtois" minis for banners, and took a piece from a rackham mini for another back banner. However, it's a crime to defile Rackham minis. They're just too perfect to be down-graded to GW bitz.

Wow! This army brings back good memories from olde dakka. Nice to see your back at it, perfect timing for the new wolf dex too.

I with Migs about the insignia, less cartoon feeling more indian style. Otherwise it looks very fitting.

Keep up the good work.

I'm feeling pretty productive these days, I'll definitely have my army completed just in time for the new codex to render it obsolete!

I've even managed to get a couple of 1,000pt games in, so I'm having fun seeing what works. I borrowed a buddy's camera again (thanks Jay!) and took some outside pics of completed and WIP stuff. First the updated vehicle pool:





I did both vehicles at the same time, and I've been playing with adding warnings to hulls for the engines. They were looking kinda' bland on the sides, I think this helps break the monotony. Both my opponents are using Tau, so the whirlie is making me very happy. Lotsa body parts and pinned survivors cowering in the craters make Mastiff a very happy lad. It's certainly earning its keep better than the LRC ever did.






The scouts are now complete, and I'm finally happy with the basing, so I'll be re-basing my other "completed" minis. I'm intending to use these as tank hunters, so I added a couple of melta bombs. Haven't actually killed anything yet, so I'm hoping the WG leader will at least distract my opponent. These guys have a green tartan rather than the regular blue; it's common for a clan to have more than one tartan, such as a dress tartan and a hunting tartan. These guys obviously have the latter, though I need to finish the tartan on the pants. I'm not entirely happy with the WG leader. He looks a bit too clean and proper to lead these guys, who I wanted to look a bit feral, like the wolf scouts illustrated in the Codex. Ah well, he must be British. I've modified the backpacks from the space wolf sprue to look like ravens instead of wolf heads. I'm pretty happy with the results, although the fact that they are black makes them a bit hard to see.




This is my WIP close combat squad of "Grey Hunters", plus their WG leader. They ride in the Rhino.The squads too big for the 1,000pt games we've been playing, especially vs. Tau, but I'm looking forward to trying them out in larger games. I had always thought of making a lightning claw-wielding hero with the appearance of Wolverine, but I cooled on that idea once I started building him. Just a bit too cliche. I did want sleeker claws than the currently available GW ones though, so the dark elves happily gave up some of their pokey bits...



I'm going to expand the blood claws to 12 or 14 to run around in the LRC. I'll also replace one or two of the more ridiculous poses, like "Hopalong" there (#6). I guess with an arm that huge he didn't need a spare leg, but seriously! I blame all of my previous losses on him... One of the problems with sculpting all of the arms was that I got bored and easily distracted near the end. Now I'm using plastic Marauder arms, and it's all EZ Mode from here. I may also scrap the plasma hammers for real power fists, but Ihaven't made up my mind. I kept forgetting they actually had a PF and a bolt pistol when i rolled for shooting. Dammit Jim! I'm an artist, not... smart."


And last up is my Rune Priest. He's about 90% completed now (pics are two weeks old) and was the most fun I've had painting in years. He's the first marine that fits the scale of the plastic marines, which is why I've avoided metals to this point; they're too damn small. The one exception is my Terminator Captain, but even he looks wee next to this guy.

Anyways, this guy replaces "Old Man MacRoth" as my army commander. He'll lead the BCs in the LRC, bolstering them with his cover save, and unlike MacRoth he won't prevent running down fleeing enemies. I'll see what the new Codex does with termie squads before I bring MacRoth out of retirement.

Well, thanks for looking, now it's back to work!

Everything is looking great, I especially like the raven backpacks. The one thing that bothers me is the far left guy in the 2nd group of bloodclaws looks like his arm is backwards.

SoG

SonofGuilliman wrote:Everything is looking great, I especially like the raven backpacks. The one thing that bothers me is the far left guy in the 2nd group of bloodclaws looks like his arm is backwards.

SoG

hehe, that's the other guy I need to replace...

Oh wow! I really dig the color scheme, especially the powersword and cloth!
Excellent work!

Fantastic chapter icon.
Great raven backpack.

The scouts look awesome!!

OMG I loved these minis, back in the days...

It's damn good to see them back!!!

The tanks are brilliant, much more realistic than most. How do you do the dust effect? Thanks

Ya, years ago these made my marines look like crap :p

And once again Im tempted just to hide my Ultras in thier box for a while

Nice work, the little conversions all round add alot of individuality.

Im really loving these marines, really good work. Kinda makes me want to finish my imperial fists.

Dude, your work rocks. I haven't commented yet, but I need to say something.

This blog rules.

Damn you Mastiff.

Every time I look at your stuff and then turn from the screen to see my painted/half-painted models, I weep.

Brilliant army (LOVE the tartan paint-work), glad to see it all again since way back.

Oh man.

This army really is awesome. Love the Chapter Emblem you came up with, too.


Fantastic job on the tartan paintings


What bits did you use for the shoulder pads on the scouts?

Sweet Marines man. I love the hand painted flannel pattern. They have a strong Scottish feel to them that comes through beautifuly.

Lumpy wrote:Sweet Marines man. I love the hand painted flannel pattern. They have a strong Scottish feel to them that comes through beautifuly.

Flannel? Flannel!?! ZOMG!!!!

Round the pitchforks and torches lads, sound the pipes!! He called tartan, 'flannel'!!!

Dude, flannel is made outta cotton, no self respectin highlander would wear cotton O.o

pguard36 wrote:The tanks are brilliant, much more realistic than most. How do you do the dust effect? Thanks

Thanks! I drybrush with graveyard earth then stipple with the same to give the splashed mud appearance. I mix kommando khaki to lighten and add contrast. It's not as realistic as chalk powders, but can be completed in 30+ minutes and looks good on the table top, which makes me happy.

