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Alright, here's the next update on my converted Heldrake. Just to remind you, here’s where we left off last time:



With all the base colours in place, the next step was to apply the washes: Most of the model was generously washed with GW Agrax Earthshade to add some shadows to the red and bronze parts. The silver areas received the same treatment, only with GW Nuln Oil. After everything was well and dry, I drybrushed the Bronze with GW Dwarf Bronze, added a thin layer of GW Blood Red for the red parts and finally did some accents on the silver areas with GW Mithril Silver.

I also wanted to add an additional spot colour to show the power burning through the daemon engines innards. For that, I chose a simple OSL effect in light blue that was added to the head, mouth, engine and the underbelly of the model:



Another thing I wanted to do was to give the model a suitably detailed base. I knew I wanted some kind of ruined building, but all I had was a leftover Necromunda bulkhead. So I cut that apart, constructing a small ruin and added a couple of bitz as well as some of my trademark cork. Here’s what the painted base looks like:



As you can see, while I painted the ruined structure to look like rusty metal, the base itself was painted to fit in with the rest of my World Eaters. I also added numerous small details like the half-buried, dead (or is that dying?) Space Marine, two soldier’s graves and the unfortunate gravedigger himself — obviously, when they finally got him, there was nobody left to do the honours…



An opening was cut into the cork to leave a space for the flight stand to be inserted.

With both the model and base painted, I did a couple of final adjustments: The final set of wings could finally be added, changing the model’s silhouette quite a bit. But see for yourself. I give you: The Hellrazor.











As you can see, the OSL added to the model’s “mouth” makes it look like the baleflamer is just heating up:





And as a huge videogame nerd, I cannot help but feel immensely pleased by the fact that the Hellrazor’s shape recalls nothing so much as an endboss from a mid-90s 16bit shoot ‘em up like R-Type or Thunder Force:



All in all, I am prepared to call this project a success: Granted, this beast was a chore to paint, but I think that I’ve managed to convert a flyer that looks decidedly different from the original Heldrake will still maintaining a visual balance between jetfighter and strangely organic daemon engine. And the model also looks pretty similar in silhouette to the Forgeworld flyers — hence the name “Hellrazor”, to show a certain kinship to the Hell Blade and Hell Talon, in case you’re still wondering (there’s also another, even more obvious pun hidden in there, but I’m confident you’ll figure it out on your own ).

So the model was finished — all’s well that ends well, right? But wait, there was still the ToS contest to consider! Since I wanted to submit my flyer for the contest, I still needed to write a short piece of fluff to go with the model. Being a bit of an overachiever in this respect, I actually wrote two:

The cavernous hall was illuminated by the flickering half light of the grand furnace. Lorimar’s eyes needed a moment to adjust. Then he could see Deracin standing in front of the huge daemon engine, gazing up at its form. Lorimar approached the Keeper of the Forge. “I salute you, hunter. You requested my presence?” Deracin turned to face him and inclined his head. “Yes, lord.” But he did not say anything more.

“Is this about the daemon engine, then?” Lorimar growled. Deracin nodded ponderously. “Aye. As you can see, the vessel itself has been completed.” He gestured towards the shape of the war machine. Lorimar could see the pointed wings and jagged armour plates, he could see where fleshmetal had grown to fuse with the machine’s structure. Suspended above them was the daemon engine’s head, a grinning brass skull. The rest remained half hidden by the shadows, although Lorimar got a sense of the strangely organic shape of the thing. “And the incantations?” he growled.

Deracin kept his gaze locked on the machine, only the mostly bionic side of his face visible to Lorimar. “The bindings are in place. We have also completed the rituals. Yet something is amiss. I can feel it.”

Lorimar turned to face Deracin: “And what of …the pilot?”
Deracin seemed to grow uneasy. “My lord, it would be best not to refer to him as that any longer. We cannot be sure of what remains after the rituals. And truth be told, there was not much left even before that…” His voice trailed off.

“No, Deracin. He was our brother, an honoured member of the company. I refuse to refer to him as anything but.” Lorimar could feel the Keeper of the Forge’s gaze on him: “Even so, my lord, the binding seems incomplete. There is naught we can do.”

“Let me handle this, then!” Lorimar turned to face the huge brazen skull, seemingly suspended in nothingness. Then he addressed it:

“Old friend, forgive me for disturbing your slumber. But the company has need of you. There is still prey to run down. Your hunt is not yet over.”

They could both feel it. A strange feeling of otherness. And then a sound, low and guttural at first, but still unmistakeable: the sound of a huge animal drawing breath.

Whatever the daemon engine suspended in darkness above them may have housed. It lived.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the pounding of heavy artillery vibrating through his body, Lord Commissar Sondheim of the 45th Palthian Grenadiers urged his troops forward: „Advance, men of Palthia!”, he boomed. “Advance and deliver the Emperor’s Wrath to the enemy, lest it fall upon you instead!”
Sondheim used his field glasses to look towards the front lines, where the chaos forces were advancing towards the Imperial position. He could make out the red armoured shapes of their enemies, and he couldn’t suppress a sinking feeling. The traitor legionaries of the World Eaters were deadly in combat, and to let them reach their lines would mean disaster. However, the Guard’s superior firepower had so far proven successful in stalling the enemies’ advance, pinning the abhorrent traitor Astartes and preventing them from rushing the Imperial positions.

