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I've been reading the recent reissue of Eisenhorn and felt compelled to start an Inquisitor army. If you haven't read the series, all the characters are very varied and well realised, so I want to make a retinue full of totally unique personalities — so lots of kit bashing is going to be involved! I also want the Inquisitor himself to be in either carapace armour or power armour, and it's really difficult to find heavily armoured models that don't look like some kind of space marine. I picked up Deathwatch Overkill when it came out and decided the Primus would be the perfect base for an armoured inquisitor so I've already started hacking off the arms and sticking on purity seals etc. (see attached).

I'm undecided on the accompanying fluff, but it'll no doubt emerge as the models come together and hopefully the project will take on a life of it's own from there. Based on what I have so far, he's looking pretty Ordo Malleus.

I think that model is going to turn up in a lot of logs as an inquisitor, it's a great piece, the whole range of the cultists are ripe for conversion
Yours is looking fantastic so far, have you decided on an equipment load out yet?
Will he just be for 40k or will he feature in inq28? Can make a difference to how you arm him due to the less battlefront more cloak and dagger style of inquisitor

I've already got my eye on the 1st-2nd generation cultist with a full length cloak to convert into some sort of tech priest. I'm thinking I'll go ordo Hereticus or Malleus so perhaps a null rod or power sword. The model came with a really nice needle pistol but I might have to use that for something else. I like the idea of a slightly more understated firearm, heroic scale plasma pistols always look insanely huge. Perhaps just a laspistol or autopistol. I have been looking at Inq28 models quite a lot, but mostly for inspiration. I'd never played it before but I'm certainly open to trying it!

I've added the head and arms. I went with a Grey Knights terminator head, the GK stave as a null rod, and an autopistol from a Tyranid cultist. The gun isn't too showy but I really like the small drum clip. The arms are from Tempestus Scions sprue. I'm a little worried the head looks too big (I had to remove the hood from the torso to fit it on!) but it's heroic scale, perhaps pskyer energy has made his head swell up or something!

I also added a cherub that I think is from the Empire General sprue. It adds a lot of needed height and a lot of extra character. I 40k'd it up a bit by adding a cut up rebreather from the Cadian command squad sprue.

I hadn't mentioned it before, but I decided to greenstuff over the ribbing on the Tyranid cultist torso, as it was too big a giveaway to the original model. The additional wires are old guitar strings. They're surprisingly inflexible so a lot of shaping was required before putting them in place. Also worth noting I put a bunch of cable plugs here and there, which are made from cut up sections of plastic rod. I'll drill out the ends of these before I undercoat the model.

I need to settle on a name for this guy. So far, I'm thinking of calling him Inquisitor Erastus Oughton, but I'm open to suggestions.

I've made a member of the Mechanicum to join the retinue. Perhaps a Magos or Techpriest. I started with a Tyranid cultist torso and added a bunch of Skitarii bits. I liked the idea that he wouldn't usually be a combatant, so the bolt pistol and close combat weapons are all mechanical arms, as if they're working independently of him to protect him. The close combat weapon arm is some sort of probe that's made from power axe handles and the little drone thing from Space Hulk.

Here is the retinue's Glavian Pilot, complete with needle pistol. Although I can't really use him in 40k as an acolyte anymore, I couldn't resist using that left over gun from the Tyranid Primus. The model uses SM scout legs, a Skitarii torso with the cloak cut off, and a valkyrie pilot head.

Excellent conversions here - the different kits come together really well to make new and interesting characters. Particularly like the idea of the independent servo-arms on the tech-priest type figure. Looking forward to seeing where you take them!

Have you had many thoughts about a colour scheme? Something unifying or as eclectic as the models?

Thanks Scarper! I have thought a little about colour schemes. I'm thinking lots of red, white, and gold. However members of the retinue that have looser ties to imperium — like the pilot — will probably have a slightly less coordinated colour scheme.

Great stuff so far, can't wait to see more. You can always have the pilot counting as another Inquisitor so he can use the needle pistol.

Good point Kid_Kyoto. I guess he could also make for a nasty looking interrogator too!

I've got a DCA and a combat servitor in the works at the moment.

This DCA is mostly made of DE bits, unfortunately there isn't much choice for Imperial plastic female components. However I think a couple of purity seals really help make her look like a member of the Inquisition. I had a suitable torso front, but no back, so I ended up cutting a Empire militia torso in half and using that. The gas mask is from Victoria miniatures, I had some left over from my Renegade guard project.

The Battle Servitor is ready and the Inquisitor is painted.

The servitor is made with an Ork torso and legs, the arms are mostly bits of Imperial vehicle accessories and heavy weapons etc.

I'm mostly happy with the painting, however I may consider adding another highlight layer to some of the leather straps. I'm also considering adding some more detail on face, but it's so easy to get it wrong, and one slip up usually means starting again.

I think you've got some fantastic detail in the face as is - a lot to risk! Great work, he's clearly heavily armoured, but not a space marine. Pretty tough to do sometimes.

Servitor looks nice, but the ork legs are pretty recognisable - the stance is a little iconic in 40k. Should come together with a nice paintjob though, I'm sure.

DCA is a lovely fluid pose. I'm impressed you've managed to make the VM masks looks so good on a female model - I've always struggled with the fiddly straps.

Lovely job all round!

Thanks Scarper! I'm pleased with how the Inquisitor came out, avoiding that space marine look was the goal after all. I'll take another picture of the face, I always find the eyes the most difficult.

With the DCA I ended up moulding greenstuff around the gas mask so it sort of integrated into the torso armour, which I think helps make it look less oversized on a female model. I've applied a few gas masks before for my renegade guard army, so I had a little practise. I start filing off the nose and super gluing the mask to the face, then when it's dry I push the straps around the face using the back of a scalpel, then when I'm happy with the position I superglue the rest.

The servitor does look quite Orky, but I'm hoping that'll be less apparent with an absence of green when it comes to painting. I pinched the idea from KrautScientist, who made a chrono gladiator the same way.

I've uploaded another picture of the Inquisitor, his left eye looks a little weird, so as I said before I want to have another crack at it soon. Any advice?

I've started work paining other members of the retinue. You can get a sense of the colour scheme for each member. With the pilot I plan on layering over the orange to make a yellow, but I'm open to suggestions. It could look a little garish!

Also, some time ago Bits and Kits were doing a clear out where they sold pots full of random bits. I got a box of three pots for about £20 total, and they arrived on Monday. I wasn't sure what to expect, but as you can see, there was a lot, each of the three pots was full to the brim, I've since spread it out a bit (the stuff in the compartmented tin is my existing bits box). Admittedly there was a lot of useless components, but I'm sure I can make a lot of interesting things over the comings days/weeks — you can see from the last picture I've already made a start!

This is my Inquisitor's protege, Interrogator Rooke. Armed with a las-rifle and a lot of grenades.

He's mostly made of Cadian command parts but also features a bionic lower leg from a Skitarii model. The Las-rifle is made of a mix of a lasgun, a Kroot rifle, and Empire militia blunderbuss arms.

I'm working on 3 models using parts from my recents "box of bits" acquisition. I've got a brutish crusader and 2 acolytes. I think the bolt gun on one of the acolytes looks way too big, so I'll try swapping it for a lasgun soon.

I also have a very old Eversor assassin that's been missing an arm and backpack, until today!

While rooting around for older parts and models I dug out an old Eldar Aspect warrior from 1990! It was my first painted model but I decided it would make a good addition to the retinue. I was sentimental about paint stripping it, but I took a photo first and I plan on painting it again with the same colour scheme in tribute. I think my painting has come on a bit since then

I've noticed a lot of people add a space marine or two to their retinues. Having just one means you can spend a lot of time making them look extra special (not to mention much more intimidating compared to their puny regular human counterparts).

I've got a black templar army from a while ago, and I could use one of the characters from that (see attached), but I'd rather have a go at a true scale marine.

I've got an idea, but I'm worried it might be mad and maybe I'm delusional for even thinking it could be a good idea but... I have a SM centurion torso front that came in my bits box order. What if I take that, and add terminator legs, a regular SM head and also arms: would it look horribly out of proportion? I think it could work if I reduce/build up in areas as appropriate, it could look really meaty. I've done a very quick mock up in Photoshop. Please, do let me know what you think!

This blog is absolutely amazing. I'm definitely going to steal some of your ideas.

As for truescaling, I think the best and simplest ways to go about it are either my way, which you can see in my blog:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694362.page

Or find Veteran Sergeant's blog. It's called Leave No Model Unconverted.

