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A bit of an introduction here, then on to the builds.

I've played several 40k armies over the years, starting in 1996. Since '07 I've been playing Imperial Guard, and had a lot of fun with it. Recently I've gotten enough time and money to finally let me attend GT's, and have loved every minute of it, meeting a lot of great guys, and having a some great competition. My first GT that I attended with any serious intentions/work put into winning was the inaugural NOVA OPEN, and I came in 11th in battle points, and ~4th Overall. Since then I've gone on to win the Conflict GT 2011 (Best Overall) and Saint Valentines Day Massacre 2011 (Best Overall) and IG have been losing their luster for me. Each event left me a bit less thrilled to be running Imperial Guard (the "ugh, IG again? from opponents didn't help ), and when I saw a new GK book would be coming out, I knew it was time to revive them. Grey Knights and Eldar were my dominant 4th edition armies, and seeing the new GK book along with my growing boredom (I still love you IG!) with my current army, and I was sold.

The army is a heavily converted/kit bash army and is nearly finished being built, I'll update the original post as I go along, as well as responding throughout the thread with updates. The army should see it's finished "debut" for the NOVA Open 2011 (or at least that's my personal deadline for finishing everything).

I see this as an opportunity for me to try out new techniques I hadn't previously (resin casting, sculpting, and airbrushing) and improve my modelling side of the hobby. So, let me know what you think, I appreciate all feedback, and thanks for reading!

The beginnings!


Test Models, I settled on the purple scheme




Riflemen Conversion (still WIP)

Arms


Mocked Up on AOBR Dread




GK Purifier Hammers

The box didn't include enough, and I wanted my purifiers to stand out a bit, so, custom it was!



Sculpted Bases to be Cast

For all my previous armies, I've always just used sand/flock/etc and painted it. However, I decided with this army to get resin bases, and after a couple weeks searching, I couldn't find anything that fit what I had in my head quite right, so I decided to try and sculpt my own and cast em up!

Infantry Bases


Terminator Bases



Dreadnought Bases for the Riflemen!
This one will be cast up and used for all three. Water effects will be poured into the bottom cavity



Whew! So that's what I've been up to so far, I'll keep it updating as I go along, thanks for viewing!

Holy boxes! Nice start

Those bases are fantastic!

This looks very exciting! Can't wait to see more

Paint scheme on your Knight looks pretty good. I'm liking the purple robe. Power mace was a nice touch.

Subscribed and awaiting more Grey Knight goodness

Update coming tomorrow when I have a chance to snap some pic's, for now, I'm whipped.

I've managed to make the molds for all of the bases and dread arms, and cast up all of the pieces.

The dread bodies have been finished being converted as well, so it'll be a rather lengthy update!

Looking forward to what you can do with the GK's!

If you're looking for ideas I've got some converted GK's in my thread.

Subbed

So, I'm realizing this is a bit of a massive update...apparently I should post more regularly instead of waiting!

The army is assembled for the most part, and is nearly ready for it's debut at a small local tournament this weekend. If folks are interested I'll post up the list I'm toying around with later on.

So, I'll start with the originals of the pieces I sculpted/created and then forgot to post:

Infantry Bases


Shoulder Pads for Purifiers


Here are the molds made from smooth-on oomoo 30 silicone rubber compound, the details came out really well, although I had some issues with the rivets on the riflemen arms. I cast the pieces using smooth on oomoo 300, which cures in ~10 minutes. It's a great product, but without a pressure/vacuum setup, you're limited in what you can do and how many of the air bubbles you can get out. The worst pieces to cast were definitely the arms, and the main limitation is the size of the hole compared to the depth/extent of the piece covered by the rubber. Bases are super easy to cast bubble free...dreadnought arms, not so much. But, after a lot of fixing and re-riveting , they're good to go.






Edit: I missed shots of the casted pieces!