Sondheim turned to his aide-de-camp, Junior Commissar Kelso: “Armin, send word to the Lord General that we have matters under control here. As long as our ammunitions supply lasts, we should be able to hold them back indefinitely. The Emperor’s justice will be meted out to these vile abominations.” Telzo nodded and opened his mouth to reply, when both men suddenly heard something above the din of battle: A rolling thunder that was steadily growing louder and louder. “Air support. They have air support!”, Kelso said, his eyes frantically searching the horizon. “Don’t worry, lad!” Sondheim answered. “Just one of those light jetfighters. Our anti-aircraft guns will swat it down like a bothersome fly.” He took a look through his field glasses, and sure enough, there was the shape of a chaos flyer approaching, its shape like a jagged blade. There was something slightly warped about its silhouette, though. Sondheim grinned to himself: It was no use trying to keep track of all the different kinds of corruption that chaos wrought upon both its followers and their wargear. But Throne, that thing was fast! Sondheim could hardly keep it in focus. And the closer it came, the more he felt a certain apprehension. He could see the thing now, shaped like a two-pronged dagger, yet strangely sinuous and organic at the same time, weaving between the bursts of AA-fire that were supposed to take it out. The noise was also getting louder: a strange animal roar, and above it, something else, like the sound of a thousand voices screaming in unison. “What in the name of Terra…?”, he murmured. “My lord,” Kelso’s voice sounded worried, “shouldn’t we abandon this position? It’s coming straight at us!” Sondheim heard his words, but he found himself strangely transfixed, staring at the approaching horror, listening to the rumble of its engines. He could make out details now: The wickedly sharp wings, something that looked like a head, wrought in the shape of a stylised skull, its mouth seemingly weeping blue flame. “Retreat!” he heard Kelso scream above the horrible noise, “Abandon this position!” And it was at this exact moment that Lord Commissar Sondheim knew fear.
And then his world turned into fire.



And with that, my Hellrazor was completed. Next time, we’ll take a look at the other entries my model was up against.

Until then, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more! C&C always welcome!

Cheers, guys!

@ LordRogalDorn: Aww man, stop it already! I'm vain enough as it is Seriously, though, thanks for the kind words! I really appreciate it, especially about the fluff: It's good to hear that, even though I am not a native speaker of English, it seems I am able to get a couple of ideas across in my fluff

As for the extra wings: Indeed, there is probably a myriad ways of attaching these, and you could possibly change the overall look of the model quite a bit! Just check out Rhasputine's conversion , where he proves that the model can be made to look even more like a FW chaos flyer in shape! At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference, but the option's clearly there if you want it.

Oh, and while I won't post the other guys' fluff here in my thread to avoid stealing their thunder, I will provide a link to the original posts over on ToS, so you'll get to read their fluff (which is excellent, btw), so no worries!

Cheers, mate! Glad to be of help!

@ Red Skullz: Oh, I just realised I didn't reply to your question there. Sorry! Concerning a potential, second flyer, I think I can safely say that it won't be another conversion of the Heldrake kit: I cannot actually see myself painting those wings ever again

If I were to build a second flyer, my favourite option would be to pull of something similar to this fantastic conversion over at Eye of Error. That flyer looks brilliant, and I even have the G.I.Joe toy to pull it off! Now to work up some courage...

@ Meade: Cheers, mate!

@ Squigsquasher: Well, in the end, it always comes down to personal taste, of course. I can at least safely say that the conversion turned out the way I wanted it to -- Your mileage may vary concerning everything beyond that

Thanks a lot for the kind words, people!

@ Crystal Geyser: That is indeed quite a challenge, and one I've thought about quite a few times already! I believe that Deracin will probably one of the most difficult models to get right. I imagine him as a huge, imposing guy with quite a few bionic implants. Instead of being a raging madman, I think he's more of a classic berserker: Calm and dignified outside of battle, but he'll be terrifying once you manage to make him angry.

My first attempt to build Deracin was based on an old WD conversion for Huron Blackheart, but it didn't go anywhere. Then I planned to actually base him on the Huron Blackheart model, but then the new codex was released. And while I think the Warpsmith would be a pretty good start, I also feel a little hesitant about the whole thing. I'm a little afraid of that axe bending out of shape all the time, for one, and I would definitely have to replace the head with something more fitting. This guy's face, for instance, pretty much shows Deracin as I imagine him.

Anyway, I'll have to tackle this challenge sooner or later, especially if I ever want to be able to run a Warpsmith, but I won't hurry it until I have an idea that I know will work (like I did with the Dark Apostle).


So, let's take a last look at my converted Heldrake for now: As you know, I built the model to enter it into the Eleventh Throne of Skulls Painting/Converting Contest. So how did it go?

The deadline for the contest came, and, as you know, my entry looked like this:



But what was I up against?
The other contestants were Biohazard and swamp, and I was thrilled to see their entries:

Biohazard submitted his fantastic, kitbashed Bloodstalker:



I couldn’t begin to tell you how much I love this model! Biohazard is a true master of kitbashing huge chaos war machines, and his Bloodstalker is a testament to that: Kitbashed from many disparate parts into something that looks almost like a regular GW kit, this beast ranks among the best Defiler conversions I have ever seen and would also certainly be a fierce opponent.

And here’s swamp’s entry:



A masterfully painted Forgeworld Decimator. The model itself is lovely, and the smooth blending technique on this piece managed to blow both my and Biohazard’s paintjobs clean out of the water. Fantastic work!

What I especially liked about the three entries was how different they were from one another. And still, each of them represented an imposing daemonic contraption, bound to the will of Khorne.