We both only use the standard power armour kits, so the models still look properly like Space Marines. There's also minimal greenstuff work involved (not that it looks like you're afraid of that!)

 thebuilder wrote:
This blog is absolutely amazing. I'm definitely going to steal some of your ideas.

As for truescaling, I think the best and simplest ways to go about it are either my way, which you can see in my blog:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694362.page

Or find Veteran Sergeant's blog. It's called Leave No Model Unconverted.

We both only use the standard power armour kits, so the models still look properly like Space Marines. There's also minimal greenstuff work involved (not that it looks like you're afraid of that!)

Thanks thebuilder! Be my guest, I've already pinched a lot of ideas myself from weirdingway who has an amazing blog about his Navigator household.

I'm in awe of your true scale army, that must have taken forever!

I ended up ditching the Centurion torso idea, it was way too big compared to the other parts. I stuck with the Terminator legs and filled in the backs and cut off the plates around the hips. I took a standard SM torso and cut away everything below the Aquila and built it back up with green stuff. I used guitar strings to recreate the cabling between the waist and the torso. Then it was just a case of adding a normal head and arms. For detail I saved the belt buckle from the original SM torso, shaved it down and glued it back on to the Terminator legs. All that's left to do it greenstuff a few gaps and add some accessories.

You can see from the comparison shot below he's a fair bit taller than a standard SM model and a normal human.

I'm not sure what Chapter to paint the guy, however I know it can't be black. I've got about 1500 points of Black Templars and I'm desperate to paint with colour again!

Excellent conversions you've got here
Big fan of Interrogator Rooke. Tasteful conversion with a design that isn't too busy but still manages to have lovely detail. Crisp.

Every model in your blog is awesome, and your painting is fantastic. This is by far one of my favorite projects on dakka.

for me, the proportions are out on the SM. His torso is just too small for the legs, and the arms look too short...

 thebuilder wrote:
for me, the proportions are out on the SM. His torso is just too small for the legs, and the arms look too short...

Personally, I like the proportions. I can kinda see what you mean about the tosro/legs, but it doesn't bother me at all. The arms, on the other hand, I don't see it. They don't look even slightly too short to me.

Thank for the comments everyone, it's all really encouraging stuff!

 Heretic Tom wrote:

 thebuilder wrote:
for me, the proportions are out on the SM. His torso is just too small for the legs, and the arms look too short...

Personally, I like the proportions. I can kinda see what you mean about the tosro/legs, but it doesn't bother me at all. The arms, on the other hand, I don't see it. They don't look even slightly too short to me.

I was thinking the same thing! The legs are pretty chunky, I think I've managed to somewhat mitigate the bottom heaviness by padding out the body with accessories. I also like the idea that a SM would be capable of carrying a lot of gear (probably on behalf of his weaker allies) and not be remotely bothered by it, so he's got loads of bags, ammo pouches etc. I've added another picture with some regular humans for scale, he stands a good head and shoulders above them.

I think a power fist is never in danger of looking too small, but maybe the plasma pistol arm could do with beefing up. Perhaps if it still feels weird, replacing the gun with something bigger like a bolter would help.

Because I don't want to paint black again he can't be Deathwatch, so in terms of fluff I suppose he'll have to be "on loan" from a Chapter. Perhaps there's some cause of the Inquisitor that the Chapter is invested in, but is stretched too thin to offer anything more than a single marine. Maybe Crimson fists? What chapter would you like to see?

I also found some time to finish off a character I was using for scale in my previous post. This guy is a grizzled bounty hunter, very much in the vein of Harlon Nayl from Eisenhorn. I'm still thinking of a name.

The Star Phantoms would be cool for your marine and, in terms of fluff, they are a favorite of the inquisition, especially ordo xenos, outside of the deathwatc. This is mainly due to the fact that to get the job done they will kill anyone…allies, kids, their own grandma…no questions asked, and because they have a particular love of killing aliens, whom they are extremely knowledgable of.

 Heretic Tom wrote:
The Star Phantoms would be cool for your marine and, in terms of fluff, they are a favorite of the inquisition, especially ordo xenos, outside of the deathwatc. This is mainly due to the fact that to get the job done they will kill anyone…allies, kids, their own grandma…no questions asked, and because they have a particular love of killing aliens, whom they are extremely knowledgable of.

Good idea, I like the idea of a Gregor Clegane type character. Quiet, menacing, and fiercely obedient. The rest of the retinue would all be terrified of him naturally!

I like the colour scheme too, they have a Star Wars Storm Trooper kind of vibe. White would really stick out too. My only reservation is the Chapter symbols looks like it would be really hard to paint freehand!

Very cool thread.

Really impressed with the Inquisitor and the Tech Priest.

Looking forward to seeing more

 PDH wrote:
Very cool thread.

Really impressed with the Inquisitor and the Tech Priest.

Looking forward to seeing more

Thanks man, I appreciate it. BTW I'm a big fan of your Inq28 work

 juptrking wrote:

My only reservation is the Chapter symbols looks like it would be really hard to paint freehand!

It would definitely be challenging, but stylistically it matches the inquisition well. I am currently painting a Mantis Warrior and I had the same reservations about the chapter symbol, but I had an idea; just paint it to the best of my abilities and then do some weathering over the part of it that looks the weakest, leaving enough visible so as to convey the marine's identity while effectively hiding my mistakes as much as possible.

 Heretic Tom wrote:

 juptrking wrote:

My only reservation is the Chapter symbols looks like it would be really hard to paint freehand!

It would definitely be challenging, but stylistically it matches the inquisition well. I am currently painting a Mantis Warrior and I had the same reservations about the chapter symbol, but I had an idea; just paint it to the best of my abilities and then do some weathering over the part of it that looks the weakest, leaving enough visible so as to convey the marine's identity while effectively hiding my mistakes as much as possible.

Ha good idea, very sneaky. I'll give it my best shot and if it doesn't work I'll try your technique.

I've been thinking about the SM arms and they have been bugging me. I've taken the plasma pistol arm and I've Blu-tacked a boltgun arm on to see how it looks. I'm struggling to find a pose I'm really happy with, so far I've tried an alert pose and a relaxed pose, but maybe I need to cut some more arms and try more options. Let me know what you'd like to see, or poses you think I should try.

I've also made some progress on one of my bit bucket conversion. This guy is a combat drug induced Crusader. I think I might bulk him up a little further with some more greenstuff, also some caps on his boots to cover his weird feet.

I like the new alert pose the best. The power fist is so big that the symmetry looks off in the relaxed pose, just my opinion obviously. The crusader looks awesome, I think capping his insane mutant feet is a good idea though.

I'm gonna think about the SM pose a bit more. I've got a lot of spare arms so I might cut and pin a lot of combinations and weapons and see what feels best.

I agree with Heretic Tom, the pose needs to have some kind of symmetry with the power arm otherwise he'll look a bit off kilter.

In the mean time I've added some regular humans to the gang.

First up, there's a head of security, who looks after the Inquisitor's holdings and escorts him and his retinue when in transit etc. He's made from an AM driver torso (I think Taurox), Scion head, Empire militia / Skitarii arms, and Victoria Miniatures legs. I think the belt buckle is from a Space Hulk cut off. The torso was a little on the squat side so I built up the bottom with a little greenstuff.

There's also your run of the mill mad zealot with a flamer, which any self respecting inquisitor needs on his staff. This one was a simple head swap with a Chaos cultist. I just had to file off any symbols of chaos and add a few purity seals for good measure.

I try and update this blog every weekday, but I'll be missing a few days soon as it's my birthday today and I'm getting married at the end of the month. Naturally I'm finding less and less time to make progress. I'll still post whenever I do something new, and I'll be back making regular updates in early August

Fantastic conversion work here, a big inspiration for my own current Inq28 project!

New conversions look excellent.

I had another crack at a battle servitor. I think we all agree the Ork body I used on the first one was a bit too much of a give away. This time I've used the Aberrant from the Overkill box, I removed the arms and replaced them with mechanical weapons.

I've still got a bit of sprucing up to do. Hopefully I'll do a big greenstuff session tomorrow morning, where I can fill the gaps in the servitor, gaps on the true scale marine, and add the toe caps to the crusader.

Here's a small update from this mornings progress. I managed to do a bit of greenstuffing, not as much as I'd hoped. I've filled in the spaces on the Aberrant/Servitor to make the mechanical bits look more like they've been embedded into the skin. I'm going to add lots of cabling later too. I've settled on the weapon/pose for the true scale marine. I like the pose I had originally, so I just rebuilt the arm and beefed it up a little. And I've done one of the feet for the crusader, at the moment it looks a lot like a slipper. But I think this will look ok once I get in there with the scalpel and add a few rivets and things!

