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Been away from Dakka for a while. I came back recently, saw all the =I=munda stuff and got inspired.
I find I really like the more free-form and creative approach to 40K, going off the beaten path and claiming the entire 40K universe as your playground.
Now I just need to find some local players...

First off, a mood shot:

Inspired by Xanthos' excellent Voidborn conversion, and discovering I had all the needed bits on hand, I set out to build a small boarding party.
I haven't worked out too much of a backstory for them yet, I mostly see them as a civillian salvage crew. Pretty low key, they're more scavengers that pick the bones of derelict ships than actually capable of reclaiming the entire vessel.
Basically they're the vultures that pick over a the carcass of a vessel in the hopes of hitting it big before the Adeptus Mechanicus or Navy retrieval ships force them to scatter.
I've kept them fairly generic and devoid of markings, so they can fill a number of roles in either a campaign or some one off games (like I said, I haven't found other players yet, so I'm still somewhat without a clear purpose). They may eventually see use as either scavengers/fortune hunters, civillian or "lower deck" boarding parties, station security. I could even send them out to retrieve a runaway Gryx...

Here are clearer vid-capts of the unruly bunch:
Front:


And rear:

I've tried to give each of them a bit of character of their own, as well as a role within the group.
The leftmost one is an old hand at the salvage game. He projects a "seen it all" attitude, and seems quite at home in the dark, abandoned tunnels of an unknown spaceship. Often he is found humming some bawdy tune past the stump of his cigar. His autoshotgun is made from a lasgun stock, the front from an old plastic Necromunda shotgun and thinned down drum from the Guard grenade launcher. He is the squad support guy, the large ammo drum allowing him to lay down a fierce torrent of fire, if the situation requires.

Next is the flamer operator (never, ever enter an unknown spacecraft without a flamer, who knows what you might need to cleanse).
He is meant to be a more cautious man, you would be too with a canister of low-grade prometheum strapped to your back.... This is why he's the only one in the group to not have abandonded his stuffy, uncomfortable helmet, the rest ditched theirs as soon as they found breathable air inside the derelict.
The barrel of the flamer has been shortened, so it is easier to wield inside the cramped corridors of a space ship. His backpack is half of the stock flamer backpack, with his life support built from pieces of a meltagun and the barrel of a Kroot rifle. It looks a bit ramshackle and unreliable, another reason for him to act a bit worried all the time....

In the middle is the crewboss. A fierce and stern man, he carries a chainsword to open up doors, cargo containers and troublesome survivors/rival scavengers... His firearm is a shotcaster, a revolver made to fire shotgun shells. Amongst this salvage operation, such weapons are known as "thumpers" or "wristbreakers" for their vicious recoal. On his head is an upgraded comms set, it allows him not only to communicate with his salvage squad, but with the comms officer back on their ship as well.

Next is the pointman, a cautious and focussed individual. He carries a regular old pump-action boarding shotgun. Like the squad support gunner's auto-shotgun it is loaded with low velocity solid shot, big and heavy enough to hurt a living being, but not strong enough to accidentally punch the ship's hull and cause decompression.

The final member of the team is the entry specialist. Most of the space and weight of his backpack is claimed by the powerpacks needed to run his massive breaching saw (I intend to count it as an eviscerator). He carries a single-shot shotgun-pistol as a backup weapon. The filtration/re-oxygenation unit on top of his backpack is made from the centre of a meltagun.

The crew isn't complete yet, I've still to convert and paint a tech-servitor for them. He'll be used to hack open locks, loosen bolts and generally be a dogsbody and packmule.
He'll be done along with the rest of the servitors I have in stock.

I've had fun painting them, trying out a few new tricks (a different way of doing faces and using painting metal over a grey basecoat, for example) and generally deviating from my normal neat and "technical" painting style.
The latter shows the most on the ceramic armour plates.
A few more pictures are HERE.

In the end, I've had more fun converting and painting this group than I've had in some time. I'm still undecided where to go from here. Do I start on the servitors, do I paint up an Inquisitor or something else entirely? I don't know yet, and frankly, I kind of like this feeling of freedom... Now to just convert some more people locally to the glory of =I=Munda...

Bye, Modhail

Awesome conversions overall.

Two questions: What did you use as extra armor on your guys and how did you convert the shotguns?

