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Weird and wonderful

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Weird and wonderful

Thanks inmygravenimage, I figured you'd be someone who appreciates something creepy yet colorful. The Pursuer reminds me quite a bit of the Lady of Anguish, the butterfly demon lady, I painted years ago.

Next up for ATO is this guy, the Labyrinthauros. He's that mini I was mentioning a while back that I had to exercise my conversion skills on since the design they ended up going with is just so terrible.
I included one pic of the original version so you can see what I mean. It's basically just a simple head swap, and I sculpted a new tail instead of whatever in god's name was going on with his butt. Personally I think it looks like an outrageous case of hemorrhoids.
Technically he's supposed to be a bull because he lives in Crete like the minotaur instead of a rhino, but it was the most suitable head I had and the sizing was perfect.
I posted my version in the game's facebook group, and pretty much everyone agreed that the stock one is their least favorite mini in the game. It was actually about a dozen people which is the most comments I've ever gotten on a single post.

With him done that just leaves a few more upgraded titans and one more monster from the first third of ATO to go, but that one is gigantic so it might take a while.
Unfortunately I also have to get through the 60+ page rulebook before I can continue playing. The tutorial rules I know just covered the basics.

I think you're being far too hard on your conversion skills, and that's a massive improvement on the original mechaoctoblob.

Definitely, it's way more clear, the original is hard to understand what you're looking at.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I think you're being far too hard on your conversion skills, and that's a massive improvement on the original mechaoctoblob.

Thanks for the vote of confidence inmygravenimage.
I am actually quite proud of my conversions. A few of my favorite models I've worked on are conversions, but I just meant that I'm a bit rusty because I haven't had to do any for so long so I wasn't going for anything that advanced.

 Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:
Definitely, it's way more clear, the original is hard to understand what you're looking at.

I'm glad you both see why the original design was in need of fixing, and that you consider my take on him to be an improvement.

I'm a bit disappointed in myself that it has been an entire month since I have really painted at all. I have undercoated a couple things, but my absence was partly because my neck has been bugging me again lately.
I managed to both start and finish this guy today though.
Coming out of left field, it's a Grazer from my Horizon Zero Dawn game which I haven't touched in almost a year. It's the only enemy from the base game which I had yet to work on. I still have a handful of doubles to left to do, but I would like to move on to at least one of its many expansions at some point.

I just have a short update for you all today.
I have actually been pretty productive this week, but it's all been painting doubles for the Horizon enemies I've already established.
Nevertheless, I thought it was worth showing off one of the biggest group photos I've ever done. This is the entire core box, except for a second Sawtooth and Shellwalker (the big ones).

I just finished facing off against them in the base campaign, but I was doing so well that I decided to really test my loadout against one of the expansions, the Rockbreaker.
For those viewers who aren't familiar with the video game, it's basically a giant mole with a saw blade mouth that burrows deep underground in order to pop out and strike you unawares. It's one of 3 expansions I have where the boss is so big that he takes up 4 whole spaces on the board instead of just 1.
I haven't started painting him yet, but I did manage to win the game against him. It was a slobber knocker, but both my characters survived with just a few hp left.

So now I'm close enough to being done with the core box that I intend to finally move on to painting one of my expansions.

Impressive work indeed buddy. I need to get back to Forbidden Fortress, but board game minis always seem to slip to the back.of the queue for some reason.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Impressive work indeed buddy. I need to get back to Forbidden Fortress, but board game minis always seem to slip to the back.of the queue for some reason.

Thanks a lot friend, I'm the exact opposite. Even though I really like a lot of the Warhammer minis I have in my backlog of shame, I just can't bring myself to work on them for the most part.

I managed to squeeze in one more mini for Horizon before another board gaming day with friends. This is the first thing from one of the many expansions that I've tackled, the Carja Noble. I think she turned out better than expected.

I was going to say screw it and just give up on dotting the pupils for this game, but for once I got it perfect on the first try!

I don't think I've included a normal sized model to illustrate just how tiny the scale is on the human characters before, but you can see my point with the Possessed Marine.

I also just received one of the few expansions I was still missing for it today. It's called the Stormbird, and while its body isn't that big it has a MASSIVE wingspan to the point it covers pretty much the whole battlefield.
I actually had to get a replacement for it because the first one came with a broken leg. It's actually pretty common with that kit, but thankfully the new is fine.
I don't know when I'll get to paint it, like so many things, but it should look very imposing once the time comes.