These are fabulous... great innovation, makes me want to troll through my own bits looking for hidden potential!

Excellent work. I can't wait to see them all painted up.

MacPhail wrote:These are fabulous... great innovation, makes me want to troll through my own bits looking for hidden potential!

Thanks MacPhail. It's surprising how much potential appears in your bits box when you start a new army! Particularly with the Inquisition/Inq28, there's so much scope for variations and imagination, reading Eisenhorn definitely helped a lot. I think when you start a new project you become a lot less concerned about cannibalising your old armies for parts too!

youidiotkid wrote:Excellent work. I can't wait to see them all painted up.

Thanks as well youidiotkid Likewise I'd like to see them painted, however the arrival of my bits box order has thrown me off a bit and my paints have been packed away for a while now. I hope to change that soon as soon as I get the Servitor, Crusader and SM on bases. Almost there!

On that note, I only managed to find half an hour for projects this morning. I added more pipes to the Servitor, and also started the second war slipper on the Crusader. It doesn't seem picture worthy really.

However, I do have a picture of an Imperial priest with Eviscerator I made a while ago. I undercoated it before taking pictures of it and figured the detail wouldn't show well in black. But in lieu of anything else, it will have to do... Enjoy!

I've based the SM today and I'll base the others soon, which means I can break out the paints soon and hopefully make some headway on the Star Phantom this weekend.

Here is a final comparison for scale. Just to push the height difference I set the SM on a platform to make him the centre piece of the retinue.

A lot of cool minis and good ideas here. Nice work.

Lots of amazing conversions, the only thing I would change is the base rim of your painted Inquisitor. I don't think that light brown compliments the wonderful model at all. A simple black base rim would work much better in my opinion.

Can't wait for more.

Looking good dude, your marine is definitely going to stand out. I love the inquisitor, his face is especially well done, though the whole thing shows a great attention to detail. Great color choices as well, I can't wait to see some more of these painted.

Thanks again everyone for the kind words

Bottle wrote:Lots of amazing conversions, the only thing I would change is the base rim of your painted Inquisitor. I don't think that light brown compliments the wonderful model at all. A simple black base rim would work much better in my opinion.

Can't wait for more.

Hey Bottle, thanks for the feedback I quite like the brown bases, I started doing it because I noticed it's how GW base most of their minis. I'll give the black rim a go on the next few models and sleep on it. I'm somewhat reluctant as all of my other armies have brown bases. Worth thinking about though!

Heretic Tom wrote:Looking good dude, your marine is definitely going to stand out. I love the inquisitor, his face is especially well done, though the whole thing shows a great attention to detail. Great color choices as well, I can't wait to see some more of these painted.

Thanks again Heretic Tom. I've got that chapter badge coming up soon, I think I might try it with a micron pen or something.

I've got the marine undercoated (only had black spray unfortunately), I'm priming the white parts with grey by hand. I only got so far and the thing fell off its base! So while I waited for glue to dry and I had the paints out, I started doing purity seals and parchment on the tech priest instead.

As it's a small update, I'm throwing in another bonus extra. Before I read Eisenhorn and got distracted, I'd gone halves on the Imperial Knights Renegade box with a friend. I only got so far and didn't want to start blogging it until I knew I could make some headway. However I was using a weathering technique on the Knight that I want to use on my retinue SM, as they both have white armour. You can see it around the hatch area. So it seemed somewhat relevant! Also I'm sure my Inquisitor will use his limitless authority to summon the Knight as back up eventually

I managed to get a little bit of painting done over the weekend. When I painted the Inquisitor, I just posted him when he was done, this time I'll share a little more about the process.

The first stage I just want to get paint on everything, I find I get eager just to get a base down. Once this is done I find it easy to slow down and concentrate on certain parts. This is really the "gets worse before it gets better" stage, as it doesn't look much better than the minis I painted 10 years ago.

At this point it's also worth mentioning I'm using grey as the base layer for white, and brown for the base layer for gold.

Then I mix about 50% black paint with 50% water and wash the whole model, this will help provide definition later when I start to add highlights.

Then I start layering, so far I've got about halfway through the first layer, most of the light grey (to become white in subsequent layers) and gold. Then I'll layer up the leather holster and purity seals with light brown.

I'll usually end up doing 3 different layering layers, gradually getting lighter as I go.

It doesn't look like much yet but a few layers from know I'm expecting it should look ok

Today is the last update I can make until the 8th of August, when I get back from my honeymoon

I didn't manage to finish the SM, but made some good progress. I've figured out painting white on to a black undercoat was a bad idea. who knew? I think it'll look ok with another coat.

Looking good. Have fun on the HM, see you in August!

Hi all, I'm back. And I've finished the Star Phantom!

I'm pleased with the result, the chapter badge is a little shoddy but I think I would struggle to do much better at this point. I couldn't imagine trying to do a whole army of these guys!

I'm not sure about the black rim on the base so I might paint it brown soon. What do you guys think?

I'm aware the white armour looks a little "textured", I think this must be due to loads of layers of white after undercoating with black.

I'd be happy with that on the table

Looks ready to rumble. Welcome back.

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback

Just a quick post with the SM next to the Inquisitor. I also included some IG/AM I painted back when I was at university for scale. Take a look at the bases, I thought it was interesting how much lighter Balor Brown is than Snakebite Leather.

How have I missed this thread up to this point?

Some truly amazing conversions going on I here, you really love those battle servitors .

EDC

Welcome back! I think your space marine came out great dude. I paint all my bases black because that's how I'd seen it done, but I quite like your brown bases and I'd stick to it, I think it looks great.

Hey all, thanks again for the comments.

Sorry the updates have been a bit slow, slowly getting life back to normal after all the big events!

I'm getting a little painting done each morning, I've started painting multiple models at once too. So hopefully I'll have a string of updates soon

I've finished the tech priest and I'm pretty pleased with him. Like my Star Phantom, I've noticed the paint is caking up a bit, I'm not sure if this is down to too many layers, old paint, too much paint, an old brush. Has anybody else had this problem?

Next up I think will be the DCA, followed by the Interrogator, and then the Orky battle servitor. I've also got some more renegade guard on the go, which I might post in here too, as my other blog has been dormant for some time.

Finally, I've ordered a box of Deathwatch Vets and some new paints, terrain tufts, brass etch, and water effects. I'm going to make the vets look like they're in a rainy trench warfare battlefield.

The DCA is finished. I was unsure about this model when I made it. I ordered a Dark Eldar torso and it only came with the front half, so the back is made out of hacked up bits and a lot of greenstuff. However after painting, I think it came out ok.

After not being happy with my Inquisitors eyes, I decided this time to make them more pronounced. I'm pleased I managed to get the detail in, but I'm undecided if it looks cartoony or not, any thoughts? I think the black outline is ok in this case as it looks like heavy kohl eyeliner.

I've currently got my Interrogator, pilot, and a lot of renegade guard on my paint station so expect those soon. As ever, I'm still making the odd bit of progress with the Imperial Knight too. My DW vets haven't turned up yet but I'll be sure to get those posted here too once I start putting them together.

That tech priest is crazy awesome!!! REALLY great job dude. DCA looks good, I'd have never guessed you had to improvise the back half of the torso. I looked at the pics before I read your post and I just thought the black lines were eyeliner, it never occurred to me that they might be seen as big cartoony eyes. It may not work for every mini, but I think it works fantastically for her and gives her a bit of added character. Great stuff, I'm excited to see whatever's next!

Thanks Heretic Tom, glad you're a fan. I've come around to the eyes now too. The DCA back is an Empire militia torso that I attempted to cut in half, a lot of greenstuff was required to make it "fit".

Look what arrived in the post today! The Vets are here. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to arm them?

I was thinking 2 shot guns and 2 storm shields + sergeant would look cool. I'm also tempted to make all of them totally unique and throw in a black shield. I'm not adverse to kitting them out for maximum combat effectiveness either, probably CC if anything (I don't have a load of plasma guns lying around unfortunately).

Loveing these conversion, you figure ideas and poses are awesome. The excellent paint finish only adds to the effect.

I love the combiweapons in that deathwatch set, but you can't go wrong with shotguns

Interrogator Rooke is all finished now. I wasn't originally sure on the colour of the jump suit but I think that khaki works ok.

I've ordered some individual bits for the Vets, so I can arm a Black Shield with 2 lightning claws and turn him into a blender. They should arrive soon and I can work on building some new models!

Interrogator came out great, I like the khaki and the Kratos vibe. I really like the hair on that model as well. He's a great addition to your retinue.