Very nice set of guys. I see I'm not the only one inspired by Xanthos' Voidborn. Terrific paintjob on them, too. I'm interested in making some similar to this for Vets or Stormtroopers for my Guard army.

They look totally fantastic! the changes to their uniforms and the paint job have de-militarised them I think, and so they really do look like Space Hulk salvagers! They have heaps of character too!


You should start a Blog if you have more models planned c: , and also I'd love to see a battle report on that amazing terrain you have!!

Thanks!

Meanbob, the extra armour is just armour plates from the Kroot sprue, blended in with GS.
The shotguns came from the old (ancient?) plastic Necromunda figures, from back when they were still released in a boxset (Pre-Specialist Games).
The drum for the drumfed shotgun is made from a Cadian grenadelauncher's ammo drum, with about 3mm shaved off the thickness.

Bottle, I'm afraid the battlereport will be short and boring, seeing that this is all I've actually got finished:

This is brilliant - great group with nice character and fantastic terrain! Please let the mods move this to P&M blogs, because surely there's going to be more!

Awesome terrain, and I like the power cell backpack. I've never seen that done before, and it could be cool to use as a plasma gun backpack or something. Very unique looking guys, good job.

Fantastic! The terrain is exquisite: it's quite clear you've taken a lot of care and attention to detail on it. Are there plans for more, or is this a scenic base of sorts?

The models themselves are equally lovely: I particularly like the subdued hazard striping and the strong generic feel of the group – they could just as easily be civilian contractors as a military group; or a commercial raiding party as space pirates.

The sentinel driver heads are really characterful – if you wanted to expand the group, you might look for the old tank crew blister, or perhaps Obadiah Shaeffer from Forgeworld.

Great work!

Completely agree with Migusla.

That initial image is five shades of Win.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading all that and the miniatures are great. Rock on my convertin' brother.

(looks a second time, downloads images).. mmm.. just great.

Be great to have some synergy with a bunch of guys with similar approach to the Hobby of 40k.

~ Tael.

That looks very Space Hulk. In a good way.

I really like the extra armor on the Guardsmen. I think those conversions are excellent.

awsome please come again

Wow, Migsula, Apologist and Shas'El Tael, I've always admired the quality of your work. I consider your comments quite the compliment!

The terrain is actually the four first (and so far only) finished pieces of a set of Space Hulk terrain I started about two years ago. I haven't actively worked on it for over a year, though it never completely left my mind during that time.
In fact I've only just packed it all out again, a week or two ago, with the intention of continuing work on it.
You can see more of it here.
With the amount of detail and thought I put into each section, the going is slow, but rewarding. Once it is finished (hopefully before the release of a 4th edition Space Hulk ), I plan to use it whenever I can. That means not just Space Hulk, but small scale 40K, Necromunda and such as well. =I=munda is certainly a major influence in my resuming work on it, along with the current rumours of a re-release of Space Hulk.
Don't expect it be finished, or even major updates soon though... Like I said, the going is slow, but to me, the journey is just as important as the destination. That, and I tend to switch projects quite regularly.

Yeah, you're right Migsula, might as well make a blog out of it. <wanders off to find a mod>


(Edited, because apparently I can't type properly this evening....)

This is an incredible log Modhail!! I think that's reflected in the responses you've gotten, in particular from the greatest dakkaites. The theme and character of your scavengers is terrific. I really like that you made some nobodies (I mean that in a good way ), a bunch of guys just trying to get by, whose great dream is cleaning out an Adeptus Mechanicus ship! Very original and well put together!

Also, I have to say that your modeling and terrain is of superb quality. When I first looked at the hallway you made I thought it was one of the outpost pieces from Forgeworld with all that detail! So I'm giving you a big and hope you stay inspired to produce more greatness

Looks really great! I really like that terrain and the conversions you've done on those guys. Especially the chestplate things.

Loving these guys! I think it´s so cool that you´ve expanded on the voidsui theme, and the painting is top notch too.
I can certainly see the different characters as you describe them. This group is such a wonderful bit of 40K "Grimdark´ness", and I love that.

The flamer, as you say, is necessary for this type of group, the drumfed shotgun is ace, and I dig the sentinel pilot heads. They do look like inner helmets for voidsuits.

And the terrain....... Stunning!

Glad to have helped you get this going, this stuff rocks.