Beamo wrote:Oh man...

What bits did you use for the shoulder pads on the scouts?

Kroot plastic sprue. They fit perfectly. I hadn't planned on having shoulder pads until I saw those in the bits box. The reason each scout only has one pad each? I didn't have enough for two . As a side note, the shells and packs come from the ork sprue... they're a bit bulkier than the SM packs and really fit the half-hazard look I was going for. I thought the artwork in the SW codex for the scouts was the best thing in the whole book, and I was pretty devastated when I saw the sculpts they came up with. These were my attempt to capture that feel of men who lived off the land and scavenged and hunted for what they need for month at a time. The arms are from the chaos marauder line (which is why they actually fit, rather than my previous green stuff chaotic appendages and the heads are from whatever I could scavenge. There's definitely some from the Mordheim Empire sprue. The legs are plastic marine legs that have some of the bulk shaved off and greenstuff pants.

One last thing, This unit is called "Sgian Dubhs" or "Black Knives". That's the name of the concealed small knives the scots wore while under the eye of the English. They were not permitted to carry weapons, so these were hidden in the armpit or kilts.

Mistress of minis wrote:

Lumpy wrote:Sweet Marines man. I love the hand painted flannel pattern. They have a strong Scottish feel to them that comes through beautifuly.

Flannel? Flannel!?! ZOMG!!!!

Round the pitchforks and torches lads, sound the pipes!! He called tartan, 'flannel'!!!

Dude, flannel is made outta cotton, no self respectin highlander would wear cotton O.o

hehe! No worries. These guys could be wearing flannel...



They're from Clan McGrunge...

Quick primer on tartans etc.

"Plaid" is the name for the checkerboard pattern with layered swatches. Plaid is woven to create the unique patterns. It is generic, and has no history behind it.

"Tartan" is plaid that is asscociated with a specific family or group.

"Flannel" is a material often used for ogging shirts (or casual wear if you're from the west coast) and pajamas. The plaid is printed on the material, rather than woven.

You sir deliver the complete package so to speak!

very inspiring indeed!

Beautiful work, makes me want to cry at how some people make beautiful minis

Thanks for all the comments, I appreciate hearing from everyone!

I played again a couple of weeks ago. I got my ass kicked, but at least I got a chance to borrow a camera! This is my new leader for the Ravenborn, a Rune Priest named Cathbad. He's a better fit for leading a melee squad, since my other HQ can't run fast enough after fleeing enemies.

The feather 'totem' is from a Rackham model. I've had it for 7 years with the intention of using it for this army, but it felt like sacrilage to not build and paint the original mini (Kelen of the 13 Voices). "Fortunately", I'm so bitter with Rackham these days that I finally felt it would be put to better use on models that are still being supported by their parent company.

</bitter>

sigh. Confrontation; BEST. GAME. EVAR.

Moving on...

The wings are not a hat, though that fits GW's policy of "the bigger the hat, the more powerful the hero". They are actually attached to the backpack, and molded into the armour a bit.

I did a bit of greenstuff, all minor stuff though to fit my army. I covered the fur loin cloth with a kilt and sporran, and added the aforementioned wings and armour. I love this model as is. It's actually in scale with the plastic marines, which makes me giggle, and I love the face. I'm catiously anticipating future Space Wolf heroes, hoping they are sculpted to this level of quality. And don't have Big Hair.








I still have a bit of work to complete. His wings aren't quite done yet, especially the back, and I plan on adding some light reflections from the rune axe. But I needed a break from painting so I'll finish him once I've got some troops completed.

I'm loving this blog. Scots Marines are always awesome!

Just one question:

Where's the Haggis? Mmm, Haggis... With 20yr Oak Cask aged... Mmmm

Incredible, as usual, Mastiff. Out of curiosity, do you have a GS mold cast for the sporrans so you can just mass produce them rather than sculpting each one individually? And how did you set about carving the raven heads on the backpack? I'm considering a Space Sharks army and have thought about how I would convert the wolf heads to shark heads on a backpack like that, but haven't gotten very far in figuring out how to do it.

metallifan wrote:I'm loving this blog. Scots Marines are always awesome!

Just one question:

Where's the Haggis? Mmm, Haggis... With 20yr Oak Cask aged... Mmmm

Whaddaya think they store in their sporans? It's chock full of haggis-y goodness!

BTW, are you in the Rocky Mountain Rangers?


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Death By Monkeys wrote:Incredible, as usual, Mastiff. Out of curiosity, do you have a GS mold cast for the sporrans so you can just mass produce them rather than sculpting each one individually? And how did you set about carving the raven heads on the backpack? I'm considering a Space Sharks army and have thought about how I would convert the wolf heads to shark heads on a backpack like that, but haven't gotten very far in figuring out how to do it.

I sculpt each individually, but there really isn't much to them. I completed nine in about an hour. I add the tassels after the first part dries. I wanted to make a mold, but didn't have much success and realized that for the amount of time wasted building and experimenting with molds i could have sculpted a dozen of them.

The wolf heads just need a bit of work with an x-acto knife to look like ravens; this was a case of more good luck than skill. I trimmed off the ears, then the jaw including the teeth. The remaining muzzle gets shaved top and bottom to get the point of the beak, then the sides of the muzzle to remove the wolfy details. A line is inscribed into both sides of the beak for the mouth. A bit of scraping to clean it all up and make a smooth transition from the head to the body of the back pack, and voila! Raven heads!

