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Well its been an age since i last updated , i have worked on a few bits and pieces in the meantime but not too much really. i did paint some nice scenery for a friend , though which i will show in the next few weeks, buggered up the paintwork on a few of the last inquisy models and it left me a bit meh tbh i picked up the knight titan and the taurox like every body eles and i am just waiting for the release of the forgeowrd solar auxillia so i can make my perfect non conversion ed imperial guard .

@Vic "it is really good to see your work here again more frequently... " well that didn't last long did it, thanks for the kind words mate, gun arm servitor was finished , i just mucked up the painting though

@monkey cheers buddy , looks like you have been up to plenty of mischief as per usual .

@Moltar cheers bud

@Llamahead , shame i buggered up the paintwork .

@Bruticus, cheers mate , the head is a chaos ig guy from forgeworld with a small airfilter added to the front., i like the zombiehorse too. very much inspired by Beksinski.

@Camkierhi cheers

@PDH Thanks pal , i was very happy with that priest


I started work on some floating ad mek ig 40k mines i designed ages ago, which i am looking forward to painting.


















also had fun adding a servitor skull to a thallax unit , the skull is from this model http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Images/Product/AlternativeFW/xlarge/HecRex7.jpg

I love the mines!

love the Thallax! brilliant vision for him

Those mines are pretty cool, especially the boss-mine

Nice idea with the thallax too, bet it was fun scraping out the helm

What's that he's standing on.....and who's that beside him? Come to that, is that a sniper or a standard in th background? Inquiring minds want to know

I am so often contemplating to get me some thalax....something about these models speaks to me....

and it is good to see you again...i´ll skip the rest as RL is like the waves on the sea...it swings us lil nutshells anyway the sea likes^^...

also... the minesweeper idea is very interesting... but I gather it is a pure aesthetical approach...or is there any gameplay use to them? if not, I am not complaining... I am the first to appreciate stuff that looks good an is of no use than mere ogling at

Those mines just look great.

That Thallax though is just another level. You've really captured the feel of that drawing and made it go from cool to terrifying.

Smashing thread, I don't know why I've missed out on it for so long. Those Slavers a page back are super too.

Far too much awesome stuff going on for me to go back an comment on it all.

Yup those mines look brilliant, and the Thallax looks AMAZING!!

Aye up,

@Weirding way , cheers mate i made them a while back , but RoC has since distracted me from finishing them, i really like the heavy ww2 vibe they give , and i had plenty of those city of death light hanging around to use up. , really enjoying your blog too

@Nerdfest09 Thanks, i wanted a scary robot vibe from the film saturn 3 , so i could potentiallymake a small skirmish game where lightly armed scribes have to avoid it and destroy it a bit like the upcoming alien isolation game i imagine.

@Monkey boss mines , who'd of thought mines would be sentient in only 20 thousand years .. qoute "Nice idea with the thallax too, bet it was fun scraping out the helm " about as much fun as scraping barnacles of a fishermans jumper


The picture he is standing on is from book two of the horus heresy , massacre , on the page next to this pic



the mini in the background left on bottom pic is a necron warrior, on the top pic its a space crusade Chaos android although a thallax standard would be kinda cool



and standing next to him is this guy



hope that satiates your inquiring mind for now

@Vik , Good to see ya buddy, yeah i like the thallax , but it was seeing them in real life that sealed the deal for me , they work really well as 3d minis i think . the Mine sweeper barge is an old idea that got incorporated in yggdrassiliume board as the pandoricalle home , i still think it got potential especially seeing how the new admech transports seem to have a sloping front end. just for aesthetics really but , i am keen to make a 40k ig army based around the new solar guys , when released , so it may end up becoming incorporated somehow .

@Medium of death Cheers buddy , yeah its been around a while now.