10/10

Wow...just wow! I really like the Eviscarator! Great job on those models!

I guess this is what Migsula meant by that the blogs should inspire people! Very impressive!

Malika demands tutorials!

I think that terrain looks even more impressive in the last picture! It's a labour of love and it really shows with all the detail you've packed into it! I can't wait to see more.

When Space Hulk comes out, you sir will be a Prince among men!

Well, Xanthos, thank you for thinking of the conversion in the first place!
It was certainly the spark that set off the fire, so to speak. Without it, these guys just wouldn't exist today.

The sentinel pilot heads were a lucky hit, really. The sprues were on top of the box of guardsmen I was going for, and my eye just happened to fall on them.
And yup, flamers are indeed a scavenger's best friend...


I had to go to the model shop this morning, to restock on some plastic strip. Once that was done I could finish the main structure for the walls on the second of 2 corridors, that I have tagged as Terminator starting points:

I still need to do the floor for it, and maybe add some extra greebles to it: The mandatory purity seals in random places, maybe a short demi-column at either end holding up a small effigy of a space marine, some pipes or grilles inside the "windows", etc. Once painted, they won't be actual gothic windows, you see, just solid metal plate. They're really decorative bracing instead of windowframes.

I also added the rivets to the first Terminator starting corridor:

It's now all done and ready for primer. In the background you can see a quick sketch of my plans for the floor in the second corridor.
Both these corridors I see as "mid-deck" corridors, not as austere, dank and messy as the lower decks, where the ratings and other scum reside, but not quite as garish and opulent as the "top deck" where the Captain and his staff tread either.
The ones I'm building are the decks where you would meet junior officers, Enginseers and Commissar Cadets, maybe the odd higher crewboss on an important errand.
(No, I'm not going to do any "top deck" corridors, my mind wouldn't survive building a Rococo palace like that...)

The rest of the corridors won't be quite as densely detailed as these are.

Wow...this is going to become cooler and cooler isn't it?

You should build a teleporter chamber or something. Perhaps try to get your hands on an old broken camera and use the big lens (wide thing, a model should bit on top) as the teleporter itself, add a small control console and stuff like that. Kind of like the teleporterroom from Star Trek, but then with gothic statues and such!

Wow man, this is just full of awesome and win!

How did you get the light effects on your shots? I have been playing around with "action shots" like that a bit, and you really have something great going on here!

Now... where is that subscribe button?

Having just finished browsing your 3D Space Hulk project, it is an impressive undertaking and I can see how it was easily put on hold due to constraints. But, it is indeed brilliant. Really like the idea of it. My mind is just bubbling with ideas myself now.

Blogs to inspire? I was certifiably catatonic this last 2 years with regard to modelling and converting. Until I came across this nest of Conversion fiends, talk about flicking a switch, its great!

I'll be honest Modhail, Xanthos.. I too have a couple of Scrappers' in the works now.. just..couldn't..resist..

EDIT - Just saw your update.. wow.. loving the new sections. And no.. I do not leave my ship without a Flamer..

It is funny you should mention bumping into Officers etc.. currently working up a Junior Fleet officer from parts, a step from making some Scrappers' to tangle with over derelict hulks.

~ Tael.

Wow, I don't know how I passed this up. I love your models, really ageless and sort of ambiguous in a way that would be perfect for any practical role in the game.

I also love how you were inspired by Xanthos, it just demonstrates the depth of ideas, and the festival of awesome that takes place in this forum.

Peace.

sA

There, I'm done building for today... I had the walkway for the second corridor finished, only to discover one critical measurement was off by 2mm... Doesn't seem like much, but that measurement is repeated 5 times, escalating the error. I've just finished ripping it all apart again, shaving the excess off of all the various parts and fitting it all together again. bleh. I did cut out the decorative trim that goes besides the walkway, but I need to rivet that all up before I mount it. I need daylight for that. Time to call it a day.

Whoops, I just noticed I overlooked some replies when I last posted...

Malika, the eviscerator is an Ork Chain-choppa, fixed onto guardsman grenade launcher arms. It's connected to his backpack (from a Sentinel Multilaser powerpack) by a greenstuff hose. You'll need to fill some gaps at the shoulders to make the arm with the front handle fit against the side of the choppa.
If you want a tutorial on the voidsuits, just have a peek in Xanthos's =I=munda topic. All I basically did was copy his voidborn conversion, but I omitted the extra plates on the shoulders and sculpted on steel toecaps instead of thicker soles on the feet.
If I ever decide to build another guy, I'll try to remember taking step by step pics.