Thanks Heretic Tom, glad you like it

The lightning claws I ordered arrived so I started building the DW vets. The Black Shield blender is ready.

With all those beautiful chapter badged shoulder pads in the vets box I couldn't resist doing another true scale marine. Here for your approval is my second true scale, a Raptors marine. I'm going to add a few more purity seals and other details but he's more or less good to go.

Tiny update, I added a frag cannon to my unit of vets.

Awesome. That frag canon is rediculous, in a good way
I love the new true scale marine, that pose is epic, perfect for a righteous ally of the inquisition.

Wow. Your stuff is amazing. I agree the most important thing in conversions is to hide the original shape as much as possible (less so if you're intending to something that related)

I couldn't even tell that the inquisitor came from a genestealer hybrid. So that's definitely a good thing.

Will definitely keep an eye on your stuff for my ad mech. Or maybe even if I decide to do an inq retinue

Excellent stuff, the blackshield looks great, really imposing.

The frag cannon dude is pretty awesome too, he looks like a total badass.

EDC

Thanks everyone!

I've added a regular human to the retinue (regular humans are always the most fun to convert), I think he looks a bit like a bounty hunter. The fur pelts around his waist and legs make him look like perhaps he came from a feral or frontier world.

I've also finished the vets, I went with a Black Shield with claws, Sons of Medusa frag cannon, Silver Skulls storm shield and power sword, Howling Griffons shotgun, and Brazen Minotaurs heavy thunder hammer.

The human figure is cool! Another nice addition.

The human dude looks awesome. Where are the legs from?

EDC

 evildrcheese wrote:
The human dude looks awesome. Where are the legs from?

EDC

The legs are from a AOS Chaos Marauder. I got them from one of those sites where you buy individual components.

I'm currently working on some minis for a D&D campaign I'm playing, would it be poor form to post those here too?

Nah, post 'em. I'd love to see your work on some d&d minis. You can always spoiler them if you want.

Really nice well converted minis! Painting style is great too!

 Heretic Tom wrote:
Nah, post 'em. I'd love to see your work on some d&d minis. You can always spoiler them if you want.

I've finished a Gnome rogue, I've got a Goliath Cleric and a human fighter waiting to be painted. I'm waiting on an order for the rest of the party from Hasslefree Miniatures. I swapped with our DM for one story arc so I spent a lot of time writing that. I've got the last session this weekend, so hopefully I'll find more time for painting soon.

I guess this project blog has now become more of a general projects blog for bits I'm working on. I've been playing a lot of D&D recently so I've started finding minis for everyone in that party.

Moira - Gnome Rogue: finished
Khulock - Goliath Cleric: built but unpainted
Rooke - Human Fighter: ordered (that's me!)
Namar - Elf Ranger: ordered
Bart - Halfling Wizard: ordered
Galrond - Elf Paladin: ordered

Dekker - Human Bard (DMs character when he plays)

It's a pretty big party but a good group!

I'm still working on the Inquisitor warband. I've also got renegade guard to post (thinking about converting some genestealer cultists into good ol' regular cultists too), an imperial knight in the works, and some Deathwatch.

Very cool, may I ask where you are ordering your D&D minis from?

Heroquest DM screen FTW!

Knightley wrote:Very cool, may I ask where you are ordering your D&D minis from?

juptrking wrote:
…from Hasslefree Miniatures.

Cool stuff. The goliath is pretty awesome.

EDC

Ambience 327 wrote:Heroquest DM screen FTW!

Ha ha, good eye! Using the orcs and goblin minis too

Heretic Tom wrote:

Knightley wrote:Very cool, may I ask where you are ordering your D&D minis from?

juptrking wrote:
…from Hasslefree Miniatures.

I'm still waiting on the Hasslefree minis, the Gnome and Goliath are both Reaper miniatures Bones. They're hard to find in the UK but I found some on eBay that didn't have insane shipping costs. The Goliath is actually an Orc with a little converting (this is what happens when you don't stick to the core player's handbook )

Hey everyone, Long time no see.

The end of last year was pretty busy, however now I seem to be able to find time to commit to converting/painting. Also over Christmas I got some guardsmen and Genestealer hybrids, so the plan for now is to kit bash those two and try and get some interesting looking regular humans made.

Here's the first of many. He's made with hybrids legs, Cadian torso and arms, Anvil Industries shotgun, and a chaos cultist head. I wanted to remove all the Genestealer iconography so I I've used a reasonable amount of greenstuff too. This way I figure I can use the model for Genestealer Cults, AM/IG, Inquisition, Chaos etc.

Looks good man the GS Cults kits are a real boon to making regular human scum

Must pick up some more myself

Where's the backpack from? Gives him a sort of nomadic/scavenger look which I really like

Thanks Ynneadwraith. Yeah absolutely, just having a sprue with shotguns and auto-guns is great too.

The backpack is from the Cadian heavy weapons team. It comes with 2 backpacks per team, one with a shovel and one without.

Ah gotcha shall have to grab as much Cadian stuff as I can thinking about it, given that they might be replaced soon.

The autoguns and shotguns are definitely really useful. There's even enough without genestealer mutations to maintain variety for things like Chaos Cultists

I also picked up a green stuff pipe and tentacle maker. I added some pipes to my Crusader, in the form of a gas mask, I think it came out quite well.

Had another go using the tube maker to replace the guitar string cable on the battle servitor. I put more sag in the pipe to make it look heavier.

Here is another kit bash, this time using some Old Warhammer Empire bits. I really like the one hand autogun and shotgun arms in the new hybrids box. Again I used one of the Anvil shotguns and extra shells. The left arm was holding a rather exotic looking cult knife, so i replaced it with a bayonet from a Cadian lasgun.

By coincidence me and my son just started kit bashing some true scale marines and Inquisitor stuff, sir we are robbing your ideas !

That dude looks great! Which kit is the body from?

Big H wrote:By coincidence me and my son just started kit bashing some true scale marines and Inquisitor stuff, sir we are robbing your ideas !

Ha ha, by all means be my guest. That's what Dakka is for right?

I also suggest looking up Blanchitsu and Weirdingway's blog for Inquisitor inspiration if you haven't already. Some really creative stuff, very grimdark.

Ynneadwraith wrote:That dude looks great! Which kit is the body from?

Thanks very much! The body is a quilted armour torso from the old Empire Militia set. I don't think GW still sells them, but you might be able to find some on eBay if you're lucky.

BONUS EXTRA: I play D&D once a week, and tonight our halfling wizard is moving to Holland IRL. I've got minis for all the player characters, however painting them all hasn't been on the top of my to do list. So as a parting gift for our wizard, I woke up early and managed to cram in 2 hours of speed painting before work. I'll give him the mini to keep after tonights game

Back to the regular humans, here is my sergeant. He's a grizzled old vet, so I felt like a stitched together chaos cultist head was suitable.

I used the crouching legs from the heavy weapon team and just unbent one of the legs. When I base him I'll have his foot up on a box or a barrel or something. I think I still need to do a tiny bit of green stuff work where the sword scabbard attaches to the belt.

Looks great dude!

Fantastic conversions and kit bashing, so much inspiration.

EDC

Awesome, your latest conversions look fantastic!!

Cool pose for the sergeant.

Thanks for the kind words everyone

Here is another one, a fairly straight forward kit bash this time, however I added an spare Victoria miniatures head to give it some real character. This guy looks like he's straight out of Star Craft if you ask me, maybe it's just the cigar!

Those two are pretty cool. Not too over the top but still very characterful.

Nice, that head really makes it. He looks like such a badass.

EDC

Thanks again guys

youwashock I'm all about the understated conversions

This next guy also uses Cadian and hybrid parts but also has a Knights of the White Wolf head that I found at the bottom of my bits box. There was a little space between the collar and the underside of his beard, so I gave him a neckerchief with green stuff.

I managed to get a fair amount done over the weekend. I've done another soldier with a fashionable feather, and I've started a pretty ambitious project. I'm building an Ogryn more or less from scratch.

That's a serious GS work! Great models so far!

I thought I'd share some sculpting "wisdom" this morning.

Since I got my greenstuff pipe maker I've found that attaching them can be pretty tricky. I think the best way to do it, is to make the pipe, wait maybe 10 minutes for it to semi-cure, and then glue the first end in place. Next, when the glue is dry and the pipe still hasn't completely cured, glue the next end and push the pipe into place carefully with a sculpting tool.

Originally I tried glueing both sides at once and got into a horrible mess. I also tried waiting for the greenstuff to completely cure first, but it won't be nearly flexible enough to get a realistic looking weight to the pipe. Being able to make the pipe sag in places makes it look a lot heavier and industrial.