She looks cracking, and can't wait to see the giant bird of doom.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
She looks cracking, and can't wait to see the giant bird of doom.

Thanks again, and glad to hear I've piqued your interest with the Stormbird, but I've got to get through at least a couple other expansions before I go forward with that one.

With that in mind, here's the first enemy from the Soldiers of the Sun expansion I started in the previous post, the first of 4 Broadheads.
It's kind of similar to the horse-like Striders, but I like the result.
Once I get through those it's on to the larger Tramplers, and then the boss of the expansion, the Behemoth. He's probably my second or 3rd most favorite model in the whole game so hopefully he will tide you over until I can get to that Stormbird.

I've been looking forward to this update.
I was intending to work my way up from smallest to largest enemies for this expansion, but I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to paint the bison-like Tramplers so I decided to skip past them for now.

So that means after 3 days of working on him I get to finally unveil the Behemoth. I've already mentioned how partial I am to this enemy design, and I think I managed to do him justice.
As usual I noticed the part I forgot about (the connective bits on his front legs) just after taking the photos, but he's 98% done.

Now if I can figure out the Tramplers, and maybe get around to the other expansion character class, I really think it's getting time to switch to a different project for a while.
Even though I still have a whole bunch of other Horizon expansions to get to down the line, I feel much better about my investment now that I've made a fair amount of headway. When I was posting my work on the game's facebook group I even happened to notice that there is currently a small window to get the other kickstarter exclusive expansion that I'm missing, the Heart of the Nora.
It's only 3 models, but the Corruptors are really cool and the other one is a massive spider tank which is basically the final boss of the videogame.

As a side note my copy of Vampire the Masquerade Chapter is inching its way ever closer to delivery. It should already be at the US distribution hub so maybe I'll have it by this time next month.

That there is one big bonkers beast. Love the high contrast shading and get real Zord vibes. Also, VTM! ah takes me back to being a gothy teenage nerd...

 inmygravenimage wrote:
That there is one big bonkers beast. Love the high contrast shading and get real Zord vibes. Also, VTM! ah takes me back to being a gothy teenage nerd...

I'm happy to hear that he is appealing in your opinion as well.
I take it you're referencing the Zords from the Power Rangers. I only watched them in my youth, but I still have nostalgia towards them.
I was always more of a metalhead than goth per se, but VTM Chapters will most likely be a really fun time. It's a bit intimidating trying to understand all the background and deep lore in such an established universe.

It has taken a bit longer than usual to finish my first Trampler since my area went through the first heat wave of this year, but nevertheless here is my take on him.

If I paint the 2nd Trampler I should take another photo for the complete Soldiers of the Sun group shot.
There is also one other character class to paint for this expansion, but I may leave it for quite a while since a lot of his abilities pertain to the competitive game mode, and I only really play co-op.

As for my next project, I have undercoated one of the few 3d prints I ordered off Etsy for a complete change of pace.
I don't know how well it will go, but it's a 75mm version of Leeloo from the Fifth Element, which is debatably my #1 favorite movie from my childhood.

I was indeed referenced the Power Rangers. I'm looking forward to Leelo, I did a hover-taxi for my Judge Dredd board with 5th Element references

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I was indeed referenced the Power Rangers. I'm looking forward to Leelo, I did a hover-taxi for my Judge Dredd board with 5th Element references

I'm really liking that Fifth Element style space cab, but I'm sorry to say I once again completely changed my mind regarding what to work on. I did undercoat my Leeloo, but then I noticed I should have really sanded some of the marks where there must have been resin supports from printing. Also I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to tackle her skin and face, but hopefully this update will suffice for now.

I said it before, but I swear after this I'm taking a break from Horizon models. Nevertheless I'm proud to unveil my biggest project of 2023, so far anyway . It's the sandworm-like Rockbreaker mega boss I mentioned earlier.
You can see how massive he is from the hunter mini used for scale, and that is just the portion of his body that is above ground.
Considering he only took me 5 or 6 days to paint, I like the results. I also painted another Sawtooth in the meantime, but that's not really worth posting.
I have however included a group shot of the Soldiers of the Sun expansion as promised now that it is more or less complete.

One thing I can never promise is that I will know for sure what mini I will actually complete next, but with Leeloo left on the sidelines for now I have been feeling like getting back into painting a little 40k for the first time since 2020 .