Sharks should work great, I would think. Remove the ears first, then decide if you want to greenstuff over the open mouth, and to fill in the muzzle detail.

I'd really like to see how they work out for you!

Mastiff wrote:

BTW, are you in the Rocky Mountain Rangers?

I was up until about a year ago, yea! MCpl Jones was my Section Commander if that name means anything to you

Mistress of minis wrote:

Lumpy wrote:Sweet Marines man. I love the hand painted flannel pattern. They have a strong Scottish feel to them that comes through beautifuly.

Flannel? Flannel!?! ZOMG!!!!

Round the pitchforks and torches lads, sound the pipes!! He called tartan, 'flannel'!!!

Dude, flannel is made outta cotton, no self respectin highlander would wear cotton O.o

Oh I dunno... the wool that Kilts are made out of gets a bit itchy, like. Cotton is much comfier against the skin

Flinty wrote:

Mistress of minis wrote:

Lumpy wrote:Sweet Marines man. I love the hand painted flannel pattern. They have a strong Scottish feel to them that comes through beautifuly.

Flannel? Flannel!?! ZOMG!!!!

Round the pitchforks and torches lads, sound the pipes!! He called tartan, 'flannel'!!!

Dude, flannel is made outta cotton, no self respectin highlander would wear cotton O.o

Oh I dunno... the wool that Kilts are made out of gets a bit itchy, like. Cotton is much comfier against the skin

You gotta say "Cotton!" like a scotsman though

metallifan wrote:

Mastiff wrote:

BTW, are you in the Rocky Mountain Rangers?

I was up until about a year ago, yea! MCpl Jones was my Section Commander if that name means anything to you

Cool! Between your pic and your location I thought I recognized the uniform. I grew up in Kamloops and had some friends in the RMR, including Tony Walters who was the commander about ten years ago. I never served myself, though I considered it. In the end I realized I was too much of a feeble pussy artist, and I break easy. Good for you though.

Still live here (In Kamloops)? If so, should get together for a game sometime. Buddy's house has a huge area in his basement for gaming

Nope, living in Calgary these days, but I'd definitely take up your offer if I was still there. Does Kamloops have any good gaming stores that sell GW? When I left 10 years ago it was always tough to find minis. I used to make trips down to Vancouver to buy up everything I could find.

Yep. We got Interior R/C which is more Blisters and painting supplies and then there's High Octane downtown which is about as stocked as the West-Ed GW. That's my buddy's store. Hoping we'll get one up in Aberdeen or Hillside area some time soon with the new apartment tower/shopping complex they're putting up on the corner of McGill & Summit

. i actually said WOW!!!!! when i saw that runepriest. the blue is immense and you have to tell me how you did that, as well as how you did the bone, eyes, fur, leather, power armor, feathers on the totem, the face and how you achieved that gritty, realistic feel?

PLEASE!!!!! I BEG OF YOU!!!!!!!!

Subbed to this thread, it is, as they say LEGENDARY!

Would love to see a tutorial on the lightning effect on that axe. Best I've ever seen. If I could pull that off I might actually go back and repaint all my power weapons...

Mastiff wrote:
The feather 'totem' is from a Rackham model. I've had it for 7 years with the intention of using it for this army, but it felt like sacrilage to not build and paint the original mini (Kelen of the 13 Voices). "Fortunately", I'm so bitter with Rackham these days that I finally felt it would be put to better use on models that are still being supported by their parent company.

</bitter>

sigh. Confrontation; BEST. GAME. EVAR.

Moving on...

Got to agree with that. I'm still bitter about that. But lay on Macduff. Utterly awesome work on him by the way. Oddly enough an old boss of mine was a highlander and he'd quite happily wear cotton.......I'm really looking forward to see what you do with the plastic terminators......


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A couple of my Conf models will probably end up as advisors in my guard army.

These are simply fantastic well done !

Excellent addition - evolved from the originals, yet fits in just perfectly!

Speechless... AWESOME job, mate!
Have you abandoned us, or are you working on this fantastic army in secret? Update this, please!

Great work, like many people I very much liked these models when I saw them in WD in what must have been the late nineties or something, happy to see that you are still working on them.

If he WAS updating, don't you think he would've posted something somewhere in the LAST 4 MONTHS since this thread died?

And people say there're no stupid questions.

metallifan wrote:If he WAS updating, don't you think he would've posted something somewhere in the LAST 4 MONTHS since this thread died?

And people say there're no stupid questions.

Don't get me started!
Maybe he has been working on them but not cared to post photos or update? Think twice, please.

Burn!
Merry Christmas!

From Dakka's Forum Etiquette (http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/218249.page):

2. No Thread Necromancy. If a thread is more than a month old, leave it alone. If you're really interested in the topic, start a new thread! There are exceptions, like updates to modelling blogs or threads in forums that don't get much traffic, but in general bringing back old threads is simply annoying to the bulk of the posters who have already moved on.


If Mastiff wants to update this, he can, otherwise, let sleeping counts-as Space Wolves lie.

Official Dakka Mod Response:

Thread Necro is bad. Don't do it.

Guardsman Hedman wrote:Speechless... AWESOME job, mate!
Have you abandoned us, or are you working on this fantastic army in secret? Update this, please!

My camera died after I painted the Rune Priest. I did finish some more, and I finally bought a cheap camera last week, so I'll post some WIPs in the next couple of days. Thanks for asking.