I've also done a little more work on the Ogryn.

My plan is to build up the torso by roughly mimicking different muscle groups in the body. As each group dries, I can build up the next group without accidentally undoing lots of hard work with an accidental finger nudge!

I did struggle a bit, as the greenstuff start falling off the model as I poked it around. I added superglue to hold it in place but it reacted strangely with the working edge of the green stuff making it crispy. Next time I'll apply a small dot of glue to the underside of the greenstuff, far away from the working edge.

I've found I can blend in the edge of each layer of greenstuff by taking an old paintbrush dipped in a little cooking oil and using it to blend the sections together.

No new finished minis today, but plenty of works in progress.

I've added the next set of muscles groups to Ogryn (Slowly getting there). I'm still unsure about how to arm him, so I'm open to suggestions.

I also pinched b-tone's idea for converting my cultist leader, by putting a SM backpack vent over his chest.

I also started making this weird spindly robbed figure out of some Genestealer Cults bits and a Bloodletter torso. I think it should be some sort of twisted imperial servant but I'm not sure what exactly. Also I have no idea what to use for the head. Again any suggestions are most welcome!

Thanks!

Another member added to the roster. This guy managed to get himself some of the best kit it would seem. He found himself a nice helmet and a fancy looking las-gun.

The Ogryn is coming along nicely. I've found a suitable head too, I removed the moustache from an Ogre head that I got in a grab bag. Still not sure how to arm the guy.

And finally I've greenstuffed the mask on my chaos cultist heavy. I want my minis to be interchangeable as mercenaries, chaos cultists, imperial conscripts, Genestealers cults, Necromunda gangers etc. So his eight pointed star hockey mask has been converted into a slightly less evil skull mask.

I’ve found a head for my Genestealer cult/Bloodletter mashup. It’s actually one of the Cult Mechanicus icons from the imperial knight sprue, I glued it on to the back of a Genestealer head. This must be some sort of servitor, so I think the right arm will need to be mechanical and probably wielding a very heavy weapon or lifter claw.

The Ogryn is slowly getting there, I don’t want to add too much at once and risk smudging some uncured greenstuff. The head is on, but I’m still at a loss for ideas of how to arm the guy.

I’ve finished another trooper, this time armed with a rocket launcher. His legs are from a chaos cultist, I had to cut the legs and readjust them slightly so his waist wasn’t dipping forward and his legs were further apart, more balance for firing powerful rocketry!

Final update for today, I’ve started work on yet another regular human but one wielding a very large sword. It’s the Xenophase blade from the Deathwatch sprue, but I’ve filled in the runes to make it look more pedestrian. Now I just need to find a slightly unhinged head to compliment it.

Fantastic new additions.

Pretty small update today as I had a fairly hectic weekend (in a good way).

I more or less finished the conversion on the cultist leader, he just needs a bit of greenstuff to clean up the gaps.

I've also started building a ripper gun for the Ogryn. It's going ok, I'm not sure how to build the back/handle of the gun but I think I'll just need to experiment. I'm thinking about him holding it with one hand but I wouldn't know what to do with his free arm. I've got plenty of Ogre hands but they're all holding something. I don't think my sculpting is good enough to make a free hand from scratch, unless anybody has seen any good tutorials.

Really like you work mate, i decided to start an inquisitor war band once I've collected enough parts and your stuff is really inspiring !

Wow dude, everything's looking insanely awesome. Great job with all the green stuff work. Your survivor is super cool, unique and grim dark as an exterminatus order issued against a planet of puppies.

Thanks for stopping by Big H. If you're looking for more ideas I really recommend Weirdingways Navigator Household blog and PDH's INQ 28 work, they got me started. Heretic Tom is also doing some really nice work with his Inquisition army too.

I had an idea for the Ripper gun, I'm going to build the grips like the new Deathwatch Frag cannons, that way I can pose the arms without them looking too awkward.

I've also done a quick head-swap on a cultist (and removed all the heretical symbols and a bit of my thumb with a scalpel). I think I need to replace his close combat weapon though, looks a little too low tech for that helmet!

Update: Just had a look at your blog Big H, your daemon prince is berserk, nice job!

I adore all of them. Definitely keep it up!

(And while you're at it, TELL ME YOUR SECRETS)

Looks stunning man! Really really nice work

Thanks again everyone!

I've been thinking today about how I'm going to base these guys. I like the idea of them being part of a spaceship crew, so an interior theme might be interesting. Inside a ship or at a space station etc.

I think a fine mesh would make a good base, I got some from Secret Weapon as a brass etch which was perfect, but it isn't half expensive!

Does anybody have an idea where I could get a cheap roll of mesh suitable for 28mm scale? I've been looking on eBay but I don't know what sort is suitable.

You can get half decent results from the stuff that covers the gap between plasterboard sheeting !
http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-plasterboard-joint-tape-scrim-neutral-48mm-x-90m/68520?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=GoogleLocal-_-Datafeed-_-Sealants%20and%20Adhesives&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=CJfWn_WP_9ECFYEaGwodA0MKSw

Thanks for the kind words about the Daemon prince, that's what a gak ton of hours and too much wine in front of the tv will get you !

I would consider a combat knife or something in place of the club. He's a cool mini.

Big H wrote:You can get half decent results from the stuff that covers the gap between plasterboard sheeting !
http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-plasterboard-joint-tape-scrim-neutral-48mm-x-90m/68520?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=GoogleLocal-_-Datafeed-_-Sealants%20and%20Adhesives&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=CJfWn_WP_9ECFYEaGwodA0MKSw

Thanks for the kind words about the Daemon prince, that's what a gak ton of hours and too much wine in front of the tv will get you !

Good tip, thanks. I'll look into that. Ha ha that sounds a lot like my process for this Ogryn too!

Heretic Tom wrote:I would consider a combat knife or something in place of the club. He's a cool mini.

Yeah something small like that would work. I thought he looked a bit like a pilot with that helmet. I'm tempted to give him a free hand, so he looks like he's usually a non combatant. I'll try both.

I haven't finished the ripper gun, but I wanted to get the pose for the arms fixed sooner than later. I cut some brass rod to use as guides for the arms, the problem was how to fix them in place. Uncured greenstuff wasn't nearly strong enough to hold the weight of the ripper gun, and gluing the rods would have been too fiddly. I ended up building a rig out of old sprue and brass rod to hold the gun in place, I was then able to easily position the brass rod arms with small amounts of greenstuff. When it's all dry, I'll slide the arms off and put some meat on those bones!

juptrking wrote:I did struggle a bit, as the greenstuff start falling off the model as I poked it around. I added superglue to hold it in place but it reacted strangely with the working edge of the green stuff making it crispy. Next time I'll apply a small dot of glue to the underside of the greenstuff, far away from the working edge.

I've found I can blend in the edge of each layer of greenstuff by taking an old paintbrush dipped in a little cooking oil and using it to blend the sections together.

Try keying the particular area that you want to stick putty on - scoring or roughing - give the GS more to cling to. I've found that with especially small or fiddly bits (down to rivets and things) it can help to spread or push putty into the grooves or holes first, then stick the main mass to that; rather than try to force the whole thing in, in one go, and having it just peel off again anyway 'cos it's stuck more to your fingers or tools than anything else...

Also, judging by all the yellow lumps in your GS, it's badly stale, which can affect how sticky it is. (And how easily you can feather or blend the edges) That or you're using the middle meeting part of a strip of GS, which has the same effect and accelerates the former condition anyway.

Oil... it's a personal YMMV thing, and not too different to the vaseline that many use. But I prefer water because it evaporates. With oil-based lubricants you need to wash the sculpt with soap and water between stages, and that could be another factor in your sticking problem.

Sympathy for the ripper gun weight problem that needed the rig, but why didn't you just bend the brass rod at the elbow?

Nice work overall, though. Love the imaginative conversions.

 Vermis wrote:
Try keying the particular area that you want to stick putty on - scoring or roughing - give the GS more to cling to. I've found that with especially small or fiddly bits (down to rivets and things) it can help to spread or push putty into the grooves or holes first, then stick the main mass to that; rather than try to force the whole thing in, in one go, and having it just peel off again anyway 'cos it's stuck more to your fingers or tools than anything else...

Also, judging by all the yellow lumps in your GS, it's badly stale, which can affect how sticky it is. (And how easily you can feather or blend the edges) That or you're using the middle meeting part of a strip of GS, which has the same effect and accelerates the former condition anyway.

