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Loving the stuff you have going on here Kraut. Those traitor guard are absolutely fantastic, the Khorne champion deserves the spotlight as commander more-so than Lord Urash. Maybe a 'rebellion' is in the works? lovely work mate, please do keep on trucking.

I kind of see what you mean about the Warshrine. Its individual parts (especially the icon, the altar, and the skull on the front) are excellent, but the full model is a bit odd. Could have been a lot worse, and worth picking up for conversion opportunities alone mind you. How about combining the Warshrine and a Land Raider into a mobile monument to Khorne?

Now that's the good stuff! I totally dig the cultist conversions, they're simple, but very tasteful and fitting. My favourite part is the leader's shotgun which fits there much better than on the commissar dude. Nothing says 'cultist' better than a robed lunatic with a pump-action redneck shotgun! And I can't help thinking of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VocmomcgMsY
The classic!

The rest is good, gratz on getting the OOP LotD guy - been looking for him as well. I'd say you should make a Skull Champion out of him, but a good idea would be doing that through a paintjob, not butching any of original detail, maybe only giving him a Chaos backpack. Skulls, bones and flames would never look wrong on a Khorne character...

And on the spawn guy... my only complaint is that his arms are too thick compared to the body. and especially the legs. Add some meath there, and he'll be perfect!

Regarding FB minis, these are nearly my thoughts... although I have wicked plans for using Valkia as a Living Saint proxy for my Sisters of Salughter As for the warshrine, while expensive and too ornate for Khorne, I totally see it being mounted upon a Land Raider or maybe even Defiler chassis, and those mutants look like ready chaos spawns to me...

Thanks, guys!

@ crimsonfist832: Hmm, the Ruinous Powers are notoriously fickle, so you never know In all honesty, I'll probably build quite a few more champions and commanders for my Traitors, so Urash can never feel safe

@ Squigsquasher: Indeed, that would seem like a pretty good idea. Alas, I am less than thrilled by the LR model in the first place, so it's probably the last position on my shopping list atm...

@ DRommel: Thanks, mate! Indeed, the shotgun should have been on the zealot guy in the first place! As for the mutants that come with the warshrine kit, take a look at Biohazard's thread : He has turned them into spawn, and the result is excellent!

Since the first WIP shots of my converted Chaos Spawn drew some rather positive comments, today I would like to show you the next steps in the model’s (d)evolution.

So where did we leave off last time? Like I previously told you, the Vargheist/Crypt Horror kit has looked very interesting to me for quite some time now. I only lacked a true idea of what to convert from it. But then, the new codex re-established Chaos Spawn as a viable unit choice once again — just what I had been waiting for!

While I think the Chaos Spawn kit has quite a lot of potential, all the over the top mutations didn’t really gel with my army background. So I went for something different. As you may know, my army’s fluff states that the remnants of the World Eaters’ 4th assault company are trying hard to keep the madness that has taken the rest of the legion at bay (which is, of course, a losing battle). Towards that end, those legionaries showing signs of severe physical or mental corruption are singled out by the commanding officers and form the conpany’s vanguard. Called “the Lost Brethren”, these lost souls get one final chance to die in a blaze of glory at the forefront of the battle, before their corruption can overwhelm them (and become a danger for the rest of the company). They have to die, so that the company may endure. But what about those battle brothers who survive, even through all the corruption and slaughter? What would such a creature end up looking like?

Using parts from the Vargheist kit, some WFB Minotaur arms and a couple of additional bitz, I tried to find out.



You already know this picture: This is where I ended up after some fooling around with the parts and some yellow tac. While the Minotaur arms initially seemed rather malproportioned in contrast with the lean Vargheist body, I couldn’t help but feel that this was still the right direction. After all, one of the Lost Brethren would probably devolve even further as time went by, and the qualities that made him strong in the first place would become even more pronounced. I was somehow reminded of the Vampires’ evolution in the Legacy of Kain Series (Dumah, anyone?) while building this guy, to tell you the truth…

Anyway, I liked the basic build of the model well enough, so I added some additional detail:







First of all, the joints between the Minotaur arms and Vargheist torso were built up and blended in with GS. I also added leftover chains and various skulls from different kits to the model. The back of the head was covered in cabling to show the “Butcher’s Nails” the legionnaire had been outfitted with during his days as a battle brother. Again, the cabling was blended in using more GS.