I also entered my very first gaming tourney, and did better than expected; I won 2 out of four 1300pt games. I'm not the most strategically-gifted player to begin with, plus I had been away from the game for a few years, so 50% was pretty satisfying. Most importantly, every opponent was either fun to play, was willing to give great advice while kicking my ass, or both. All of the armies were well-painted, and the tourney was well-organized with only a minor hiccup or two. I can't wait for the next one. I've got a 2,100pt tourney coming up in March, and I'm slaving away to get everything completed. I had to bring some minimally-painted troops for this last tourney, and was a bit embarrassed.




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metallifan wrote:If he WAS updating, don't you think he would've posted something somewhere in the LAST 4 MONTHS since this thread died?

And people say there're no stupid questions.

That's overly harsh, isn't it? He's just looking for an explanation of the lack of posts. Relax!

I am glad to see you are back! I can't wait to see the progress you have made with this army. I love everything, especially the rune priest!

This is AWESOME

Fantastic work mate!

So how do you paint the tartans?

Ok so that's not thread-raising anymore!!!

Glad to see you back, that's indeed not so bad for a comeback in the Hobby!!! Half of victories is something a lot wouldn't even dream of lol!!!

Let's hope your next tournament will keep you motivated to keep on painting (and showing around us all obviously!!)

Cheers,

Wow Awesome Work xD i love it kilts in space who'd have thought it would look so cool ?

Welcome back to the land of the living! Glad to see your return to power!

So I finally took some new pics with my cheap-ass camera,and they're bloody awful. Here's the best of the bunch:







I'll borrow a camera eventually to get some better pics, but wanted to post proof I'm not quite dead. In the last two months I've built and painted the unti you see here, as well as my new mounted Wolf Lord, and then rebuilt and repainted a Landspeeder Typhoon.

Right now I'm trying to finish painting the models I need for a tourney next Saturday, so back to work!

Very nice....

I love the bike squad, Mastiff.

Mastiff wrote:Hola!

Welcome to my Haggis-scented Space Marine blog. You may have seen the Ravenborn about 5-10 years ago. I'm trying to complete them again after a five year hiatus. So, here's their story so far...


To be continued...

Holy crap! Mastiff! What's up man? I haven't seen a post of yours in years. Good to see you around.

Drake_Marcus wrote:
Holy crap! Mastiff! What's up man? I haven't seen a post of yours in years. Good to see you around.

Heya! I took a long break, but I've been getting very involved again. I just played a tournament last weekend in fact. Won Best Sportsman too I think people like playing me because I'm so happy to finally be throwing dice around that I can't be bothered with frivolities like tactics and such.

You keeping busy too I hope?

loving it!

Really really nice

sweet, as a half scottish person i approve, and space wolves fit them so perfectly, please give one ofthem a set of bagpipes to complete the look

The effort you're putting into each mini speaks volumes to your passion. This is exceptional stuff, thank you for sharing!

"Alright, everyone pipe down, time for a family photo! MacInnis, stop poking MacConnor with your chainsword and get back with the other Blood claws. Where'd the scouts go? Damit, they were here a minute ago! Oh, there you are, yes, yes, you're very clever monkeys taking advantage of cover and camoflage, now get back in place please... for Feth's sake, why is the Dreadnoght burning!!! Get a fire extinguisher... oh, he's always like that? never mind, you can stop beating him with your kilt now..."



So this is the 1,400 pt army I took to a tourney last month. Had lots of fun, did moderately well. I was pretty light on elites and felt the effects. Next stop, really expensive units!

Zoom-o-Vision pic here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/96091-Group%20photo.html

The entire army is just amasing, a poem called Haggis hunting on BMX came to mind when i seen the bike squad and attack bike. Overall the entire army is well done and perfectly exacuted.

They look great! I really like the slightly different land speeder shape there. As a (half) scot i really like them! If you wanted to add tiny but clever detail on then create the clan logo and put it on their kilts! May be a bit much tho :/

Old friend! So nice to see a full army - it looking so coherent despite all the time that has passed, is testament to your skill. The sneaking in weathering is nicely updating the imagery to 2010.

GREAT WORK and thanks for sharing!

Someone in that army needs a banner that says "Ach! C'mon ya wee scunners!" or something similar

Yeah I love this army , love the theme and it looks awesome .

Love the additions. I hope this project will keep on growing.

Heah Mastiff, nice to see you back and painting. I would personally like to see your take on Thunderwolves.

You now need to include:
1) a set of bagpipes
2) a barrel/glass/glasses of whisky
Then you would have Scottish wolves

wyomingfox wrote:Heah Mastiff, nice to see you back and painting. I would personally like to see your take on Thunderwolves.

Well they must obviously be riding haggises (haggi?? ) you know; one leg shorter than the other for running around hills, with the little knot around the front keeping in all the whatevers in there (it really nice and i don't even know what it is although nowadays its stuff like oats and other non-traditional stuff!)
I love it though!

Wrong. Oats have been in there for a long bloody time. Traditional Haggis recipies list oats.

And the pouch it's all stuffed in is a sheep's stomach. Sounds bad, but tastes pretty damn good.

Nice to see the "whole" army. Brilliant. Your power weapon effect made me change the way I did power weapons in my own army, way back when the Ravenborn were first being put together.

Easily my favourite army ever seen. Love it mate.

I could be bias however as my name is Angus

I have never been one for copying an idea, but I am so keen to have a go at a similar theme once my existing project is over.

One bone though, considering the battle of culloden field was in the 1746 the last of several Jacobite uprisings, I would have thought the kilt had made somewhat of a mark prior to the 1800's! Well in the Highlands at least. But this is a minor bone and more of jest from a humbled admirer of your work!