Oil... it's a personal YMMV thing, and not too different to the vaseline that many use. But I prefer water because it evaporates. With oil-based lubricants you need to wash the sculpt with soap and water between stages, and that could be another factor in your sticking problem.

Great advice, the scoring sounds like a really good idea.

Yeah it does look a little lumpy, I could probably do with spending more time mixing the greenstuff too. I tried water but the greenstuff persisted in sticking to the tools. Personally I've found oil to be much better, but if you get it on any surface you need to bond it's game over!

 Vermis wrote:
Sympathy for the ripper gun weight problem that needed the rig, but why didn't you just bend the brass rod at the elbow?

My brass rod is actually brass tube, so if I bend it more than say 10 degrees it snaps. Good for gun barrels and pinning but not much else.

The Ogryn arms are starting to take shape. Yesterday I realised the arms were way too long, so I trimmed them down and re-pinned them last night. I've got the initial bulk on there, getting the muscle forms to look right has been a lot more tricky than the legs or torso though.

The creepy servitor also now has an arm, I went with a flamer. It's attached in a similar way to the other battle servitor I did some time ago. Also it turns out you can bend brass tube, you just have to take it slow!

My sword wielding maniac has a head. I went with the masked cult leader head from the chaos cultist set.

Finally I saw weirdingway's leggy combat drone, and I'm pretty sure I've got enough similar parts to build my own, so I'll be giving that a go soon!

Loving the creepy Acolyte/Servitor/Bloodletter dude really nice use of bits

Hey everyone. Just a small thing, if any of you play RPGs and have a minute to spare - I'd really appreciate it if you looked over my new post in the game design forum. Thanks!

juptrking wrote:
My brass rod is actually brass tube, so if I bend it more than say 10 degrees it snaps. Good for gun barrels and pinning but not much else.

Aaah...

The ogryn's looking good. Reminds me of the thought that sculpting is like gap-filling with a few more steps. Keep it up!

And the servitor's creepy, but that guy with the sword looks crazy! Where's that head from? It's brilliant.

Nice progress on the Ogryn. He's going to really be something when he's done.

 Vermis wrote:
And the servitor's creepy, but that guy with the sword looks crazy! Where's that head from? It's brilliant.

Ha ha, thanks. I thought he need a suitably mad head It's from one of the Chaos cultist leader models, I quickly grabbed this from Google...


This morning I mostly did what you might call greenstuff admin work! Filling in gaps and doing small details on various things. I'm still working on the Ogryn arms, I'm filling the gaps on the ripper gun and I added a hose to the creepy servitor flamer. I did however start on a new figure, I'm trying to un-xenos my 1st-2nd gen Genestealer hybrids. I've started by fixing the posture, next job is to replace the feet with boots. It's a bit taller than your typical human, so it should make for a bit of bruiser!

I won't be posting any updates this week, as I am currently on holiday posting from Slovenia

I'm thinking that this Ogryn has been a fun project and I'd like to get better at sculpting. When he's finished should I do something smaller and considered like a henchman/soldier, or something large and detailed like a large mutant/chaos spawn/daemon prince (Think Nurgle).

If I did something small I'd focus on pose and scale, if I did something large I think it would just be a case of heaping on details as I thought of them!

What would you like to see next?

Excellent stuff.

Ogryn is looking brill at this point, and the servitor thing is a awesome little character.

All the chaos cultists modifications are excellent too.

EDC

I'm back, and look what was waiting for me!

I figured some Empire Flagellants would make for some suitable kit-bashing, mad shotgun toting imperial priests etc.

I also thought I'd give Army Painter a go as they're a fair bit cheaper than their Citadel counterparts. Finally, I couldn't resist trying out blood for the blood god.

My first proper update since I've got back.

The un-xeno'd 1st-2nd Genestealer hybrid is coming along, now more of a brutish human henchman than a freakish alien. I still need to do a reasonable amount of greenstuff around the legs and feet to turn those claws into boots.

I've also started hacking up Flagellants for kit bashing opportunities!

The Ogryn hasn't been touched yet, as I spent most of this morning just unpacking my workspace. I expect to do plenty of greenstuffing tomorrow.

Finally I tried taking a torch from the Flagellants box and gave it to my "pilot" but I doesn't seem fitting in terms of fluff, so I'll keep trying.

The Ogryns arms are on! Just a little more bulk around the shoulders, a couple of accessories here and there, and then he will be finished!

I've started working on the brutes boots and I ended up replacing the pilots head instead of the torch. The pilot has now become a mad zealot!

Love your brutish not-hybrid guy looks like a real hardcase

Flagellants are a great kit for pinching bits for INQ28-style things I'm sure you'll find loads of creative things to do with them looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Brilliant stuff. My favorite is the painted tech priest for some reason - he's just perfect in every way!

Thanks kestral, the tech priest is one of my favs too I think I need to start thinking of the fluff behind each model like I used to do.

With that in mind, this week I've got some Ecclesiarchy muscle. Next I want to make a Ecclesiarchy cardinal on a support chair.

I've also started a vet soldier, I just need to find some good legs for him.

The Ogryn is almost there but just small details at the moment, I'll post a picture when I've got him based and ready to undercoat.

This is great! I can see some of the influences you mentioned but it's very original and very cool!

Can I ask where the pilot head came from? Is it puppetwars?

 Doombiscuit wrote:
This is great! I can see some of the influences you mentioned but it's very original and very cool!

Can I ask where the pilot head came from? Is it puppetwars?

Thanks Doombiscuit

You're in luck, it's a UK based company called Anvil Industry and they do £2 delivery on anything in the UK

I also got my shotguns there.

Awesome latest additions, the mace guy is very unique !

Thanks @juptrking. I'd seen their marine stuff before but didn't realise they did normal human scale stuff. Very interesting, looks like it could make a good arbites helmet.

The hybrid-based models are coming along nicely. Really like the addition of the pistol.

Really like that last bust of a guy you've got there looks like a real hard-nut

I must admit you've got a real talent for injecting character into your models

Thanks again for the kind words all

I've started on a walker platform for a Ecclesiarchy cardinal. I think this could end up being a lengthy project, I'm kind of making it up as I got along.

The support platform is getting there. The legs are almost both on. I've spent most of the time making the underside looking right.

There's a big hole in the front, I'm thinking either a gun, more speakers, a spotlight, or a large book on display. I'm open to suggestions.

Nice!

If it's a preacher a big speaker or a book would be very fitting if you could find a book big enough, you could go to town painting the writing and suchlike

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
If it's a preacher a big speaker or a book would be very fitting if you could find a book big enough, you could go to town painting the writing and suchlike

I've got both the legs on now, and it's apparent there is a fair amount of clearance between the chasis and the floor. I might have a gun on the front and hang a large book or parchment from the underside (much like a an imperial knights tabard). I do have a very large book from a Dark Angels set but it's actually too big

I've also got the greenstuff out again and I've started on my second hybrid brute. The Ogryn is so almost done, I'm just making such tiny little fixes that I won't bother posting until he is on a base.

He's finally done! I've added a few more details to the gun, added some plug sockets to the surface of his skin, and just general cleaning and refining. I'm gonna try and find some time this Sunday to paint him. Anybody got any ideas for a name?

Loving it!

Ogryn looks awesome! The conversions between the cultists, GSC and Flagellants is superb, almost seamless and very grim dark.

Intrigued to see how the walker thing turns out!

EDC

Kickass! I'm totally stealing the idea of Genestealer Acolyte legs for Beastmen..in spaaace if that's ok

Did you buy the whole Flagellants kit? If so there's a little bit that's a sort of scroll pinned to a large wooden board that might hang quite nicely beneath the walker

Thanks guys, appreciate it

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
Kickass! I'm totally stealing the idea of Genestealer Acolyte legs for Beastmen..in spaaace if that's ok

Ha ha, by all means, be my guest. Send me a link when it's done, sounds great.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
Did you buy the whole Flagellants kit? If so there's a little bit that's a sort of scroll pinned to a large wooden board that might hang quite nicely beneath the walker

I certainly did, and I had the same idea

Thanks dude

Great minds think alike

Congrats on wrapping up the big guy. Look forward to seeing it painted.

Thanks youwashock, you won't have to wait long, I've already got a few layers on him

I tried the new wash I got from Army painter. I used a layer of Elf Flesh (old citadel colour) and then used the tone wash. The contrast was a little strong, so I painted another layer of Elf flesh (heavily watering down at the deep recesses) and then used a second diluted layer of wash. This seems to be giving good results, so I'm going to do another layer of Elf flesh and even more diluted wash and then I'll go in and highlight with a detail brush.