This is partly because I was lured in by the new Vashtorr the Arkifane model that I just happened to stumble on, and my FLGS only had one left so I couldn't resist picking him up. I like the idea of a Chaos demigod that specializes in daemon engines, and most of my tanks are brimming with daemonic mutations so I think he will mesh well with my current forces.
I also bought a box of Jakhals in order to get free shipping so I should really work on something to justify the expenditure.

That's bonkers huge! Love it. And never apologise for hobby adhd. Hey look, a squirrel!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
That's bonkers huge! Love it. And never apologise for hobby adhd. Hey look, a squirrel!

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a short attention span, and that you enjoyed the Rockbreaker as anticipated.

I know you said that you like all my board game projects, but I think you'll also enjoy seeing a bit of a return to form for me. I've finally come back with some progress on the Death Guard that is responsible for me starting this thread in the first place.

I can't say how long this burst of interest will last, but I'd say today has been fairly productive. In addition to assembling a squad of Plague Marines, the first of the newer sculpts for me, I decided to ease back into it by attempting to touch up some of my past paintjobs that I was never pleased with.

First up is my Chaos Terminator Lord for which I had made a very poor color choice for his cape. It looks a lot better now that it's purple instead of an out of place aqua. I changed the original post featuring him way back on page 1, but here are a few shots so you don't have to look for him.

I like the result, but obviously that isn't an extensive operation so I moved on to one of my newer Plaguebearers - the Poxbringer.
I had completed 6 before, but despite my best efforts at the time they all came out way too bright for my liking so they really didn't fit in with my old metal ones.

This is a complete redo on all the flesh. I have included a couple shots of the previous version for reference. Hopefully you agree that it is an improvement.

All looks very sticky. Papa Bless!

I have to agree that the cape looks better this way, mainly because I enjoy the classic DG scheme of pale green with some bronze trim and purple cloth.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
All looks very sticky. Papa Bless!

Thanks, although part of that might have been a bit too much brush on 'ardcoat. Nevertheless, I have more in store for fellow devotees of Papa Nurgle.

 FoxHybrid wrote:
I have to agree that the cape looks better this way, mainly because I enjoy the classic DG scheme of pale green with some bronze trim and purple cloth.

Hi FoxHybrid, I see you must be a newcomer to DakkaDakka so it's nice to see something of mine make an impression. I'm glad I made the right choice.

I have a slightly bigger update to my continuation of my Death Guard today so I hope you all enjoy.
First off here is a preview of what I have coming down the pipe. I've been doing a LOT of assembly, although my copy of the Witcher: Old World is set to arrive any day now to compete with my attention.
I have Vashtorr the Arkifane built enough for priming, a squad of mono-pose plague marines, and a giant squad of warp talons ( or 2 small squads).
It's a bit hard to tell at such a distance, but the Warp Talons all have Nurgle heads and shoulder pads. They will also all have wings instead of jump packs to reinforce the theme of possession and mutations in my army.

In addition, not pictured here I have a squad of 10 Daemonettes and half my Jakhals built. I love how the latter contains some female Jakhals, but I hate how they basically all have male heads so I chose to give the women Daemonette heads as well. They look much better that way.


Next up is a friend for that one Gellerpox Infected Spawn I painted ages ago, I think he was getting lonely .
I had posted him earlier, but contrary to my recent darkening down repainting of the Poxbringer this Spawn came out TOO dark, especially compared to the first one. This is him after the touchups.
It's amazing what another simple head swap can achieve.
I also sculpted some more of the little tentacles that were coming out of the old mouth. Maybe I should have just gotten rid of them, but I figured they were kind of a tentacle beard, maybe?

Last for today is a work in progress I made from my least favorite Gellerpox, and I'm having fun getting to do some more converting. These were all parts I had planned for different spawn based on minotaur bodies, but that never really panned out so I'm happy to still make use of them.

I told you there is a lot in store for the future, if the summer heat doesn't soon become stifling.

Gruesome. Grizzly. Love it. Good head swaps, too.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Gruesome. Grizzly. Love it. Good head swaps, too.

Much appreciated friend, I updated the paintjob on the Spawn so check out the updated version in the previous post if you have time.

I also took out the first couple rebased Possessed from before since I wanted to group them all together now that whole squad is done again.
I would have had them done much sooner, but just as I predicted another heat wave came, and my roommates are always badgering me about getting any painting done because my painting lamp makes a lot of heat. Hopefully once we put in an air conditioner or two they will get off my back about it so I don't have come to completely halt my progress for a quarter of the year .