So how did it all end? Well, I didn’t win this time. But I didn’t mind, since losing to either of these models certainly was no shameful affair. In fact, I was actually really happy when Biohazard’s Bloodstalker won the competition! A well deserved victory! Great job, buddy!

All in all, what a great result: The contest produced three great entries. My favourite managed to win. And I even ended up with a converted and fully painted chaos flyer for my army. Plus I am really thrilled to see what kind of motto Biohazard will come up with for the next contest!

Head on over to ToS , in case you’re interested in seeing more pictures of the other guys’ entries as well as their fluff. You can also see more pictures of Biohazard's Bloodstalker on his Dakka thread . Don't forget to congratulate him, while you're there! And let me wind up this update with a little image I crudely slapped together for Biohazard in Photoshop:



BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

Oh, one more thing: If you want to own your very own Bloodstalker pattern defiler, you are in luck! Biohazard has you covered: He was actually nice enough to write up a tutorial on how to build this beauty. It also explains which bitz you are going to need. Check it out here.

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Thanks a lot, guys! Agreed on the congratulations for Biohazard! That Bloodstalker is simply brilliant!

 Freytag93 wrote:
I have to say that watching your blog and Biohazard's develop together has been wonderful. Keep up the work you two! Khorne is pleased.

You're really on to something there, mate! It goes to show how hobbyists can really inspire each other to keep pushing the envelope on their armies, which is really one of the best parts of the hobby! Plus without Biohazard's continuous generosity in donating bitz to my cause, many of my models wouldn't have been completed in the first place

Thanks a lot, guys! Yeah, that Bloodstalker really is something else, isn't it?

I recently decided to enter cormadepanda's painting contest , mostly to force myself to paint another character I had originally planned to enter Lord Captain Lorimar, but it quickly became obvious that he would need more work than I can realistically get done until the end of February. So I switched around entries and instead opted to paint my counts as Dark Apoostle.

Started painting him today, and I have to tell you: That new plastic Chaos Lord is a joy to paint! At least if you were clever enough to resist glueing everything together right at the beginning

Anyway, here's a couple of PIP pictures to feast your eyes on:









The model needs quite a bit more detailing work, but I am already pretty happy with how it's coming along.

C&C always welcome!

Thanks a lot, guys!

@ Biohazard: It was a victory though, and a well-deserved one at that, buddy. Stop being so fething modest about it!

@ Matt.Kingsley: Aww, you do me too much honour! Plus there are a few guys participating in that contest that'll probably blow us both out of the water painting-wise, so take heart!

@ evildrcheese: Cheers, mate!

Well, we'll just have to do our best, in any case

Speaking of which...

Some time ago, I showed you my WIP model for my World Eaters’ counts as Dark Apostle. Now since I wanted to enter the finished model into cormadepanda’s modelling/painting contest , I had a real incentive of actually painting up this guy sooner rather than later. So today, I would like to talk about painting the model and show you the finished piece.

Here’s where we left of last time:



Before breaking out the paints, I seriously considered adding a backpack to the model to 40k-ify it a bit more. Yet after trying several options (regular CSM backpacks, old Space Crusade backpacks, still sporting that semi-organic look of the Rogue Trader days, and even one of the new Dark Vengeance Chosen backpacks), I found out that adding a backpack would always mess with the model’s silhouette, especially with the nice flowing lines from the huge warhorn along the model’s horned head and down its left shoulder to the left hand. So I decided to just leave it off and come up with a fluff explanation for the unconventional armour: After all, it could be a relic from the Dark Age of Technology, a custom job from the Dark Mechanicum or even a prized chaos artifact: In any case, I would rather have a cool-looking model than be 100% correct about background minutiae all the time ;-)

Anyway, this model was a joy to paint, mostly because I managed to glue everything together at the start, instead working in four tidy sub-assemblies, as suggested in my earlier post. So while every area of the model remained easy to reach with a brush, the different components could just as easily be slotted together whenever I needed to take a look at what the complete model would look like.

The different portions of the model could be finished independently from one another, so I always had something to do while waiting for a particular colour to dry. The first part that was actually finished was the base (with a part of the model’s right foot):




The colour did a good job of blending together the sculpted plastic rocks and the bits of cork added by me.

Here’s another snapshot of the PIP model, with the base colours and washes in place and some areas of red just receiving their second coat of colour:



As for the overall colour scheme, I stayed true to my tried and true recipe, with dark red armour, bronze trim and very pale skin. The one deviation from my usual approach was that I chose to paint the model’s cape in a dark turquoise to add in an additional spot colour.

All in all, this guy was finished fairly quickly, in about two sittings. The first one took about 2-3 hours and ended with the model mostly complete. The second sitting (about one hour) was just to finish the fine detail, add a few visual flourishes etc.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the finished model:















As you can see, I added quite a few accents to the cape, in order to give it as much depth as possible. The pictures also nicely show off the depth of the sculpt. It really is a lovely model!

Here’s a couple of additional detail shots:



Even though I tend to limit the use of chaotic mutations for my World Eaters, the horned head works rather nicely in this case. The Khorne rune is a nice touch as well.



I had originally planned to paint the runes on the horn in a small OSL effect to show that they are glowing with daemonic energy, but I feared that would have made the model look a little too busy, so I chose a different, simpler approach. I feel this might have been the right decision.



In hindsight, maybe I should have painted a small planet into the gaping maw on the model’s right bracer. It would have looked even more like a stylised representation of the World Eaters’ legion badge…



I think the armour of the model comes together rather nicely. Oh, and I also added a skull trophy before painting — the codpiece was looking a little funny, and a few dangling skulls are never the wrong way to go with a follower of Khorne…

Lastly, here’s a closer look at the base:



I have never been a huge fan op piling huge amounts of skulls on bases, but I hink it works this time. The base also fits in really well with the bases on my other models.