As for everything else, It's just a base layer and a wash at the moment so still lots to do!

I've made progress with the walker too. I tried putting guns on the front but there wasn't quite enough space. I went with a book and chains and I'm quite pleased with the result. I've got a heavy stubber from a Chaos cultist that I'll mount to the side of the platform later on.

I also thought I'd share a picture of my somewhat chaotic workspace. I usually have my workspace setup for painting or for building, not both. However I really want to get this Ogryn painted and I don't want to lose momentum on my other projects.

Looking great dude

Your workspace is also very familiar i always say that clutter is the sign of an active mind, although i know for certain that's an excuse

Amazing work all around man! I might borrow a few of the ideas from your servitors, if that's cool

Cluttered? It's practically pristine...

Great work on the ogryn.

Thanks y'all.

Ynneadwraith wrote:Your workspace is also very familiar i always say that clutter is the sign of an active mind, although i know for certain that's an excuse

Ha ha, that excuse works for me

Kurnost wrote:I might borrow a few of the ideas from your servitors, if that's cool

Yeah of course, share and share alike. Let me know if you do, I can steal some ideas back

Vermis wrote:Cluttered? It's practically pristine...

Oh wow, I'm not sure I want to see your desk then! I'm picturing The Garden of Nurgle

I didn't get a chance to do much hobby work today, I hope I'll be close to finishing the Ogryn tomorrow morning.

Ogryn looks awesome. You've done tons of great work since I last looked!

Painting the Ogryn has taken a bit of a back seat, I suppose I'm naturally more inclined to do conversions than painting! Or maybe I just got inspired.

The Cardinal's walker has come on a bit, in fact it's almost done! I want to fill in a few more gaps with pipes and things and the base needs a little more work. I'm very pleased with how the heavy stubber came out, I was wondering how to attach it for a long time. Oh yeah, I need to build the Cardinal himself to put on it too!

Does anybody have any thoughts about the base? I've divided it in half with a fence, shall I do more flag stones on the other side or a different texture?

Thanks Heretic Tom, glad to see your project update today. Looking forward to seeing what you're gonna do with those vehicles!

I've added a little more to the walker base. I should be able to undercoat it very soon.

Here you can also so the beginnings of the Cardinal himself. I kind of want him to come across as skinny and fat at the same time, he's in terrible shape. I'm going to have him unarmed just pointing and shouting from the top of the walker.

With a little left over greenstuff I've also started turn my attention back to regular humans. I've made a segmented armoured crotch guard for one of the pairs of GSC legs. I think this guy should be wielding a big gun, maybe another heavy stubber.

I'm gonna start grouping my various conversions into different factions too. There are definitely set themes emerging in these miniatures. Here's what I'm thinking at the moment...

- Ecclesiarchy
- Badlands survivalists
- Private militia (rogue trader?)
- Imperial PDF

I expect all these factions will be operating on the same planet, expect names, fluff etc. soon.

Finally a little update on the Ogryn. The flesh tones are starting to look somewhat acceptable, it is proving difficult, there are noticeable features sections around the elbows etc. I can only imagine good sculptors think about how their models can be painted and take this into a account. Everything else seems to be coming along well though. Very nearly almost done

Those walker noodle legs though

Do you think I should bulk them out a little bit?

Nah I quite like them gangly they suit the look of the Cardinal riding it. Big pot belly and spindly little legs (great idea btw!).

The rest is looking sweet too I like the idea of distinct warbands emerging from the models you're putting together

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
Nah I quite like them gangly they suit the look of the Cardinal riding it. Big pot belly and spindly little legs

I'm glad you like them, I think they look more creepy and spider like all skinny. I thought maybe I oversold myself on them and perhaps they looked ridiculous

Also I think I need to check out your blog from the start. Eldar is a significant part of the fluff and I've never really looked into before. I've had a quick look recently, I think that's why I want to add more lore to my posts

Yeah I do like that they look all creepy and weird the Imperium should look weird, as far as I'm concerned

Besides, it's not a piece of military hardware like a Sentinel, so it makes sense that it's less beefy.

Thanks man I hope you like it Eldar stuff is what got me into the hobby, and there's so much cool fluff for them out there

I'd definitely recommend giving a bit of backstory to the frankly excellent models you're putting out for one I feel it really helps a model to come alive, but mainly it's quite a lot of fun doing it!

I've pinned the Cardinal to the walker, he's not glued, so I could have anyone up there later if I want.

I thought it would be good to get him in place to get a feel for how it will look when it's done. For the arms I'm thinking one hand pointing out and the other hand resting on the front of the walker. I might need to make the wall taller or reconsider this pose though.

Loving the work man! Your work on the undercarriage of the walker is very impressive, looks like it could be a real functioning machine. Makes me happy to see people put in that kind of effort. That pose would work if maybe he was pointing with one arm and was "resting" on a staff or cane in the other. Looks like he's in good hands either way

Thanks Inspectahdeck, glad you noticed! It was important to me that it looked like it could be a real functioning thing, I'll post a picture of the underside tomorrow. Yeah I was thinking a staff or cane might be a good back up.

That walker is brilliant!

Looking great man! A staff would work well, or perhaps gesticulating wildly in the air (although I'd say resting on the front or a cane would look better).

Could you stick some sort of railing on the top of the walker he could be leaning on?

The Cardinal is underway, I'm sure about the pointing hand but I'm still mulling the other hand over. I think as Ynneadwraith suggested, some sort of added railing is in order. I've also decided to have pipes and cables coming from his back and belly that plug into the walker. I'll have to think carefully about how I can still make him detachable from the walker though.

I was looking at my Deathwatch vets sprue, and noticed there are attachments to make combi melta and plasma guns. These are a little smaller than your conventional melta or plasma gun — which I always though looked enormous on a regular non space marine sized person — so I'm turning these smaller attachments into sensibly sized special weapons

Also, as promised Inspectahdeck, some pictures of the underside of the walker

The railing is on and I'm pleased with it, so I'll definitely stick with the original pose idea for the Cardinal.

Speaking of which, I've got his pointing arm on and I added what — started off as a big double chin — has now turned into a weird bloated worm like neck.

Finally, I've got my badlands wastes meltagun survivalist. I think I'm going to add loads of webbing and extra bags all over him later.

Loving the ass on that walker keep up the good work!

So I've added the railing and the resting hand, the hand itself came from the Leman Russ tank commander and it fits perfectly.

I've also added legs for my vet I was working on. I've decided of the regular humans with guns, all of the guys without the space helmets are probably badlands survivalists, otherwise they're probably PDF. Which reminds me, I need to change the legs on my rocket launcher guy, as they don't look uniform enough for a guardsman.

This particular vet I'm thinking will be the right hand man to the leader of the survivalists. Do you remember the guy with his leg up and his hand resting on his knee? He runs things out beyond the hive city limits.

Looking great man! I love that mask on the meltagun dude. I envy your sculpting skills!

Also, where did you get the backpack on the latest guy from (the one with the head I always describe as 'Harkonnen' after seeing weirdingway's use of it)?

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
Looking great man! I love that mask on the meltagun dude. I envy your sculpting skills!

Also, where did you get the backpack on the latest guy from (the one with the head I always describe as 'Harkonnen' after seeing weirdingway's use of it)?

Thanks man, the skull took a lot of patients but I'm pleased with it too

The backpack with the hammer and spanner? It's from the heavy stubber guy in the Chaos Cultist box.

Thanks man!

Yeah your effort's really paid off

Ynneadwraith, I've just realised I ripped off your Pilgrim without even realising it! I knew it looked familiar

Haha great minds think alike

Painting has begun!

Ooh I like the gritty feel of it already

Realised I hadn't posted anything in a while. I'm still getting stuff done most days but progress seems to be slow. I'm a slow painter I guess!

The walker is coming along, basic colours and some washes down. This thing has a surprising amount of surface area

I've also been spending more time planning my RPG campaign, I'm switching the party over from D&D5E to Dungeon World so I'm getting to grips with the rules and how we're going to port the players over.

There's no need for minis in Dungeon World but I'd like to use some anyway, so I'm getting my monsters painted up too.

Walker's looking really nice man I especially liek the burgundy colour of bits of the bodywork. Makes it look a little more plush (comparatively) which is fitting for a decadent Ecclessiarchy speaker...

Thanks Ynneadwraith, glad you like it

That's the plan, have it look all resplendent, like the Adeptus Custodes. All Gold and Red. However, I like the idea that the Ecclesiarchy know how to honour the emperor, but they don't know much about the machine spirit! All the gunmetal colours parts will be all grimy and rusty.