Nevertheless, I think they look pretty good altogether with the new bases. Maybe I should lighten up the blue in the ghostly face shoulders, but it's good enough for now.

I'm back already with the 3rd Spawn/Gellerpox Infected. There is a fourth one, but I don't know when I'll get to it.

For now here are a couple group shots of the unit. I never noticed how short the one on the left is by comparison.
The most recent one looks less shiny than the others since I have actually gone back to using a gloss varnish for this unit so he has yet to get his.
Let me know what you think of them.

I also have already started and halfway completed Vashtorr the Arkifane so hopefully I'll have him done to show in a few days.
In addition, I have recently found some cool bits online to make some noise marines with.
I still have yet to paint the GW one with the guitar, but he's on my list.

Disgusting. I love it! I really like how you painted the bits of muscle, mainly on the latest spawn’s arm, it makes the model feel grisly, like it has already sloughed off some of its skin.

I love the really visceral mix of colours. Excellent as ever.

 FoxHybrid wrote:
Disgusting. I love it! I really like how you painted the bits of muscle, mainly on the latest spawn’s arm, it makes the model feel grisly, like it has already sloughed off some of its skin.

I appreciate you saying so since painting skin is always the part that gives the most trouble, and also faces. It's always a balancing act between having too much or too little shadow. Everything else seems pretty simple by comparison. It's nice to see you coming back for more btw.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I love the really visceral mix of colours. Excellent as ever.

Thanks, as ever I always value having you in my corner, and visceral is a cool way of describing it.

Hopefully you guys will also like the results of today's project, my new Vashtorr the Arkifane.
It feels good to have something bigger for 40k finished, although the fact that he is a bit spindly helped. There are a lot of metallic areas so I used almost every variation I have.
I didn't really like the official paint scheme of yellowish gold armor so I went for a slight variation of my normal Nurgle armor to tie him in with everything else.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooh slimy. Spiky. Love the colour Palette.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Oooooooooooooooooooooooh slimy. Spiky. Love the colour Palette.

I think he's actually less slimy than a lot of my stuff. I only used one ink on him, waywatcher green. I still have a little bit left from before it was discontinued, but I recently discovered a recipe to mix more at some point. Anyway, I'm pleased that you like the way he turned out. I figured since he is technically an undivided demigod, a slightly different skin tone was appropriate.

Vashtorr might be my last 40k model for a while though because I'm elated to say my copy of The Witcher: Old World finally arrived yesterday, and I'm already making progress.
Usually I stop painting for the day once I finish anything, but today went so well that I managed 2, and started a 3rd.

I figured the best place to start is with the very first enemy Geralt fights in the Witcher 3, a ghoul.
In the game they have mostly greyish skin, but I wanted to go for a slightly more colorful approach. There is a bit of grey here and there though.

Following closely behind the ghoul comes a more unique monster, a Nekker. They're pretty scrawny and weak individually, but they always come in a pack in the video game.
Is there anyone else here that is a fellow fan of the books/games/Netflix show?

My progress will likely take a hit soon since it looks like the entire next week is going to be blistering here, but hopefully I can squeeze out another couple tomorrow.

It seems my unveiling of the first Witcher monsters came and went without notice, but maybe this next update will prove otherwise since I think I'm starting to get stuck into some of the slightly cooler enemy designs.

Yesterday was another productive day where I was able to finish multiple minis so without further ado here is the second enemy encountered from the Witcher 3 after the ghoul, the ubiquitous drowner.
They dwell around water and the coasts to attack any passerby. The background mentions that it is believed that they are reanimated drowned men, but at the same time waves it off as a myth.

Keeping with the aquatic theme comes the first of 2 varieties of "Hag", the water hag, to accompany him. Like the drowners, they obviously like to hang around in swampy areas, but they are definitely a bit of a step up in power.
The other 3 monsters I have unveiled so far always attack in numbers, whereas hags can put up a fight by themselves if they have to.
I tried to make her a bit of a purple blue to differentiate from the water, which I think turned out well.

I've got one more surprise up my sleeve for tomorrow so stay tuned.

I’ve never played any of the Witcher games, which is part of the reason why I didn’t comment on your latest post, but I will say, I love your basing. The base of the water hag is just so cool, I love the texture on the edges of it.