Now here's some photo's of the infantry all (mostly at least) assembled and attached to their bases. Right now I have 5x GKSS and 2x Purifier, but have more of each in the works. Models are converted using DA robed bodies from GW, and grey knight arms/heads/backpacks/shoulderpads. Purifier's have my casted shoulder pads.

GKSS:


Purifiers:


Group:


Rhinos: (The front one has been primed using my new airbrush and vallejo airbrush primer!)






Next, complete riflemen dreadnoughts! These were a labor of love, and a lot of work. The arm casts came out medicore and with a lot of defects. If I could go back and do it again I'd just converted each arm from scratch like I did the tests, as theres enough air bubbles/etc. that you end up doing far too much putty work. But, live and learn! The arms are magnetized to be able to swap to different setups as well.



The dreadnought was made using blood angel furioso librarian front plate, hacked up, added GK bits, and puttied on to look right. The body is an AOBR dreadnought, and the arms of course are the ones I scratchbuilt.

Family photo's!




Whew. Bit more later tonight as well, but I'm taking a breather for now. Let me know what you think!!

Disclaimer and note on casting: Discussion of legality/etc. always comes up with this, which is why I scratchbuild/sculpt rather than cast existing parts, and I absolutely never sell pieces. If you'll notice the bits used in the conversions, I definitely ended up spending far more than just buying GK kits doing my guys (since I bought GK kits, and DK veteran kits) and I do it purely for the cool/fun factor of converting and modelling. I may have my differences with GW, but I don't try to run that out of business either!

Wow this is awesome! Great conversions and casting!

Riflemen dreads,

Nuff said they look awesome. Makes me want to make some arms to have similar weapons.... now I need Autocannons.....

Wow, those are great looking bases. I am really digging the Triplet Dreads. Sorry to hear about the Autocannon arms not coming out right.

Knightely wrote:Looking forward to what you can do with the GK's!

If you're looking for ideas I've got some converted GK's in my thread.

Thanks! I'll pop on over and check out yours as well (though I think I may have already lurked through it...). The riflemen dreads were born out of a combination of good rules and no models, and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I used the furioso librarian front mainly because I felt just your basic AOBR + arms looked a bit lacking, and didn't fit the inquisition. The riflemen dreads are psykers (to an extent) after all!

XxRVNGRDxX wrote:Wow, those are great looking bases. I am really digging the Triplet Dreads. Sorry to hear about the Autocannon arms not coming out right.

Yea, I was a bit bummed, but it still worked out. After I poured the first cast I realized the issue immediately (I'm new to casting) and should have seen it beforehand. I had to cut slits in the mold just to get the pieces out!

@all

Thanks for all the comments & love for the bases. I've up until now done very little converting except for some vehicles, and typically just stuck to painting models as they come in the kit. Glad I did a good job winging it! I'd encourage anyone who wants to to try their hand at sculpting/casting bases

They're truly pretty easy. I just take a blank base, smooth a thin (1mm ish) layer of greenstuff/procreate over the entire surface, smoothing it with circular rubbing with some vaseline on my finger (minds out of the gutter!). Now that I have a "blank" I just use straight edges, such as the edge of a piece of plasticard, to cut out the design I want, and then clay shapers/an exacto knife to put in the other details. Easy peezy!

The conversions looks really good so far. Makes your army stand out from the rest of the grey knight band wagon.

I really like how your dreads came out. Dunno if I like yours or Avariels with the side by side double barrel shotgun look better. I think the side by side just catches your eye more cause other then las cannons most tl weapons are over and under

Bases totally rock.

I'd be careful with the scenic dread base. I'm sure it would look hella awesome with water effects like a sewer but Avariel brought up the firing over rhinos and modeling for advantage point.

You work on the terminator librarian and inquisitor yet? Bet those will look awesome.

Kirika wrote:The conversions looks really good so far. Makes your army stand out from the rest of the grey knight band wagon.