My hope is it will serve as an allegory of the Imperium — a mask of gold, but underneath it's a shambling mess

WOW

Love the conversions ! Will follow this blog from now on

Keep up the great work

 juptrking wrote:
Thanks Ynneadwraith, glad you like it

That's the plan, have it look all resplendent, like the Adeptus Custodes. All Gold and Red. However, I like the idea that the Ecclesiarchy know how to honour the emperor, but they don't know much about the machine spirit! All the gunmetal colours parts will be all grimy and rusty.

My hope is it will serve as an allegory of the Imperium — a mask of gold, but underneath it's a shambling mess

Love the thought process behind that really very fitting

Spectacular work so inspiring.

The walker is really coming along nicely. Going to be a great piece when it is done.

Amazing green stuff skills on this blog. This is way beyond the "kit bashing" of the title! Great stuff with loads of unique character.

This thread blows my mind. Really excellent detail work!

Thanks for the encouraging words everyone

Sorry for the lack of updates recently I've been distracted by more D&D/Dungeon World recently. Hopefully I'll get the Ogryn and the Walker finished this coming week though.

The Riddle of Steel ha ha, good point. Maybe the title is too misleading. Think this is an improvement?

 juptrking wrote:
Thanks for the encouraging words everyone

Sorry for the lack of updates recently I've been distracted by more D&D/Dungeon World recently. Hopefully I'll get the Ogryn and the Walker finished this coming week though.

The Riddle of Steel ha ha, good point. Maybe the title is too misleading. Think this is an improvement?

For sure. Your mix of kit bashing and scratch building is impressive, with some very original results.

Awesome work on the War Pulpit!

EDC

I'm back on the 40k painting again. The Walker is maybe over halfway done. I have base colours and washes down and i'm starting on the highlights (just gold at the moment).

The Ogryn is still a WIP too. I'm not great at painting skin-tones, especially when there is so much of it! I keep adding highlights, freaking out because he looks to pale and then adding more wash. I think I'm slowly getting there. I'm doing the same thing with the cardinal except much paler base colour and a purple wash instead.

That walker's really shaping up nicely looking very decadent as befitting a member of the Ecclessiarchy

Thanks again Ynneadwraith, good to know it's up to the Imperial cults high standards!

In other news, the Ogryn is finally done!

That ogryn is looking nice. Sell done, on both the sculpt and the paintjob!

Stunning work, Ogryn looks superb.

Thanks everyone, appreciate it!

I was looking at my old minis in that comparison photos and the bases are no longer up to scratch. I've scrapped off that neon green static flock and put down a layer of Devlan mud. When that's dry I'll give it the same treatment I gave the Ogryn base. I've also since mixed my neon green static grass with some winter grass to give a more natural and varied tone. Also while I'm working on them I'm going to touch up some areas, particularly leather work which has improved a lot since I picked up some more shades of brown and the Army Painter tone wash.

Finally, you can see the war pulpit is very almost done! I still need to do a fair amount of the boltgun metal areas, I'm under no illusion that this will be a quick job though!

I've been a bit distratced recently, I've come across a large number of old D&D minis from the 80s (more details here). The war pulpit is still on my work table though

Everything looks great... I can't wait for the rest of the warband!

That Ogryn has the most frightening looking nipples. Overall, your paint jobs are spot on and the conversions look great.

Oh hello, it's been a while!

Sorry for the extended radio silence, I've been dabbling in more Role Play Games and also buying a house! So that's taking up a lot of my attention

That being said I've managed to work on a few projects, so I'll post retroactive updates over the next few days (Including a jet bike construction kit Kickstarter).

On top of that, last night I had a friend over to watch Escape from LA + Stargate (Kurt Russel-a-thon) and paint minis. As it's been a while I decided to warm up by painting the Chaos Sorcerer from the Hero Quest set. I kept it simple, just red and blue with highlights dialed to 11. What do you think?

Nice painting! I love the subtle-yet-cartoonishly-vivid tones.

And (I'm late to the game on this one) that War Pulpit and Cardinal is inspired!

Thanks tinfoil! Yeah those old sculpts have tons of character

Here are the jet bikes I got from the Kickstarter. I'm not really sure what to use them for as jet bikes aren't exactly common in the imperium. I like the variation of light and heavy bikes though!

Still lots of painting to do on them but I'm happy with the colour schemes. I could use them for Star Wars Edge of the Empire or something.

Recently I've been making slow progress on my generic humans and I've been adding washes to old minis I painted ages ago before I had washes. I've also been removing old static grass that I applied in blogs and I'm replacing it with the tufts which look way better.

I'll be using a lot of the generic humans for a RPG campaign I'll be GMing soon. We'll be using The Sprawl ruleset but setting the game in the 40K universe.

Very very nice!

Great work dude really liking the generic humans, especially the standard bearer.

I have an old Jes Goodwin Eldar mini, I must have painted it in the 90s. I've paint stripped it and now I'm going to paint it back up in a similar colour scheme. I've just started the initial layers but it's a joy to paint!

Beautiful work bud, Humies are looking amazing, looking forward to the Elf. Those jet bikes look ripe for the looting.

Yeah that's a gorgeous model testament to the sculptor that with a lick of paint it still looks current.

Glad to see you back at it. Love that Exarch model. Such a classic.

Thanks everyone! ^___^

I'm making slow progress, but progress none the less

I might have to start checking eBay for more of those good good 90s sculpts, they have tons of character!

I've also finally started painting that Battle Servitor I made a year ago!

Any pro tips for painting bruised flesh? At the moment I'm highlighting to off-white from pink, then I'll apply a wash of purple and highlight back up to off-white.

Your scultping on the Preacher, Ogryn and Battle Servitor is sweet; but that painted guardsman with the autogun is superb!

So I got pretty busy again... I bought my first house last November and it's a bit of a fixer upper, so I traded in my fine detail brush for a paint roller!

However, I've got the bedroom and living room sorted so I have a bit mire time for minis again.

With that said I've recently received a Kickstarter from Hassle free minis (a range of 28mm female fantasy minis) and I got some buy one get one free monsters from Mierce Minis. See the attachment.

I've also started painting some Nurgle Death Guard from the Dark Imperium box set, so I'll post some of those once they start to shape up.

Nice to see you back, glad to hear it all went ok with the move. Those figs look very interesting and looking forward to seeing you work on them.

Thanks Camkierhi

I mentioned I got a BOGOF from Mierce, I also got this bog monster. These are my fist miniatures from Mierce, they're usually very expensive but the quality is unreal. Probably worth a look if they do any more deals in the future.

I've built both monsters and based them, all ready for painting.

I knew my bog monster needed to look like the base was almost part of the model — like it was rising out of the murky depths — so I went the extra mile in terms of finding cork, twigs and small stones to add extra detail. Since I had all the materials I went for a similar treatment for the Hydra.

The bog monster will obviously be painted in lots of browns and greens, but as for the hydra, I am open to suggestions. I was thinking maybe a flinty blue/grey.

I've settled on green for the hydra, with bleached bone plates and spines. Very much a WIP at this point, I've almost got base colours for the skin and base down.

Also as promised my plague marine. This colour scheme is very much experimental at this point, I think it might not be cohesive enough. What do you all think? Any suggestions/changes?

I like it!

Very fond of the color scheme, like a degenerate version of their pre heresy scheme.

Really nice. Going similar (but not half as good) on the colours myself, love the green on the drake. And definitely looking forward to seeing the nasty thing painted up.

Your GS work is aw-inspiring! Fantastic work buddy

Thanks all, glad you like, that's right KernelTerror I really like the pre-heresy colours, all the better to show up the filth and rot.

I think my problem with it, is that it uses green, purple, and red as secondary colours. It's too much. I couldn't pass up painting that shoulder pad red because it looks like an old WHFB Orc face shield. To be honest I really like the red, I might go white/brass/red — Khorne fans gonna hate I'm sure.

I've made a little progress on painting my hydra and I've also put together a wraith/reaper thing that I also got from Mierce. I think it would make a great boss for D&D 5E so I've made the base something special, I'm building a little broken staircase out of cork and GS.

Hey everyone, it's been a while. I've started painting in the mornings again and I decided I need to finish my Imperial Knight (which I picked up the first time Renegade came out!).

I've made some good progress, but as anyone who has painted one of these things knows, it takes a while (especially in hourly morning sessions).

However, I have settled on the colour scheme and the heraldry (made up of a composite of old IG vehicle + Space Wolf transfers). One thing I'm stuck on though, is a name to go on the chest plate. I was thinking Varg something (Wolf is old Norse?), but I'm open to suggestions

Thanks!