Cheers.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback

I'm still enjoying working on these guys, but getting very sick of Vermin Brown. Ah well. I'm hoping to complete the army this year and move on to something else for a change of pace. Either Dark Elves or Dark Eldar, depending on my mood.

I'm working on my Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf right now for a painting contest May 1st. I've completed most of the building and conversion, but I need to speed it up to make the deadline. I'll post the pics tonight and try and update regularly, explaining how I do it. You may find the T-wolf underwhelming though, I'll be curious to hear what people think.

@MaliceInTheLookingGlass: I was a bit surprised when I researched kilts that they weren't as old or common as I thought. The plaid patterns existed before the 1700s, but pants were actually more common than the formal kilt. It turns out the English and Scots had a romantic re-imagining of their heritage in the 1800s (they retconned the highlanders!!) and it became very fashionable to paint every lord in a family kilt to show off those sexy scottish knees. It's been years since I read the history, though.

And copy away mate, I'll never claim that my army is original. I grab inspiration from any source that I can, and i've seen plenty of models since I started that make me slap my forehead and think "why didn't I think of that!".


@Imperial Monkey:
Bagpipes are coming!

@wyomingfox and Migs:
Heya guys! keeping busy I hope?

see for yourself:







They eat puny GW marines for breakfast

Started work on 2 dev's, 2 bikes, and an attack bike last week. Nothing spectacular like you an Mig's. No pics posted as I am just working on the base colors...I hate base colors . Anyways, thanks for askin and I will be dying to see your take on the TW!

My new Thunderwolf proxy:

Haggis-mounted Rune Priest!





(No, not really. )


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migsula wrote:see for yourself:

They eat puny GW marines for breakfast

Beautiful work there Migs! the weathering is fantastic. Are you using powder pigments or paint for the dried mud? I love the marine's increased bulk, particularly when compared to the (sorta') humans. Tonnes of creepy goodness to admire.

Priceless! Accepting any commissions

That Domo is one of the coolest things I have seen here on Dakka.

Mastiff wrote:
@MaliceInTheLookingGlass: I was a bit surprised when I researched kilts that they weren't as old or common as I thought. The plaid patterns existed before the 1700s, but pants were actually more common than the formal kilt. It turns out the English and Scots had a romantic re-imagining of their heritage in the 1800s (they retconned the highlanders!!) and it became very fashionable to paint every lord in a family kilt to show off those sexy scottish knees. It's been years since I read the history, though.

And copy away mate, I'll never claim that my army is original. I grab inspiration from any source that I can, and i've seen plenty of models since I started that make me slap my forehead and think "why didn't I think of that!".

Cheers mate. Wont be for a long time yet!

Yeah Kilts and Tartan are a funny thing.

For example every clan or want to be clan in Scotland has a "tartan" now. Back in the the day (1700's etc) much of the low land scots were more Anglo Saxon than Gaelic/Celtic and thus had more in common with English ethnically if not politically. Although many were politically English as well.

The "romantic re-imagining" you refer to is quite correct. After Culloden Tartan, Bag Pipes, Kilts etc were officially outlawed in the highland in an effort to curb Highland culture which was deemed rebelelleous and probbaly rightly so. However in 1822 (I think) King George of England wore a Kilt to Edinburgh as a type of statement I guess which more or less "revived" the pride. Additionally regiments raised in the highlands were allowed to wear a regimental Tartan which many a poor highlander took advantage off. So oronically they regained their pride by fighting in their former enemies armies... Anyway...

This all being said, older Highland Clans had been wearing kilts since at least the 1500's. Most notably the "Great Kilt" which was one peice of cloth, essentially a blanket (and used as one) that was totally wrapped around their body and over the shoulder. Interestinglu enough it was not until the revival that the idea od wearing one tartan to represent clan was really noted. For example after the battle of culloden several samples of tartan were taken from several highland men. I cant remember off the top of my head what the actual stats were, but it was something like 15 different tartans on 6 men none of which can be attributed to an actual family or clan. More likely these were tartans that were simple "in fashion" or if from a more rustic community were the ones coming off the loom that day!

Anyway thats my rant

Im sure you knew all this but some other readers might find it interesting. Or insanely boring!!

Malice

I've had this idea for about ten years now. I really wanted to rep a celtic chariot for a leader of my army. Two things stood in my way; most of the parts I needed were metal, and the SW codex really didn't have any rules to cover my idea.

Well, I've run out of excuses, so here we go: This is a Wolf Lord with a Frost Blade, riding a "Thunderwolf". I really don't have any interest in putting a armoured behemoth on any animal, though I did look around for ideas. They all just seemed silly. But I still wanted to build a chariot. I've got some other ideas for his retinue, but first I need to get this guy finished for the painting contest. I'll try and update every few days.







The rider is just a stand-in, and will be changing for the final version. I ordered some parts to finish the model off, but I'm not sure if they'll arrive in time. I also will replace the helmet with a beakie helmet.

So, what do you think? Silly? Acceptable?

Oh my, he is scary...scary AWESOME!! Seriously mastiff, I commend you and I am sure no one will have any beef about it. Possibly the only thing I would add is eccentuating decoration on the bars themselves, make it more lordly...

That is leaking pure awesomeness and as such is an environmental hazard! Brilliant!

My only worry is that it looks too much like an attack bike still. I love the skull and the purity seals on the bike canopy though; do you think a few wolftails dangling off here and there would help the design?

I freaking love this blog man, and that chariot is seriously awesome. I just think some opponents may get confused that it's just a fancy-looking bike, not a wolf.

Maybe decorate the front bars a bit, and put something other than the gun on the mudguard and I reckon it would look better.
But an attack bike would be the future equivalent of a chariot cos horses or thunderwolves would get gunned down in a charge so it makes sense

Now THAT's an attack bike!