@Camkierhi , yeah , i like the blank heads too, but i thought it was important to make the statement that these are not robots , just servitors , as i am considering making a really early pre imperial robot army , like from the idea of the men of iron and men of stone . although i was thinking of somewhere in between a ceramic age perhaps ?

thanks all

Wow. How to make the FW mechanicus models look even cooler than they already did! And the mines... Sigh. So many ideas to ste... *ahem*... draw non direct inspiration from,, so little time! Subbed

by the way... the head swap for the thallanx is a very good decision... the blank ones with the plate just look not that 40k enough... they have a certain DE look to them which you know brought back to the IoM

The mines are freaking cool.

The thallax conversion is brilliant. I think FW should copy your idea and release a skull mask conversion kit.

I especially like the thallax. Thats the one thing I felt was missing from the original models, human flesh/skulls. Thats what makes the mechanicus as creepy as it is.
Thanks for commenting on the blog and the thread. Your terrain, and the style of painting and modelling which you have developed is incredibly inspiring for me… keep it up.

The mines are excellent, much like a mechanical version of Tyranid spore mines...

I also like the Thallax a lot.

Love the mines, and the special take on the Thallax Cohort... Nice !!!

Aye up ,

So i have been a bit busy converting a Taurox recently , still waiting on a few bits from bits and kits to finish it , so until they arrive i thought i would share the commission piece i did fro a friend a few months back .

requirements were for crackle effects and a built in servitor. , i was pretty chuffed with this piece as it used quite a few different techniques , salt weathering for the concrete effect and crackle paints for the crumbling plasterwork. I think the columns could have done with more work , maybe numerals or plug sockests added , but the client didnt want fiddly things that could be broken off too easily .

@ Phutarf

@ Vik , yeah i know what you mean about the sci fi syd mead look. doesn't work really with how i envisage mechanicus either, but i still like the models and the design , but then again i like the sci fi design work of syd mead too .

@ PDH , would be cool to see official skull head/mask options for the thallax .

@Grag Cheers grag , i do like the thallax as they are how i imagine the sentient robots of imeperium may have looked pre the strife era. but yes the designer has taken a bit too much inspiration from current video games design , like mass effect , halo , haze etc for my liking.. which itself pays homage to Syd Meads sci fi designs from the seventies daft punk etc.., for it to sit well enough in the current warhammer aesthetic , although , it is 30k and lots can change in 10,000 years - a caveat to that would be the new floating magos thing which looks entirely 40k gothic, i think the design aesthetic for the forgeworld mechanicum is a little muddied really , so much going on , with no concise style really, the steampunk tanks then we have 70s syd mead sci fi , and 20's futurism deco along with a slap of 40k gothic i suppose you could argue the absence of a strong single style as is still an eclectic style and with the mechanicum collecting tech from all eras , that makes some kinda sense.

@Jimmy grill. Cheers , yes the spore mines were in the forefront of my mind.

@Yggs Cheers buddy.

Wow the scenery looks so realistic !!! Love the cracked paint on the walls !
Servitor is great too, creepy as 40k should be

I looked at the last 10 pages on your topic, I really like your minis. In my opinion it looks like how i consider Warhammer 40.000, it reminds me a lot John Blanche / Inquisitor and 40k rpg.

Nice scenery, Neil! Love the servitor and the weathering effects all over. Agree with Yggs, nice and creepy.

Beautiful ruin. Excellent details. So spill, how did you do the crackle glaze?

Outstanding realism - the cracked plaster is amazing...

The realism is on that is crazy! If you ever did a painting tutorial on it I'm sure many of us (including myself) would be thrilled to see your method

Thanks for the feedback on the ruins ..

@Yggs Thanks matey,

@Graffenberg - Ah , i suppose its no coincidence there is a Blachian vibe. I have been an admirer of his work for thirty years.. I dont really consider myself trying to emulate his style though , its just absorbed into my visual language over many many years. similarly with jes goodwins drawing style and his design philosophy to a certain degree. glad the 40k rpg vibe is coming through , i try to set many of my 40k models within a filmic story setting , not dissimilar to 40k rpg or inquisitor.