So with that, the model was complete. I am rather happy with how it turned out:



As is my usual custom, I also thought about the models actual background, and wrote a short piece of fluff to add a bit more depth to the character. Check it out:



Huntmaster Stian Gul, Bearer of the Horn of Leires

Many forces of the traitor legions let themselves be inspired by the flaming words of heretical preachers and orators, among them the fanatical Dark Apostles of the Word Bearers. Yet the warriors of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt have little tolerance for sermons: For them, war itself is the sole worthy act of worship, and the sounds of hunting horns, howling chain weapons and pounding artillery are all the inspiration they need. And so the task of fueling the fires of their belligerence falls not to any preacher, but to Huntmaster Stian Gul, also called the Apostle of War:

Even in a force of superhuman warriors, Gul is an arresting presence: Clad in full baroque plate of uncertain origin, his head crowned with a set of horns, Gul resembles the appearance of the archetypal god of the hunt as described in a million different mythologies. He wields the Horn of Leires, a huge warhorn etched with runes of dark power, said to be fashioned from the horn of a Greater Daemon. Its sounds incite the legionaries’ rage and bloodlust far more than any sermon ever could. And it is well, for Stian Gul is a mysterious and taciturn figure, only seeming truly alive at the heart of battle, while shadowy and reclusive between engagements.

Those who have to face the World Eaters’ 4th assault company in battle fear the mournful sounds of the Horn of Leires, for they signal not only the beginning of battle, but also the fact that the Apostle of War has come and demands his due, to be paid in blood.


C&C always welcome! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

Now I did of course go back to add that small planet on the bracer -- you people will be the death of me one day

Unfortunately, the result turned out less spectacular than you might have hoped -- it is a really small area after all, plus I seriously suck at freehanding:



Still, probably an okay little addition.

@ Rawson: The horn is the musical instrument from the Chaos Daemons Bloodcrusher kit. I would have loved to use the Skullcrusher horn instead, but it was on the wrong gand

@ Matt:Kingsley: Go for it, mate! Not much time left!

@ Biohazard: Sorry buddy, but it's actually been ages since my last game, so no firsthand experience on using apostles. Sad, isn't it? The common opinion seems to be that they're a little expensive and fragile for what they actually do, though. In any case, I just needed an excuse to convert one more chaos lord...

Cheers mate!

Just a small update today: Imagine my elation when, after a particularly grueling week at work, I came home today to find the parcel from Dreamforge Games containing the models I had funded by participating in Mark Mondragon's Kickstarter late last year had finally arrived (four weeks after leaving the USA - the German postal service really has it in for me at the moment):



The box contains 20 Eisenkern Stormtroopers, another box with an almost ridiculous amount of conversion bitz for them, plus three Kickstarter exclusive models -- all in glorious plastic.

Here are the Stormtroopers:



At least some of these will probably end up doing service in my Traitor Guard in the end. Expect a more detailed look at the kit on my blog soon -- a first impression, though: The level of detail and quality of the sculpt are simply fantatic!

Oh, and I also started yet another hobby project. Check it out here , in case you're interested!

Thank God it's Friday!

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

@ Hruotland: Thanks for the tip! To tell you the truth, though, I guess I'll just leave it as it is: The area in question is TINY, and I don't believe I'd do a better job using a different approach -- quite the opposite, actually: As soon as glue is involved, I am sure to mess up irrevocably (probably ruining the rest of the model in the process ). The best way would have been to add a small piece of GS before undercoating, using it to sculpt the basic shape of the planet. Too late for that now, though...


Anyway, no World Eater today, but a small side project I started a while ago.

You may recall that work in progress Nurgle Terminator I posted. This is what we looked like when we last saw him:



In the meantime, I was taken by a fancy to actually finish this guy, so I put a bit more painting in.

All in all, the objective here was basically not only to get the model done (and have it look at least halfway presentable), but also to experiment will all kinds of rust and weathering effects and see whether I could make them work on a model. So I tried my hand at different effects for rusty metal, verdigris and just general signs of decay and decline. And here’s what I ended up with:













The model’s mutated right hand and strangely organic trophy spikes were painted in a slightly distressed flesh tone to contrast with the muddy green armour. And, as you can see, the different weathering effects on these guy did receive quite a bit more attention since the WIP stage: All the bronze areas were washed with a watered down mix of Vallejo Halcon Milenario Turquoise and white to achieve a verdigris effect. I also thinned down GW Vermin Brown, using it much like a slightly heavier wash in the recesses of the armour to build up a rust effect.

And I finally painted the model’s huge warscythe, adding the same weathering effects. With rusty metal like this, instead of painting everything silver and then suitably dirtying it, my usual approach is to paint the whole area in brown, then stipple on additional rust in a haphazard pattern, using a lighter shade of brown and only then add a small amount of actual metal colour to the edges and surfaces. Like so:



You may also have noticed that I added a small OSL effect to the eye and the skull atop the scythe, trying to achieve a simple lighting effect similar to the one I use on plasma pistols and the like, only in a different colour.

In order to finish this guy, I also built and painted a base for him:



While the base is similar enough to the bases of my World Eaters (you never know…), it also features the same disgusting ichor as the base of the Plague Champion I built earlier for my Ruinous Powers mini series:



The fluid was done by covering a part of the base in a thick layer of wood glue, then wait for it to dry, creating a slightly muddy looking surface that was then painted in several shades of green and yellow and coated with gloss varnish.

