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So, I decided to drop the Mezzan theme because...well let's face it, the Mezzan look prettier than scrapped together stuff. So I'm using the same thread by under a different name. The idea is that there was once a world inhabited by humans which got wasted by some war/disaster/etc. The survivors were forced to scrap together what they had and try to survive, you know your typical post apocalyptic movie. I always liked GorkaMorka and especially the Diggas and so this project would also be a tribute to them. The idea is that the survivors built cities and such, but all scrapped together, so technology and such might be there but the aesthetics remain that of a scrapped together band.

The fluff needs to be worked out further but I think you are getting the idea...


Check the second page for the bike and the almost finished "soul warrior" (scrapyard robot, still needs a better name)

The Last of the Mezzan
The old Mezzan empire was spread in the Sargassos subsector. Man and machine lived in harmony with each other, unlike the rest of the universe where the war between the Stone and Iron Men nearly wiped out mankind. This harmony would not last though. Alpharius, Primarch of the Alpha Legion, decreed that the Mezzan were an abomination that had to be destroyed. At the cost of many men and women in service of the Imperial Army the forces of Alpharius finally destroyed the Mezzan empire.

Many centuries later the Mezzan are only a vague memory to the people of the Sargassos subsector. While most Mezzan were hunted down and exterminated by the Inquisition and Adeptus Mechanicus a few managed to survive for all these years...


As you can see the figure is still very much a WIP, I've been adding more and more stuff to the torso and have also been working on the first leg. I've changed the idea of a crucified Mezzan, I much more prefer the idea of a few lonely figures who have been greatly damaged trying to survive.


The right arm will remain limp since the lower arm has been shot off by it's enemies. The left arm still needs to be made but it will incorporate a weapon. More on that soon!


As you can see the Mezzan machine is a pretty chunky beast, being almost two times taller than a Dark Eldar warrior. Mighty be cool to see this bio-mechanical creature fighting against some of those true scale Space Marines!

In the Emperor's name
"How dare you claim to be hunting us in the name of your Emperor? This Terran desired coexistence with us! I watched the forces of his fallen son burn our worlds down, I witnessed his sadness over the useless destruction that has befallen upon us! We were willing to integrate into your empire but in your ignorance you sought to destroy us..."
-Helon, Mezzan survivor

The abomination known as Helon was one of the last projects in artificial lifeforms the Mezzan worked on before being destroyed by the forces of Alpharius. The Mezzan sought to create a machine which would not only mimic life, but actually be alive. Helon and those like him were created in man's image, not only in aesthetics but also in workings. Mechanical devices in the body were very similar to human organs in their workings.

When the Imperial Army attacked the Mezzan colonies in the Sargassos subsector Helon and other like him were evacuated in an attempt to escape the Imperium. While most of these refugees were eventually captured (and executed) Helon and a few other managed to remain uncaught.




Started working on the leg and arm as you might see here. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with the arm. I'm pondering about giving it a hand with claw like nails, or a normal hand carrying a rifle as a pistol or a normal hand which is "clapped open" to show a gun hidden in the machine's arm.

Cool concept and a nice bit of modelling so far, looks like hes going to be an absolute monster!

Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Cheers,

Dante

Small update:






As you can see I started working on the right leg and left hand. I also added some minor modifications on the left leg. The claw is still veeeery WIP, in other words there is a big chance that it might get totally redone.

I am very tempted to build a few more of these models, namely because I want to build a face whose right side is blown off!

Interesting project.

I like this guy far better than the other ones you made, really shows how you are developing your skill at this type of scratch building.

I´m not sure how he would work for actual =I=Munda games. He would be a huge target, and such..

But that´s for fluff, and the stuff you´ve done up for him so far has been ace. Good job all in all, keep at it!

Large target, similar to how Ogryns work in Necromunda (I remember you could employ an Ogryn bodyguard). However, being tough as nails, faster regenerative capabilities and armour should protect this guy. He was also kind of inspired by the Terminator (that robot from the movie with the same name), very hard to actually destroy. I don't know yet how that will be represented in this guy's stats though.

As for the =][=munda storyline, it will basically be various warbands trying to hunt down the surviving Mezzan, each with their own motives of course.

I do hope that the second machine (if I will make one) will be a step forward compared to this one, right now I'm not so happy about the hand, or at least the pose of the left arm.

Minor update once again:


Survivor's instinct:
Many centuries has Helon been forced to adapt to it's environments. With the destruction of the Mezzan empire this lone machine was forced to improvise in order to survive. Instead of regular maintenance and spare parts Helon had to scrap together whatever he could find to protect it's fragile flesh. At a certain point even some of the organic parts had to be replaced by mechanical alternatives due to damage. Similar to other organic creatures Helon was dependent on it's organs, limbs on the other hand were easily replaced by prosthetics. With most of Helon's body mechanical and armoured the problems of the flesh have diminished...




As you can see I've added a weapon on Helon's shoulder, basically some scary shoulder mounted cannon! I've also started working on the feet but haven't posted pictures of that yet since...well you would laugh if you'd see their state now.

can i get a parts list on that please?