I really like how your dreads came out. Dunno if I like yours or Avariels with the side by side double barrel shotgun look better. I think the side by side just catches your eye more cause other then las cannons most tl weapons are over and under

Bases totally rock.

I'd be careful with the scenic dread base. I'm sure it would look hella awesome with water effects like a sewer but Avariel brought up the firing over rhinos and modeling for advantage point.

You work on the terminator librarian and inquisitor yet? Bet those will look awesome.

I was a bit worried about the dread base height as well, and I think it was me that got Avariel started on that particular worry. But then I decided: screw it. Everyone is doing it (always a good reason to do something ), and many people just shoulder mount the autocannons/put it on top of a pile of dead enemies/etc. and it ends up taller as well.

Besides that, the base I made is actually not too much taller (1/8th an inch I think?) than the scenic dread base that comes with the kit, so, to heck with it, I want my dreads looking cool. Also when you think about it, I could do that exact same thing by just using old school rhinos, which are much smaller, and perfectly legal.

At the end of the day I figure it'll end up not bothering people much, and they'll appreciate the work, or at least thats my hope.

Thanks for all of the comments! The terminator libby is on hold, and the inquisitor is a WIP as well. I converted/sculpted a replacement for coteaz last night, since I'm considering running him. I'll post up pics as soon as he's more finished, but as of now, I'm proud of him. Definitely more extensive than I've gone previously.

Here's a couple more updates from last night that I got too tired to post:

Converted Servo-Skulls: Used the top of warding staves (had extras, don't plan on using them on models) and putty to create cables/wires.


Converted Death Cult Assassins: The current ones aren't my favorite pose/models, and they're metal. So, I did a bit of putty work, and kitbashed together men-at-arms and GK falchions to create these fellas! The bare head I believe is a maxmini head, but don't quote me on that. It's one of the bits sellers that the warstore carries.




I've still got to converted a couple multi-melta servitors, a couple crusader henchmen, and finish coteaz for this weekends tournament. Blast me for changing my list at the last minute!

Those are some sick looking Death Cultists. What all bits did you use to make them?

InquisitorRoeth wrote:Those are some sick looking Death Cultists. What all bits did you use to make them?

Bits used:

Brettonian men at arms heads (except for the bare head which is an aftermarket bits maker)
Brettonian men at arms bodies
Brettonian men at arms arms/hands with weapons chopped off
PAGK falchions with hand chopped out and glued on either side of the above
Procreate sculpting putty to fill various gaps/transitions

A long overdue update, due to work, life, and the other things that interfere!

Well, the army has taken a pretty drastic change. This is a GT army after all, and after more testing, I just don't see GK's as being very good in a competitive environment. So, it's more of an inquisitorial blend now, and I'm having a lot of fun with the converting! Feel free (and please do!) to ask questions/comment.

First off, my coteaz. He's finished except for figuring out the best way to attach a clear flight stem + bird (razorwing flock form the DE range) to be his cyber eagle. Magnetized at the head, hamer wrist, both shoulders, and torso to give him fun posability, something I like to do with my character models, it also makes them easier to transport.






Next, my Kara, on throne of judgement. This one took about 10-14 hours to plan/build/create. The list of different kits bits used to make this is pretty extensive! Magnetized at the servo arm holding the multimelta, the multimelta, all of the joints of Kara himself, and the waste of the dread. The ports on the front are grenade launchers, since they decided to give him 4 different types of grenades, why not have an easier way to toss em!









Rider removed, some sculpted cushions and wood planking. What rich inquisitors throne would be complete without hardwood?




And taken apart!





Lastly, my bit I made and casted for my Lascannon/Twin Linked plasma razors!

Master Copy



On the Razor



Thanks for viewing, let me know what you think!

Lookin' slick, Target. You anywhere close to getting those things painted?

Wow! Amazing stuff here. Loving how your not doing anything straight from the box!