All in all, this guy was both quite a bit of fun to pain and a great way of experimenting with different effects! Plus I learned that using different colours for undercoating can make painting quite a bit easier: I have sinced used brown spray paint for my first Orc test model as well, and it was definitely a good choice — but more on that soon…



So while I am in no hurry to paint up a whole Nurgle army – or even just a unit of Plague Marines, for that matter, trying all kind of weathering techniques in this guy was a blast. And it’s nice to know that I now have a few more tricks up my sleeve

C&C always welcome! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

@ ExNoctemNacimur: Ah, you know how it is: Always just one more...

@ Dreadclaw69: Cheers, mate!

@ Know No Pear: That's a WFB Zombie head (the kit may be horrible, but some of those heads are still ace!), combined with a rebreather from the Cadian command squad kit.

The blue parts on the Termie are a verdigris effect I added to the bronze areas, using a thinned down mix of Turquoise and white.

Thanks a lot, guys!

The termie was really just a way to experiment with different effects and a different kind of undercoat, but it's still good to know you like him

@ SelvaggioSaky: Welcome back mate! I used the time during your hiatus to step up my game, obviously

@ GiraffeX: Well, what can I do? I am such a World Eaters fanatic that my love for gladiators may occasionally bleed into my other hobby projects as well...

@ Marine-With_Heart: Well, considering the social media revolution we are currently experiencing, the guys over at Silicon Valley may already be working on something like that

Some time ago, I showed you some test models for a small squad of traitorous Space Wolves. I had put off painting the first test model until now, since I wanted to use a dark grey undercoat on them, and I had to wait for my FLGS to get its next shipment of Army Painter spray cans.

But lo and behold, when I swung by the store last week to spent yet more money on plastic crack, a can of Army Painter Uniform Grey was already waiting for me, so I could finally start to experiment with the paint recipe for my Khorne Wolves.

I wanted them to still look fairly close to the original Space Wolves’ colour scheme, yet with parts of their armour picked out in red and bronze to serve as subtle clues as to their new allegiance. I also wanted the armour to be more of a dark grey, as opposed to the bluish grey of GW’s loyalist Wolves paint scheme.

Anyway, I chose this model for my experiments:



I think we can all agree that, for this guy, any coat of paint would be a huge improvement

So the first step was to get the model undercoated. I had never worked with Army Painter spray cans before, and had only recently read a horror story about someone ruining a couple of models using them, so I was really careful. My worries were unfounded, however, since It turned out that the paint worked almost like GW’s undercoat, only in a different colour. So this is what the model looked like after undercoating:



Surprise, surprise: It turned out that Uniform Grey wasn’t nearly as dark as I had hoped. In fact, it looked pretty much exactly like unpainted GW plastic. Here’s a comparison shot with an unpainted Marine leg for reference:



With the grey much lighter than anticipated, I felt tempted to call this a failure altogether, abandon the project and return to painting more Blood Bowl Orcs , but I persevered. After all, no telling what the rest of the paintjob might yet achieve, right?

So I picked out the details in different colours: GW Mephiston Red for the shoulderpads and parts of the armour, Vallejo Tinny Tin for the armour trim and decorations, GW Boltgun Metal for the weapons, flex fitting, cables etc. and GW Snakebite Leather for the teeth and bones. Here’s what the model looked like after this step:



So my first lesson with using grey undercoat: The model will look even worse with just the base colours blocked out than when I use Chaos Black. Not exactly a reassuring observation, to be sure…
I knew better than to stop now, however much I would have liked to throw away my brush in frustration. I was reasonably sure applying some washes would save the day once again…

So here’s the same model after a healthy dose of GW Agrax Earthshade and GW Nuln Oil, respectively:



Definitely better, if only because there is much more depth to the model now. The armour came out looking slightly worn and dirty, but I guess I like the effect well enough. I then added GW Bleached Bone to the areas of bone, GW Dwarf Bronze to the edges of the armour trim, and I painted the model’s eye lenses a piercing blue:



At this point, I thought the model looked okay, but still quite a bit lighter than I would have liked. I was afraid this guy didn’t read as a traitorous wolf, but rather as a member of the 13th company at best. Would I have to rethink my whole approach?

I still kept plugging away at him, finishing the details, painting the backpack and adding a chaos star decal to his left shoulder pad. So here’s the finished model, photographed this time without the garish flash







So what would I call the result of this exercise? Slightly inconclusive, to tell you the truth. While the grey armour is quite a bit lighter than I would have preferred, I have to admit the model has grown on me. But the question remains: Does he look chaotic enough?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this! C&C always welcome! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Thanks a lot for the feedback, guys! That really helps!

I realise my Khornate Wolves will have to look a little more feral than the test model. I think the main problem with the model - colour considerations notwhitstanding - is the fact that none of the bitz I used are really all that chaotic to begin with. For the next models, that probably means: more spiky bitz, skull trophies and tattered fur cloaks, as you guys suggested.

I have also considered adding a copious amount of bloodspatters, but have yet held myself back for basically two reasons:

1.) I am terribly afraid of going way OTT with the blood.

2.) I think it would look a little strange if the wolves were to be all bloody when the actual World Eaters in the army are not -- even moreso since the wolves will be used as "regular" Bolter CSM, if anything.

I guess I will have to give this more thought...

@ Know No Pear: Oh, there will definitely be quite a few bare heads in the squad -- don't worry!