That is an excellent idea and honestly the rout I wish GW had gone with the whole thunderwolf concept.

Lets see two wounds, large profile, no heavy weapons, T5, 3+ save...looks representable to me.

Personally, I would have armed the driver with one of Chapterhouses rounded Celtic Shields, rather than the chain sword.

http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=67&category_id=16

Just an idea but for future chariots, you could have wolfen perched in the "basket" ready to pounce and rend. Or have one jumping off the railing.

What did you use as the base of your bird skull?

Thanks guys! I've been working on this for about two months, trying to make it work and look "natural". After all that time it was starting to look a bit pedestrian.

wyomingfox, thanks for the link. I did consider ordering those, but was never completely happy with them. Last week I found these and ordered them instead:

http://www.sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?art=890#i/conversion_parts/big/celtic_shields_01.jpg



The detail's a bit more subtle and geometric, and overall more aethetically interesting to me. The tall one will be placed on the front bars of the sidecar. The driver will have the circular sheild, with a chainblade attchment extending from the "cut-out", so it's both a defensive and offensive device. I just hope they arrive soon!


The bird skull is from the chaos maruader's standard. I bored out the eye sockets to make them rounder and place them more on the side of the head than the top. I removed some bulk beneath the eye sockets, and all of the teeth, then added the beak. Technically the beak can also deteriorate, leaving only a nasal extension rather than a beak, but this was easier.

Glad to see you back Mastiff. The counts as Thunderwolf is looking brilliant. Can't wait for the next update.

Mastiff wrote:
wyomingfox, thanks for the link. I did consider ordering those, but was never completely happy with them. Last week I found these and ordered them instead:

http://www.sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?art=890#i/conversion_parts/big/celtic_shields_01.jpg

Dang Mastiff that is awesome...why didn't you show those sooner! I bet you saw the celtic shoulder pads as well. I am so buying those for my wolfguard...well except for the two on the bikes as it is a bit too late for them

WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! <- The recipe for this thread, in all seriousness.

Tek wrote:My only worry is that it looks too much like an attack bike still... I just think some opponents may get confused that it's just a fancy-looking bike, not a wolf.

That's my concern as well. I do have regular bikes as well (Swiftclaws) with an assault bike, which you can see on the previous page. I used the scout bikes as a basis for those (though not the assault bike) in order to make them look lighter and faster. I'll also be painting these darker, possibly black, to make it clear they are different machines.

Additional wolf tails and possibly chains will likely be added to the sidecar once I've got it painted up. I've learned not to add fiddly bits before the bulk of the model has been painted, or it just ends in heartbreak (modelbreak, whatever)

Imperial Monkey wrote:Maybe decorate the front bars a bit, and put something other than the gun on the mudguard and I reckon it would look better.

Yeah, I'm not entirely happy with the gun either. It's the version in a holster, from the bike set, but it would look better on a vertical plane than lying flat. I'll have to think about that.

wyomingfox wrote:Dang Mastiff that is awesome...why didn't you show those sooner! I bet you saw the celtic shoulder pads as well. I am so buying those for my wolfguard...well except for the two on the bikes as it is a bit too late for them

sssssh! of course I'm getting those for all my T-wolves....




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MaliceInTheLookingGlass wrote:

Yeah Kilts and Tartan are a funny thing...

Malice

My daughter was planning on getting married this year (cancelled, thank god) so I was looking at getting a kilt for the big day. A bit pricey to get a good quality one, but worth it.

Unfortunately, though my family tree reaches back to Scotland, my last name of Smith is so generic as to be useless for research. I'd like to think my ancestors were talented metalsmiths of any type, and I'm keeping a small part of that love of craftmanship going.

Mastiff wrote:

Imperial Monkey wrote:Maybe decorate the front bars a bit, and put something other than the gun on the mudguard and I reckon it would look better.

Yeah, I'm not entirely happy with the gun either. It's the version in a holster, from the bike set, but it would look better on a vertical plane than lying flat. I'll have to think about that.

I personally like using the old warhammer plastic dire wolf heads to adorn the mud guard areas of my bike and attack bikes. For bikes, I adorn the wolf head like so: http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/72822-.html?m=2. For the attack bikes, I place the wolf head on the mud guard of the side car in a similar manner. Fits perfectly with little fuss. Though for your application you would have to model it either higher up on the mud guard or get a head with the mouth open and then have the bar going through the beasts mouth...or I suppose you could just cut out the lower jaw all together.

Ach arn't we Scots the best :p,

love the army all you need now is a bunch of redcoat guard tae beat back down to their "half".

Well im off to bash a few English skulls in and then get chase some Haggises.

Arran

wyomingfox wrote:
I personally like using the old warhammer plastic dire wolf heads to adorn the mud guard areas of my bike and attack bikes. For bikes, I adorn the wolf head like so: http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/72822-.html?m=2. For the attack bikes, I place the wolf head on the mud guard of the side car in a similar manner. Fits perfectly with little fuss. Though for your application you would have to model it either higher up on the mud guard or get a head with the mouth open and then have the bar going through the beasts mouth...or I suppose you could just cut out the lower jaw all together.

Hey, the wolf head looks very cool!

I tore out the twin-linked bolters (since T-wolves don't have 'em) so I had to put the skull higher to add some visual interest. Same reason why i added the purity seals; the front plate was looking really bare and bland.

Ok man I reckon this army is still the best.

I was going to suggest a piper but now I see you already are planning one

Ok from a modelling note not a gaming note it would be awesome to see a few marines engaging in some "Highland Game" activities.