@ Moltar Cheers mate.

@Camkierhi , thanks , cvrackle is tim holtze crackle paint , added liberally , then multiple coats of light glaze of many different colors , but most citadel inks.

@Ruglud- Cheers Ruglud, Foir some reason i was very much inspired by ww2 dioromas for this piece i think the realism is what i was after , although in retrospect i think i could have gone a bit more over the top 40k it became a lesson in subtly not often a word suitable for 40k.

@Rogue Wolves- I would like to do a tutorial on this so i can learn what i did myself cheers

So I made a colossal Pitslave gladiator and a hive city guild master or some such , although i played himn in a game recently and he was a 40k road sweeper also made a small evil edna style servo screen. i have painted them roughly since i did these , but need some time to finish details i think and re shoot them in good light.

Amazing! I love all three new crazy additions.

I've wondered why you don't see more WHFB giants (or the beastmen equivelant whatever it's called) converted to 40k — always thought they could make good Xeno mercenaries or something, but the pitslave idea is genius. The Knight helmet is so perfect with the bestial body.

And the hive guilder/mine sweeper is very cool and creepy.

I assume the servo screen is made from an internal piece from the Knight kit? Very clever.

Looking forward to see if any other Knight pieces show up in further unexpected places. I've been thinking the beetle-back shell could make a nice hull for an archaic imperial tank or hovercraft ...

Brilliant stuff as usual neil

Seemed to have missed the ruin...great job there, very realistic.

Evil Edna is just wonderful, love it to bits.

The guilder-road sweeper is awesome, can't wait to see painted pics, just to see more views of him. Great aesthetic going on with him.

Humungo-gladiator is very cool too, look forward to seeing what colours you use on him.

As per your usual standard, Neil, those are some supremely grimdark conversions. That giant pit slave is wonderful, especially seeing how the base model always seemed slightly hokey to me. Using the Imperial Knight head was a brilliant stroke -- you actually managed to almost perfectly create a bigger version of a certain Chaos Marauder head -- was that intentional or a coincidence? The guild master/street sweeper is also very cool, as are the servo thingamajigs. Fantastic work! Seeing the appearance of Lord of Skulls and Knight bitz has also made me realise once more that you always take a "no holds barred" approach for your conversions, which is admirable -- if a little scary

 weirdingway wrote:
Amazing! I love all three new crazy additions.

I assume the servo screen is made from an internal piece from the Knight kit? Very clever.

Actually, there are no "internal" pieces in the Knight kit -- whatever cockpits or engine compartments you might see online -- all of that is kitbashed and/or scratchbuilt.
Which does of course beg the question: Where did that screen come from, Neil?

The giant pitslave is great, a real shadow of death type. I've always had a soft spot for pitslaves and it irks me that you now have the biggest, meanest one around. I need to add more to my ludus.

The street sweeper looks mostly great, but I can't help thinking that the bulldozer blade makes it look somewhat Futurama-y. I just wonder what it uses it for? A hover bulldozer seems somewhat impractical, although they would be useful for getting rid of the damn seagulls on my roof.

The floating computer is interesting too, I expect the screen to show an 8bit frowny face, or a GERTY (from Moon) face.

I think me and you might be the only people that buy liquid greenstuff.

You've done an amazing job on the terrain, the small details really help to bring the models to life.

A street sweeper, perfect for clearing those blasted corpses off the road. Any chance we could get some close ups of his face? . I reckon the screen is from the Hydra/Wyvern kit for the IG.

Wow, reading back through the last few pages of what I've missed while I was away was a truly enjoyable experience!

Your work is always so powerfully imaginative and inspirational - I am constantly stunned by your ingenious use of kits and bits to create something entirely new. The ash waste slaver with the whip, the new version of Vandex and his retinue, the giant servitor/knight hybrid (beastman giant base?) - all superb!

Keep up the great work mate.

Cheers,

Dante

What the hell!?! This is brutally awesome!