I did think about building a "teleportarium", but I just can't seem to fit it right now. I'm planning to build the rooms so they actually fit their function in the various scenarios. Sadly this means there's no room left over to put a teleporter in. A shame, because I had some pretty nice ideas for it. But, if I ever finish the core set, and I still have the drive to add the Genestealer and Deathwing expansion, I will certainly put in a teleporter array!

Bottle, yeah, a 3D Space Hulk set has been a long term desire of mine. Eventually I decided to just go ahead and start on it, and to just see where I ended up. I think, that if I had fully thought it through beforehand and realised the sheer amount of time and work it will take, I would never had started. So, hurray for rash decisions!
Heh, a prince...Only if I actually manage to finish it by then. I started work on it two years ago, and those 4 sections are all that's finished...

Wehrkind, I have to admit that the lighting effects are just happy accidents of lighting and not the result of any skill of mine...
The "mood" pictures were taken in natural daylight, with the camera pointing towards the window. (A basic no-no in photography...) This meant that the shadows fell towards the camera, giving a sense of gloom. I couldn't be bothered to go get the tripod from the garage but took the pics camera in hand, so the depth of focus was slightly thrown off. This causes the near and far end of the corridor to be slightly blurred, enhancing the sense of depth. (If I took the picture with the exact same camera settings but on the tripod, the whole tunnel would most likely be in focus.) In the last picture, it was slightly cloudy, but still bright, causing the camera's colour filter to throw a blueish cast over the image. I've actually got 2 more pictures of the same scene, where the camera achieved perfect focus on the genestealers, and the flame counters respectively.
So the best tip I could give you photography wise is: alway take several pictures, and select the best one at your leisure.


Shas'El Tael, I know what you mean. The Space Hulk project had been dormant for over a year, and I had totally lost interest in 40K, gaming wise. While the rumours of a rerelease got me looking at 40K forums again, I hold the mad gang at Dakkadakka solely responsible for me actually getting excited about doing suff for 40K (setting) again!
So, thank you all, guys and gals!

This is some of the best "hulk" style scenery I have seen, really looking forwards to watching this develop as there is nothing better than nicely converted and painted models on great scenery!

Cheers,

Dante

Modhail I love your work so far! Those boys would make a fantastic VanSaar gang...I can't wait to see more support crew.

I didn't quite make the progress I had hoped for today. My wife accidentally smashed her little finger into a doorframe, and we feared she might have broken it. So we spent a nice afternoon at the First Aid station trying not to look at other people's injuries and leafing through crappy, ancient magazines...

But, I did get something finished, the flooring on the second "Gothic" corridor:


And a model's eye view (assuming the model is question is an Ogryn or similar...)


All it needs now is adding greebles and grimdark, in other words: random tubing, vent grilles, skulls and purity seals.
I'm still not sure if I want to add the demicolumns with statuettes at the ends or not...

I've also been giving some thought to where I want to go with the boarding party and =I=Munda in general.
Originally I just wanted to add a (tech)servitor to them, to serve as a pack mule and general labour and call it quits so I could start on a next warband.
But then I did the math and discovered that this groups was rather on the small side and might get shorthanded in the course of a campaign as a result.
I've checked my bits pile, and if I bitz-order a few more IG radiopacks, I could make 4 more voidsuits.
But I'm not entirely sure what to do with them? The current group seems, to my feeling, complete and nicely rounded out.
I could add a higher crewboss in a better quality and more ornate voidsuit, but I'm somewhat apprehensive that he would undercut the role and character of the current teamboss.
Besides I wouldn't think he's risk going outside until absolutely guaranteed that it's safe...
Maybe an (unwilling) techsavant, but I wonder how to bring the character across from inside a bulky vacsuit?
I've also been thinking about some guys with (shock?)towershields. They'd be a lot of weight to haul around, but als very usefull inside a Hulk: Use them to barricade doors/corridors, keep the degenerate scum inside the hulk at bay, in an emergency you could use them to plug a gap... The 3x5' Swiss army knife of spaceship scavengers.
Plenty of ideas, and plenty of time to mill them over, as I won't be able to order the needed bits for about a month anyway.