@ Meade: some great suggestions, mate! Although I will probably keep the blue eyes: I really like the effect, plus I am not really fond of red eyes, since it's such a tired trope. The only way for me to incorporate red eyes would be to have them look as excellent as the ones on your BL models, and since that won't work, I might just as well keep them blue to begin with

@ Marine_With_Heart: Agreed. He does actually have a chaos star on his left shoulderpad, although it's not clearly visible in the photos.

@ btldoomhammer: The chainsword is indeed from the SW kit. Not only is it double-aged, but I also really love the wickedly slim look It's a great bit, to be sure!

Cheers, guys!

@ btldoomhammer: You should also take a look at the new Raptors kit! Not only are the chainswords in there absolutely fantastic, it also has those little speakerboxes in the models' armour that would work great for a Slaanesh-themed force!

@ That's nice of you to say, mate! Will try to work out the last kinks of my blue formula. Let's see how that goes...

@ Cheers, mate!

In the meantime, I've started work on my Joras Turnpelt conversion. Take a look:







And a comparison picture with the first test wolf:



The model is still missing a couple of details, as well as its base and cape. For the cape, I am considering painting it brown and having it look really grimy and tattered.

Let me know what you think!

Thanks, guys!

@ wonkobaggins: Well, we all know how it goes: "Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows" and all that

@ Cheers, mate! The axe came from the Chaos Knights, however.

Thanks, Meade!

Yes, the chaos lord cape is lying in front of me, awaiting undercoating

Cheers, mate!

Yeah, I'll have to do a proper review of the Dreamforge stuff, but I have yet to put my first Eisenkern Trooper together -- sad, isn't it? Here's the short version, though: Fantastic stuff, all of it! The detail on the models is off the hook, and the sprue with all the conversion bitz should give me lots of useful stuff for INQ28 as well.

At least I immediately put together the Ada model that I got as a Kickstarter exclusive:



As you can see, the detail on the model is great. I am feeling really tempted to use her in one of my Inquisitorial retinues...

/off topic rant

I would love to do an in-depth look of my own at the models, but I haven't yet had the time to write a post that does the models justice.

While it's true that the Stormtroopers are as tall as (or even slightly taller than) GW Space Marines, and they would probably look rather silly when used alongside Marines in the same army, I guess it would look quite badass if I were to use my Traitor Guard as a standalone force, and the Stormtroopers are taller than any Marine models in the opposing army. And while the models may be taller, the bitz should still be useable in INQ28 and 40k conversions. But I'll have to test that for myself. Will report back with a writeup as soon as I find the time

@ Dreadclaw69: Thanks for the detailed feedback, mate! I really appreciate it! You're quite right about the 13th company comparison -- I still have those WDs However, there is one marked differende: The "chaotic" parts on the 13th company were always just one leg cuisse, one pauldron, etc., painted in a rather haphazard way to show how those were basically replacement parts found in the Eye of Terror. I think my test wolf has a more organised look, like the red parts and chaotic touches are there for a purpose -- but maybe I'm just making excuses here

In the end, I believe it will come down to maintaining a balance of parts when building these: enough SW parts to show their origins, yet enough chaotic bitz to make it clear that they have turned. I'm not especially sold on the idea of using those horned helmets, to tell you the truth, but I am pretty sure that I'll be able to find some other way of making these guys look suitably chaotic. In any case, I don't consider it a bad thing that they stand apart from the regular World Eaters, since that is exactly the way they feel: their connection to their chapter has been severed, yet neither can they fully accept their new "home" -- I'll admit it's a bit of a narrative thing, though


Anyway, I got some more work in on Joras Turnpelt. Take a look:










As you can see, some skull trophies were added to the cape, to make Joras’ new allegiance even more obvious (I also wanted to obscure the small “smoke stacks” on the cloak, since they seemed slightly silly to me). Note the dirty and tattered cape:



The effect was created by drybrushing multiple times with GW Graveyard Earth, which led to a very dusty, dirtied look. Unfortunately, the photo eats up some of the subtle shades, so you’ll have to take my word for it: It does look really dusty when seen up close!

It’s also a nice coincidence that the cape nicely complements the model’s overall pose, adding to the sense of movement.



When it came to Joras’ face, I wanted him to be pale and slightly haunted-looking, and I guess I succeeded reasonably well:




Maybe he’ll need one more pass of GW Leviathan Purple in the deepest recesses to make him look even more drawn.

And finally, the base: It goes without saying that I couldn’t resist adding a small loyalist touch…



And here’s a comparison shot with Joras and one of my World Eaters Terminator Lords:



I like the fact that Joras has a pretty distinct silhouette, seeming quite bulky (mostly because of the cape).

All in all, I am pretty pleased with the model: I think the paintjob nicely captures the fact that Joras is a warrior in transition: While there are still some strong clues as to his loyalist origins, several other visual elements make it perfectly clear that he now follows a very different master.