Mr.Malevolent wrote:Wow! Amazing stuff here. Loving how your not doing anything straight from the box!

Thanks! I don't get a lot of comments, probably because I'm not the best with consistent updates, but I like hearing from folks!

Jordan wrote:Lookin' slick, Target. You anywhere close to getting those things painted?

Not so much I'm afraid, I find myself still bit by the conversion/scratchbuild bug.



BUT...on that front....I present, the first of my two storm raven conversions, inspired by images around the web, my own head, and the chapterhouse kit. It's still slightly WIP as I figure out where to place a smaller turret I made...under the nose or on my spot on top? Love to hear opinions on it!

Also, remember you can click to zoom in and such!

Your conversions rock.

Coteaz seems solid needs a cyber eagle counts as though.

Kara looks cool. Nade launchers so he doesn't have to chuck all the nades is cool. What a lazy bum has a walking throne with cushions and nade launchers so he doesn't have to toss them himself.

Raven looks much better then stock with a longer body and no stupid turret and intake.

imo Multimeltas should be a chin mounted turret to shoot down tough armor like russes and land raiders with las cannons either on the nose or on a less bad looking top turret. Just GW didn't do it that way and you have nose mms and a las cannon turret that has issues shooting at ground targets.

Great conversions! I particularly like the dread arms and the Las-plas solutions, as there isnt a good solution out there (imo). The Big inquisitor is looking pretty great too! Subscribed for sure.

This is making me very sad that I cant get to nova becuase if this is this army your using id love to see it in person plus I had a blast playing you there last time even if i got my but handed to me.

Love the fixed storm raven!

Holy crap, I painted something!

Painted up here is the first Acolyte squad, bolters are leftover from all of the dark angels veteran sprues that I bought for the robed bodies of my grey knights, with icons cut off. Bodies are empire flaggellants, with a tiny bit of IG mixed in for hands/arms at times. Bases are the ones I sculpted and cast, hope you like em!




I have shots of the individuals as well if anyone is interested, and thanks again for the interest and input from everyone. The stormravens will be finished being built soon and I'll take pics of the final results with rivets/etc.!

Acolytes look awesome. Great conversions. If you could put up the individuals that would rock.

Nice use of the flagellant bodies, they really do looking like wild-men zealots

targetawg wrote:BUT...on that front....I present, the first of my two storm raven conversions, inspired by images around the web, my own head, and the chapterhouse kit. It's still slightly WIP as I figure out where to place a smaller turret I made...under the nose or on my spot on top? Love to hear opinions on it!

Also, remember you can click to zoom in and such!

yo have a pic of the inside!?

Really like your conversions. Would like to see them painted

About the turret: this is the only thing i don't like about the storm raven. i prefer a clean body

Time for a long, long, long overdue update! I've been very remiss posting updates/WIP photos, mostly due to work/life commitments, and as of this past Monday I finally had time to start painting.

I sat down, looked at what I had to do for Nova (which was in 10 days) and wanted to run away screaming. Instead, here's the progress I've made this week!

First, this morning I sat down and decided to try and attempt an airbrush pw pattern after looking at photos in the codex. The purple came out very black in the photo, however it's purple in person, fitting with the colors on the rest of the army. I think it came out alright, and I'll be trying to do this for the rest of the models that need it.




Next, the WIP Kara Throne of Judgement that I scratch built using dread parts, plasticard, greenstuff, and tons of other random bits. See if you can spot all the various sources!



Now for some finished items! Razors, Dreads, and Acolytes! I've got details left to do on them to keep me busy if I finish early, but these are "done" enough for the time being. Also check out the casted dread bases, I'm really proud of how these turned out once painted Water effects to be added in the next day or two!













And now, my pride and joy and entry for single model at NOVA...my custom Coteaz! 10 bonus points in my heart if you can figure out what I made the actual hammer from






Thanks for looking! Hope some of you still follow this, and sorry for the long time before an update!