Which brings me to the next issue: once they're finished, what to do with them?
Well, play in an =I=Munda campaign ofcourse! Which means creating enthousiasm and finding/pressganging other players... There isn't really a big modelling/converting scene locally, so, in order to find enough players I'll most likely end up making a few extra "loaner" warbands in addition to the NPC groups. This shouldn't be too much of a problem, I've got almost all of the Witchhunter and Daemonhunter character and retinue figures, so I'll just paint some of those up. (been looking for an excuse to put them on the painting qeue anyway)
Maybe also a priest and SOB bodyguard, or a small Ad.Mech. contingent (a techpriest with a gaggle of servitors and a few skitarii, most likely).
And Migsula's and Tael's blogs have got me itching to try some true scale marines. I'm just a bit unsure about their powerlevel, but on the other hand, they're will be just 3 or 4 of them at most... And they'll have problems of their own.
I don't know if other =I=Mundaists have run into the problem of player recruitment? If so, got any tips to share?

And the first seeds of a campaign idea are germinating... I'm keeping it close to my chest, in case any potential players start reading here. It's basically the result of several projects slotting together, including the Space Hulk terrain. All I'm willing to say is that it will most likely involve a Rogue Trader fleet returning from wildspace, an alien plague and several parties interested in retreiving "heirlooms"...
But, being dependant on the Space Hulk terrain set means I have to choose: postpone starting the campaign for (many) months, or accept playing on unfinished terrain. Hmmm, decisions...

Well, if it wasn´t for the fact that Holland <-> Denmark is mighty far to travel for gaming, I´d be so much up for a cross country =I=Munda game.

Possibly at some point we can have enough interested gamers that we could do a huge online scenario, with lots of gaming groups.

Till then, try your nearest gaming store, that´s where I´ve found some willing players after moving to Denmark.
And be prepared to accept that not everyone wants to put the same high amount of detail work into their models.

Your campaign concept sounds good, and the idea of modeling up extra groups is good too. Specially if the other gamers aren´t that into the modeling aspect of this.

That's a seriously detailed piece of scenery as it is Modhail, ..then your list of additions to round it out just makes me chuckle.. details details.. never enough

I've been considering similar issues to yourself with regard =I=Mundites in my area, ..but I'm happy to build these models and create thematic bands of profiteers etc I have also just ordered in some parts to not only make a sizeable Outfit, but also.. bring in the Imperial Navy.

"Jigs up lads, Navy's here!"

I do like the idea of a blast shield,.. my general aim is to make a cargo hauling team and the protection team. If a patrol picket wanders by, its bug out time 'Firefly' style.

Enjoying the direction here in your project, look forward to next month indeed!

~ Tael.

Damn I should really stop reading you guys' threads, they keep making me wanna put a side my army I working on to make some my own group. I love the models and the fact that these games are much more story driven than normal games.

Shas'El Tael wrote:That's a seriously detailed piece of scenery as it is Modhail, ..then your list of additions to round it out just makes me chuckle.. details details.. never enough

Nope, never enough... Makes me wonder why it's taking me so long to build it all though... It's very detailed as it is, but it's still very regular and "sterile", I want to add some irregular touches and signs of inhabitation, breathe some "life" into it.

Shas'El Tael wrote:..but I'm happy to build these models and create thematic bands of profiteers etc I have also just ordered in some parts to not only make a sizeable Outfit, but also.. bring in the Imperial Navy.

"Jigs up lads, Navy's here!"

I do like the idea of a blast shield,.. my general aim is to make a cargo hauling team and the protection team. If a patrol picket wanders by, its bug out time 'Firefly' style.

Funny you should mention Firefly, I had the pilot episode running through my mind all the time I was building and painting my salvage crew...
Your blog has certainly given me ideas for further crew members. I like the notion of a separate cargo team and protection team.
And Navy.... I really should see about making some of those too..

Edit: Had to spend some time today in supplication of some ovipositing rodent... But I did get the extra details for the corridor finished:

One side,

And the other side...
(proper, unfuzzy, images will follow after painting)

I should be able to get them primered after dinner, which means painting tommorrow! (Unless the aforementioned rodent isn't sufficiently appeased, and more of his brightly coloured, unborn offspring need to be sought out...)

And Brother Stynier: Go on, give in, you know you want to....