And finally, as is my usual routine, let me also give you some background for the model (a slightly revised version of the first sketch, in this case):



Joras Turnpelt

Joras Turnpelt was once a member of Einar Longbeard’s Great Company, and served as the Wolf Lord’s second-in-command as well as his trusted friend. When the company found itself facing the warriors of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt in battle, the fighting turned out to be extremely bloody and unforgiving, due to both sides’ ferocity in combat. With the battle dragging on, the Space Wolves found themselves slowly bleeding out from the costly engagements. And to make matters even worse, Longbeard and Joras did not see eye to eye regarding how to proceed: The Wolf Lord knew that the Space Wolves were in acute danger of losing the battle and wanted to consolidate their forces, maybe even order a tactical retreat, while Joras would hear none of it. Seething with adrenaline and beginning frenzy, he wanted to press on and obliterate the enemy, and ordered an attack in direct defiance of his superior’s orders. During the ensuing fight, Joras eventually flew into a berserker rage, slaying his own Wolf Lord, who was trying to intervene. This act of betrayal shattered the great company, with the brethren falling on each other as well as the World Eaters. In the end, only a small band of warriors remained, defeated and encircled by the warriors of the 4th, shaken by their own actions and ready to be killed. But Lorimar let them live, feeling that Joras, in the depths of his rage, had found something dark and powerful. The Master of the Hunt was intrigued.

Ever since, Joras and his remaining warriors have been fighting alongside Khorne’s Eternal Hunt, adopting some of the 4th’s traditions while also keeping themselves apart in other respects. And Joras has become known as the “Turnpelt”, considered a despised traitor of his own chapter and hated enemy by the sons of Russ…


As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

Just to be clear, though: I am quite alright with the Khornate Wolves looking quite different from my regular World Eaters, and there will be no transition from wolves to World Eaters, with the armour becoming more and more WE-like or something like that.

You see, in my idea of the background, after their great company was sundered, the Wolves were really shaken, ready to be killed by the World Eaters: Their rage and frenzy had proved to be their downfall, and after the destruction of their company and the death of their Wold Lord, they knew they could never go back to their chapter. However, Lorimar let them live: Maybe because he saw them as a potential asset. Maybe because something of their situation reminded him about the World Eaters' own history. Maybe he was amused by their plight. Maybe it was all of the above.

Ever since, the Wolves have been in an interesting fix: They have begun to accept Khorne as their new patron: After all, what else remains to them? But they couldn't simply ceise being sons of Fenris, so they remember their traditions, their warrior culture etc. The difference between them and the World Eaters, however, is that the World Eaters feel that their choice of abandoning the Emperor, whom they saw as a weak hypocrite, was a righteous one, whereas Joras and his brothers know full well that they fell from grace in the worst possible way...

Anyway, that's my reasoning behing those guys, and the reason they don't have (or want) to fit in with the World Eaters. As a matter of fact, I can easily imagine the World Eaters' feelings towards their new allies to be rather conflicted as well, with some of the legionaries wary of the "loyalist dogs", and some of the Huntmasters even asking themselves what Lorimar sees in the Turnpelt...

So, maybe I am just using fluff to justify dubious modelling and painting choices here, but in the strange and twisted hinterlands of my brain, it all makes sense somehow. I promise

Thanks, people!

@ Squigsquasher: Ah, but then, that was the whole point -- I didn't want to have them the more bluish colour, but give their armour a more greyish hue.

@ Miss Dee: That's nice of you to say!


Touching up my World Eaters bikes some time ago gave me the idea for an additional bike in the squad. Once again, I wanted to build a model channelling the legion’s gladiatorial traditions, serving not so much as a mobile weapons platform, but rather as a modernised version of one of the chariots you would expect to see in films about gladiators in ancient Rome.

I was pretty sure that the World Eaters would have found a way to adapt the regular Space Marine trike to their gladiatorial fighting style. So I mulled over the idea and talked to Biohazard, who, bless his heart, pointed me towards Big Jim’s fantastic Infernal Assault Bike conversion. That really got my creative juices flowing, so I got myself a trike and some bitz from my bitzbox and got to work. And here’s the result: The Veredus Pattern Assault Trike:







Quite an easy kitbash, really: The undercarriage came from the regular trike, although I had to use a plate from an Ork kit to close the huge hole that was created by leaving off the seated marine. A huge shield from the WFB Minotaurs was added to serve as front armour. Apart from that, I only used a couple of additional spikes and a horned skull (once again from the Minotaur kit) to make the whole vehicle look more chaotic.



Getting the two World Eaters assembled and posed took a little more doing: The driver was simple enough, but the gladiator standing in the sidecar was a little more complicated, since I wanted him to be gripping the front of the sidecar for support, while brandishing a chain weapon in his other hand.

I used an unarmoured arm from the WFB Chaos Marauders and combined it with the hand from a CSM biker to achieve the pose I wanted. I also gave the model a bare head from the Grey Knights kit to make it look even more like a World Eater — those cables make for really convincing Butcher’s Nails!



Getting the model into the right position without having it awkwardly bump into the rider was probably the most difficult part. Seeing how little room there actually was, I decided to use a Dark Vengeance Chosen backpack since it’s a little less bulky than the regular CSM backpacks.



The rider is a fairly straightforward build, with just an arm wielding a wicked looking axe added for some extra brutality (the arm came from the Skullcrusher kit). However, after having obsessed over the choice of head for quite some time, I went for something a little more unconventional, sawing through one of the old, early 90s plastic berzerkers Biohazard sent me. That was quite an intense bit of surgery, but I managed to keep the head perfectly intact — I really love the facemask on that helmet!



And with that, my attack trike was finished. I may attach an additional bit here and there, but the overall build is as complete as it is ever going to be. As for gameplay uses, I may just use this trike as a regular bike or – when I am feeling adventurous – as a counts as Chaos Lord riding a juggernaut

Anway, I think the model is a really nice fit for both the World Eaters’ gladiatorial traditions and my own army’s background as a hunting party.

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Cheers, guys! Glad you like it!

@ ghosty: Damn you, for giving me even more conversion ideas! Will you people never be satisfied?