I'm looking at this with interest. There's potential there, yet I'm not quite sold yet. Looking forward to paint.

I'm not 100% happy with the figure yet either, hopefully a (good) paintjob will fix some of those doubts.

However, this is a learning experience for me, I started with scratchbuilding Ork ships for BFG, followed by weird Nurgle like robots (two "smaller" ones and a really chunky one which is still WIP), after that I started experimenting with scratch built weapons, the first generation were pretty easy but the newer stuff has more detail in it. Now with the "Last of the Mezzan" there is even more detail, but I do hope that the next one will be a major improvement over this one. I'd like to make the model a bit smaller next time since this one is still a bit too tall for my taste.

Its certainly an interesting concept. The look at the moment doesn't scream "40k realm" at the moment to me. I think you could maybe do more with the face to change that, at the moment he looks a little too "johhny 5". Something a little more menacing for the eyes etc would really knock him into the techno-gothic feel of 40k.

I aslo agree about making him a bit smaller, looks like hes edging into titan realms at this rate!

Keep up the good stuff though mate, your imagination is tremendous!

Cheers,

Dante

He is more edging into Carnifex and Hive Tyrant town at the moment, but yeah, a smaller one would be more fitting. I'm not sure if that means tearing this one apart and use those parts to make a new one or simply get my hands on new parts. I'm thinking about the latter myself.

However, infantry sized would be too small to work with, so it will probably be Ogryn sized which is like what 5cm?

As for the head, I like the mouth piece, agree on the eyes they're kind of too happy.

Yeah I think orgyn size is about right for this guy. I think you should start a new one from scratch and use this one as a prototype to test your ideas on, see what works and what doesn't.

Looking forward to more mate.

Cheers,

Dante

So yeah, what are the dimensions of an Ogryn? A Space Marine is about 3.2cm, so what about an Ogryn, 5cm?

I started working on a smaller version of the model. It will be carrying the same weapon the large one has but then on it's right arm instead of shoulder. It will also be armed with some sort of stun club similar to the one carried by Col Hammer's Arbitrator

So yeah, the first pics. Sorry for the bad quality the weather isn't that good yet and it's still very much a WIP:

Front:



Back:


Compared to a Dark Eldar model and the other Mezzan:


I want to make a different looking head. Does anybody have some ideas or suggestions?

Much better size for this one, shaping up nicely too. Any ideas yet for the new face? I think you should check the ad mech drawings in the inquisitor rulebook for ideas. The artwork in that book still captivates me everytime i see it!

Cheers,

Dante

I know, the only problem would be on how to make it that small. I like the idea of a small round/oval (humanoid) shaped thing with wires and such coming from where the mouth is supposed to be, either that or some sort of speaker like the first one. Eyes I don't know yet, I probably need to get my hands on some really tiny little balls or whatever since I currently lack the bits to make them. :(

(Malika refuses to spend money on greenstuff or official models, see it as some sort of "economic experiment")

You can get green stuff from a variety of places in larger quantities and much cheaper than GW. It really is worth investing in some mate, would make things alot easier for you.

Cheers,

Dante

No no, that's not it. I could afford it if I actually wanted to get it. This is more of a hitting two birds with one stone kind of thing (that is the right expression right?), on one hand I want to create a cool looking model which might even get cast while on the other hand I want to totally build it from "household materials".

However, I wouldn't really know where else than GW or maybe a model train store to go to in order to get greenstuff.

steve jackson games


www.warehouse23.com/item.html

What's this?

Started working on the arms, the first one is almost finished, all it needs are a few more armoured plates and some of those "straps" to connect a few pieces and the weapon. You can vaguely see some sort of hatch opening up in the arm. I will try to have some sort of battery or energy source come out of there, kind of like an ammo-clip.

www.warehouse23.com/item.html


you can get green stuff from them on this page actually

All I get is this message:

"No item found for stock number ."

www.warehouse23.com/item.html?id=PSI000-23


sorry bout that

Yeah...thanks for that! But currently this is more of an experiment. The idea is basically to create a figure with only goods I could find around the house. I might pick up some putty in the long run but not for this little project.

Cool converting! Hard to believe you're making it all over again smaller, but that's actually probably a really good way to do it (get what you like at a workable size, then do it again... only tinier). Can't wait to see it finished

I started working on the left arm and added some extra goodies with the right arm. Too bad it's too dark to take some decent pictures.

I'm sort of avoiding the head and the close combat weapon at the moment because...well I'm not 100% sure yet how to go there and I don't think I have the right materials at this moment for it. I'll try to get my hands on some other bits and bites whenever I find them, but for now I'm going to finish up the arms and start on the legs.





As you can see some stuff has been added to the shooting arm, a smaller secondary barrel (or perhaps some sort of targetter). I also started working in the left hand, it will be some sort of armoured fist. As you may notice I also added the first articulations of the fingers, two more for each finger and a complete thumb still need to be added.