For example how awesome would one of your marines look "tossing the caber" or even doing hammer throw (with an ork maybe)...

Anyway looking forward to seeing those shields painted up I have previosuly admired them myself...

Oh and instead of purity seals did you consider some loose scraps of tartan or some form of battle trophy?

Got to agree with the Hammer Throw pose with a Thunder Hammer nifty.....I love the flaming axe on the chariot......Originally I thought you were going to do something animal drawn but this is far niftier. Looking forward to more!

Very happy to see you back in the saddle, Mastiff. I was very sad when these boys stopped showing up over at the Gate.

That TW lord is going to be great, the chariot concept is awesome. The lord has a really nice sence of movement in him.

Those celtic shields look awesome, I'll have to borrow the idea for my own SW army.

Some WIP updates...





As usual, apologies for the crappy photos. I hate this camera, but it was cheap. And it shows. :/

I will repaint the cloak, it's too bright. And there's still more detail on his chest and belt. But I'm having a tough time finishing this guy. I had hoped to complete him for this weekend for a painting tourney, but it ain't gonna happen. I think I need a break from this model, maybe the army, until I get inspired again.

I just received my Scibor bitz this morning, so that might give me a kick in the ass to move forward again. Sheilds and shoulder pads, everything I need for my T-wolves.

I alo got my Forgeworld Ravenguard LR doors with the raven skulls. Squeeeeeee! Maybe I'll repaint my LRC, that'll be a nice change of pace.

I painted some eldar test models last year, and have been eyeing them again. No vermin brown, no tartan. Bright colours. No metals. Hmmm... very tempting. I was going to hold off and see what GW had in mind for the Dark Eldar, but I'm not sure I can hold out that long...

Love the cold blue flames on the axe. Very well done. Are you planning on leaving the Wolf Lord based?

The bike's a perfect mount for a SW lord... Well done!!!

The pose's pretty natural, you're good at it indeed...

Wow, these marines are really good.

Will you be updating this thread or have you stopped posting in it...

Thanks

I'm just glacially slow, and don't paint as often as I'd like. I'm about 75% through repainting a Land Raider Crusader, which I'll post when done. I needed a break from painting the SW Lord.

What colours do you paint these ravenborn?
Any response will be useful thanks!
Nice keep it up! Subscribed!

Ok, look forward to updates

Well, I'm not dead yet. Just 40, which is damned near the same. :( I took my wife to London to celebrate last month, which helped.

Anyways, my daughter bought me a new iPhone, so I'm trying it out. Not happy with the pics, but I spent all of 30 seconds setting up the lighting, so I won't complain too much.






So I've been playing quite a bit these days, getting my ass handed to me. I realized my list was too vanilla to be competitive, so I've been bulking up my grey hunter teams with Mark of the Wulfen (First two Wolverine wanna-bes in the top pic), Wolf Standard, and a Wolf Priest. Man, I thought Smurfs were bad for word replacement. They got nothin' on GW. "Brother Wolfheart, wolf me the wolfing wolf before i wolf you with my motherwolfing wolf."

Anyways, Instead of a banner I have Brother Donnal MacBray, who has played those pipes for 86 years without taking a single lesson. And it shows. He has no need of a mere bolter, laying low the enemy before him with a few shattering bleats from his pipes o'doom. His brethern are inured to its effects, but they know once he starts a'blowin' he won't cease until the enemy is laid low, or they are. This drives them to a murderous frenzy, desperate to annhilate their enemy before MacBray can start a second verse.

Hope you like 'em, I'll take better pics once they've done. I've completed almost 2500pts of these guys, and i never want to touch Vermin Brown again. I've also been working on both Dark Eldar and Dark Elves, as well as a Malifaux band. Must... focus...

Always love to see themed armies, great work on all of the models and beautiful paint jobs!

Beautiful army just wish this sorta thing wasnt beyond my ability and wallet lol

As a (part) scot I love this, although the pipes need the tartan. My brother is learning to play them, and when they're played well its pretty lifting (or blood curdling, depending on whose side you're on)...

Very nice as always!

Phew! How long does it take you to paint those tartans? It looks great, but it must be killer!

I really like the bleached bone keylines. My vote is for all the vehicles!

Keep up the good work!

Cheers,
Rawson

Thanks guys!

The tartans are actually pretty quick now, about 30 minutes or so. I'm less fussy these days, and don't waste time touching up mistakes. Laziness has its virtues.

I've since repainted all of my vehicles with bone key lines. I'm much happier with the results.

And the bagpipes will be tartan, he's still WIP. I've built and rebuilt him about three times in the lasy two months, and am still not entirely happy with him, but he was much goofier looking before. Marine arms weren't meant to cross over the chest to play the bagpipes; they need to be extended to reach, and my first three attempts look very orangutan-like. I was tempted to just call him a Jokearo, but common sense kicked in at the last moment.


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Found some pics online from an event in Calgary earlier this year; Mythacon. Lots of fun, although it's now all a blur fueled by little sleep and far too much caffiene.

This army is jawdroppingly awesome, as a space wolf player i have to say that I've seen some amazing subchapters but this one takes the cake. Striking color scheme, great conversions, all around amazing army.

I love the chariot bike idea, and why do i have a feeling that there will be a squad of the dudes in the future?

Absolutely B-A-eutiful Mastiff. Just love the Wolf Priest conversion. Did you ever get that Thunder Wolf conversion completed?

Thanks guys!

I've built four bikes/thunderwolves and basecoated them, but just can't seem to get them painted. They just seem like a chore for some reason. I stopped trying to work on them and came up with the idea for the wolfpriest and had him built and painted in under a week, but I just can't seem to get any enthusiasm for the t-wolves.