Again, thanks a lot, people!

@ HF Izanagi: Thanks for the repost, Remi! I feel honoured that I inspire you to start a WE army -- always a noble endeavour, to be sure In my opinion, go for post-heresy though: That gives you more options to play around with, plus you don't have to paint them white and blue -- just my opinion, though

My models have never been featured on the GW page. I'll admit I've been tempted to post stuff to their Flickr account once or twice, but I'm not swallowing their BS regarding granting them all the rights to the pictures forever, removing all watermarks etc. Plus I wouldn't want them to add some garish Photoshop effects on top (like they did for GuitaRasmus' stuff once) I am very pleased that you consider my work good enough to be featured in WD or on the GW homepage, though!

Regarding the weapon dragging on the ground, that is one awesome idea! I'd rather keep it for a regular biker, though, since lining up the passenger in that sidecar was enough of a hassle already. I do have that huge, lovely Ironguts weapon lying around though...a World Eater dragging it along the floor might be next in line...

@ Red Skullz: Cheers, mate!

@ Freytag93: That was really the effect I was going for, so I am glad it seems to have worked out!

@ Miss Dee: I already added Meltagungs to two of my "regular" bikes, and seeing how this might not be considered a "legal" model if push comes to shove, I didn't want to take any chances. Plus lining up that skull between the weapons was much easier with regular bolters.

Thanks a lot, guys!

@ SelvaggioSaky: I did actually eyperiment with a Dark Eldar net at one point, but it just didn't end up very World Eater-ly: These guys are not trying to take prisoners, after all, and immobilising your opponent using a net would probably be something they consider beneath them

Thanks, guys!

@ SelvaggioSaky: Yeah, I am, of course, considering everything at all times Seriously, though, I am considering using that DE net on some footslogging model or other at some point, since I would like to incorporate some more models wielding "gladiatorial" weapons into my force.

@ Crystal Geyser: You're quite right about the head: It's the same design I used on that barechested model you mentioned. It's just about the perfect head for a World Eater, in my opinion!

Cheers, mate! Steal away!

Right, and it's time for another update: You may remember that I was working on a squad of traitorous Space Wolves to serve as regular Chaos Space Marines in my force of World Eaters. Just to refresh your memory, these were the first test models I cobbled together from some – very rough – bitz:



And this is the first of those I painted as a tester:



As some people have pointed out, the problem is that the model looks a little too much like a member of the 13th company just having a slightly bad day. So while I liked the overall look and paint recipe well enough, it was clear to me that the main challenge would be to achieve a look that, while still obviously showing the wolves’ loyalist heritage, also made it perfectly clear that they had turned and now served another master.

The most effective way to achieve this was by carefully considering which bitz to use. So I dove headfirst into my bitzbox — and also received quite a nice bitz drop courtesy of fellow hobbyist Gerner (cheers, mate!). Both factors allowed me to work on some more models for my Blood Wolves, and I believe you’ll find these to be somewhat less conventional than the initial test models. Let’s take a look:





This first model is actually one of the test models shown above, only slightly reworked: I wasn’t perfectly happy with the model, so I added a different head and right arm. The whole model was also undercoated with Army Painter’s Uniform Grey, in order to better blend together the different (partly painted) bits I used.

And here’s the third test model from the picture posted above:





While I was already happy enough with the menacing look and overall pose, I still made some small changes: The shoulder pads were exchanged for SW pads to make the loyalist origins of the model more obvious. The head was replaced with a similar but slightly more chaotic looking head from the Raptor kit (to which I added a wolf totem from one of the SW helmets). Again, the model was undercoated grey. I must say I am really pleased with this guy! He has a menacing, predatory look about him that rather fits a fallen Space Wolf…

There were also two models I had originally built as World Eaters. Yet due to the fact that I had used some SW parts in their construction, they had just the right look for my squad of Khornate wolves, so I just chose to repurpose them:





In my opnion, this first model is a pretty good blend of SW design and a clearly Khornate touch. As you can see, I used the huge axe from the SW terminator kit: A memento of the Marine’s original chapter as well as a fitting weapon for a servant of Khorne! An energy generator (without the power coils) from the Battle for Maccrage boxed set was used as some kind of toppled Imperial icon for the model to stand on. I really like the badass look of this guy!

The other model was designed to be channelling a very classic 90s pose:



I just couldn’t help it...

And finally, I built some new models from the bitz I had assembled. First of all, an icon bearer for the squad:





The model uses one of my favourite heads from the WFB Marauder Horsemen. While this guy could still be mistaken for a loyalist, I imagine the icon itself will change that, once it is finished. I’ll be using a huge, trophy-like banner from the WFB Minotaur kit. I love the static but powerful stance oj this guy!

And finally, I needed a worthy squad leader, of course! Another great head from the Marauder Horsemen and some bitz from the Skullcrusher kit did the trick. Take a look:





Easily my favourite model in the squad so far, this guy really maintains a delicate balance between a SW/barbarian look and a couple of clearly chaotic attributes.

So far, the squad seems very focused on combat at close quarters. However, I still have enough bitz for another six models, and most of those will be wielding a trusty Boltgun. But I think the new models are already far more recognisable as chaos followers. I really like their massive and grizzled look. Take a look at the squad so far:



What I like about these models is that including a squad of fallen Space Wolves with some actual background seems far preferable to just building World Eaters wielding Bolters, just for the sake of WYSIWYG.

So what do you think? Are those new models a step in the right direction? I’d be happy to hear any C&C you might have!

In any case, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!