I brought them to my last tournament, and was happy with how they performed, so I know they need to be completed.

The bagpipe reminds me of the old "Ladies from Hell" nickname the Germans gave the Highlanders during WW1. Awesome although surely Marines can just turn their helmets sound system off? It's great for dealing with those dull sermons and mission briefings. The Wolf Priest takes "Beakie" to a whole new level!

Pics of my "thunderwolves" WIP.

I have a Wolf Lord on T-wolf, with a frostblade and stormsheild, and three T-wolf cavalry. The cavalry ride trikes instead of sidecars, and have spears with broad blades (currently broken off). Kinda' fun to build, I just haven't had enthusiasm for painting 'em, so they've been in limbo for 3+ months.

Awww shizzles. As much as I like the trikes, when I saw thunderwolf cavelry in context with your army theme, I pictured giant flightless ravens being used as mounts. I don't want to say disappointed, as I'm not, but, it came as a surprise that's all.

Your lord is kick ass though.

ghosty wrote:Awww shizzles. As much as I like the trikes, when I saw thunderwolf cavelry in context with your army theme, I pictured giant flightless ravens being used as mounts. I don't want to say disappointed, as I'm not, but, it came as a surprise that's all.

Your lord is kick ass though.

lol, that would be awesome. Do you play World of Warcraft? Druids can get a raven mount that looks great. I thought about doing something like that, but to be honest i just hate the idea of Space Marines on animals smaller than a mastadon. These guys weight upwards of a tonne each.

I googled for that raven mount, as I wasn't sure what you were going on about. And wow. 's all I'm saying. That's kinda exactly what i was thinking of. I can see where you're coming from weight wise, but... bah giant flightless birds are pretty damn cool, and you never see them in 40k.

ghosty wrote:I googled for that raven mount, as I wasn't sure what you were going on about. And wow. 's all I'm saying. That's kinda exactly what i was thinking of. I can see where you're coming from weight wise, but... bah giant flightless birds are pretty damn cool, and you never see them in 40k.

Here's a pic of one:

Yep, that's it. I had dreams of buying a lizardman Carnosaur and converting it with greenstuff... then I looked at the price. $45 a pop. Just couldn't do it. But that's the minimum size I would go for.

But I'm still damn tempted

Love the frost axe. I humbly request a tutorial similar in detail to Insaniaks skull badges. Please...with sugar on top.

The shield/sword combos are cool too, though I think that that will confuse opponents as to what is represented WYSIWIG...like why is your TWC armed with both a power weapon and a thunderhammer/frost blade/ect? I assume that the shields also represent Storm Shields? If not, that might further confuse your opponent.

In regards to the 3 TWC conversions, I like your first with the WL the most. You should do a similar one except with a wulfen jumping out of the basket!

Oh man... This army is so full of character. I love it.
Totally exalted.

Can't even say what I like the most. But the runepriest is definetly one part of it.

I've been distracted by too many projects, including dark eldar and dark elves, and orcs for Confrontation, but I still get games in with these guys. I was playing with a camera, and I'm finally getting pics I'm happy with.

Next week I finally start painting terminators! C'mon boxed 40k set!

Stunning kilt. Also liking the dappling on the power maul.

So... anyone interested in buying the entire Ravenborn army?

I have absolutely no interest in these models anymore. I don't play much 40k since I started Infinity, and when I have played 40k in the last two years it was with my Dark Eldar.

I really enjoyed my time with the haggis-scented marines... I started them about 17 years ago, and definitely had fun trying my hand at painting tartans and camo. But I just can't dig up any enthusiasm for completing the army, or for the marine aesthetic for that matter. Or, well, 40k.

I'm going to put a proper post documenting all of my models and their state of completion for the Buy & Sell section of this site, and Ebay as well, but wanted to see if there was any interest here first. If I can get a decent price I will complete the unfinished models, otherwise the whole thing will go as is. The money will go to a good cause; rum, cheetoes, pr0n and Infinity models.

So, if you're interested in owning a new SpaceWolf army, PM me.

Here's roughly what I have and their completion (I'll have a more accurate post next week with better photos, I need to get a lot of stuff back to photograph and document) The % is how complete they are as a group.

Vehicles
- Rhino | 100%
- Rhino | 75%
- Whirlwind | 100%
- Landspeeder | 100%
- Land Raider | 100%
- Dreadnought | 100%

Troops
- 4 T-Wolves. Sorta. see below. | 40%
- 5 Wolf Scouts | 100%
- 5 Terminators | 60%
- 10 SW | 100%
- 10 SW | 60%
- 5 BCs on bikes | 100%
- Assault Bike | 100%
- 15 BCs on foot | 75%
- 5 Long Fangs | 90%

HQs
- Old Man MacRoth (termie) | 100%
- 3 Wolf Guard/sgts | 65%
- 2 SW bagpipers | 40%
- 3 ancient mastiffs | 100%
- 2 armoured mastiffs | 65%
- 1 Wolf Priest | 100%
- 1 Rune Priest

I think that's it. Damn. I'd forgotten how much plastic I've gone through lol

Plus I have a lots of bits that I'll throw in.

Some quick pics:

Some of the boys: Basic trooper, Rune Priest, BC or WG with rending whatchamacallits


Unfinished Thunderwolf Cavalry:


Long Fangs (need tartans completed)


Land Raider


Army pic from six years ago




...and here's why I'd rather spend my time on Infinity:





Yes, I am obsessed with Vermin Brown, why do you ask?

Man, if I could afford to make an offer, I would. These guys are sweet.