As you can see above, I also added a “Triumph Rope” to the model’s torso, enforcing the impression that this hulking monstrosity was once a honoured member of the 12th Astartes legion and had a string of triumphs to show for it.



All in all, I am very pleased with the conversion: While the proportions may be a little cartoony, I think the model really looks like a devolved Astartes.

When painting the model, I went for the same, pale skin tones I used from the rest of my World Eaters. In addition to that, the model’s shoulderpads were painted in red and bronze to further tie it in with the rest of the force. And while I am usually hesitant to paint blood on the weapons of my models, I made an exception here, since I felt that the Forsaken are very unlikely to clean their weapons between battles. The blood was painted using Tamiya Clear Red.

Here’s the finished test model:













I have to admit that I am not yet 100% happy with the paintjob: I have never used this particular skin tone on such a large scale before, so the result may need some tweaks (as well as some getting used-to). But all in all, I think the model makes for a rather convincing (and pretty original) chaos spawn. The one problem I can see with this conversion is that the other two Vargheist bodies have poses that are quite a bit less interesting and pretty static. So it remains to be seen whether the next two models will end up looking cool enough.

In any case, though, I am prepared to call this test model a success: It’s a hulking, terrifying beast, it looks like it could have (d)evolved from a regular World Eater, and it’s a pretty original take on the whole spawn concept, don’t you think?

All that remained was to think of a suitable background for this poor lost soul:



The Forsaken

There are those individuals among the 4th assault company’s Lost Brethren whose fall has taken them even further. It is the purpose of the Lost to die, so that the company may endure. Their ferocious vanguard assaults often end with all the legionaries wiped out, killed in a last blaze of glory, their last chance at an honourable death.

But there are those whose combat prowess is far too great, even burdened with mutation and insanity. Or those whose corruption is the very thing that made them more resilient. Those legionaries live through the ordeal that was meant to kill them, devolving further and further into mere beasts. They become The Forsaken.

The Forsaken are kept in the fighting pits, located in the bowels of the company’s battleships. Legionaries test their power against them on the Hot Dust, giving these feral beasts a taste of the gladiatorial lifestyle that once defined them and in turn facing the company’s daemons and their own fate, should they give in to the madness.

It is only under the most dire circumstances that the Forsaken will be allowed to participate in battle, for they cannot be controlled, and their deadliness makes them as much of a danger to their allies as to the company’s foes.



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

Very very cool.

He looks really mean! I like what you did here!

Looking fantastic with some paint on it buddy. Im sure the other guys can be made to look as if they are bellowing in rage rather than charging with some clever posing of arms etc

Fantastic, KS. I love the Minotaur arms on this guy.

Can you sort out a size comparison with the new spawn mate? I'm interested to see the scale of the Vargheist models as possible DP.

Cheers, guys! Glad you like him!

Biohazard wrote:Can you sort out a size comparison with the new spawn mate? I'm interested to see the scale of the Vargheist models as possible DP.

Of course, mate! Here's a couple of scale comparison shots; one with regular infantry, one with the big guys:





As you can see, the Forsaken is rather imposing, coming in between a Terminator and a Dreadnought. I imagine the model would be quite a bit smaller than a Daemon Prince, though.
Hope this helps!

Biohazard wrote:Im sure the other guys can be made to look as if they are bellowing in rage rather than charging with some clever posing of arms etc

That's a brilliant idea, buddy! Just the spark of inspiration I was looking for! Had to do a (very early) mockup right away!





C&C always welcome!

has more of a 'mutant' feel to it. Will he get shoulderpads?

I think the arms should be raised a bit and I'm not a fan of the spikes on the back, otherwise it's looking good!

 Meade wrote:
has more of a 'mutant' feel to it. Will he get shoulderpads?

Well, of course this is a very early build to try out the pose, so I'll still have to add the "Butcher's Nails", "Triumph Rope" and additional bitz. As for shoulder pads: Yes, I'll either use Minotaur arms - which are armored to begin with - again or I'll add some Terminator shoulderpads to the model to show how this guy wore World Eaters' power armour at one point.

He is huge !! nice one mate.

You might want to consider roatating his arms backwards a bit, it'll make him look like he's bellowing, as opposed to passively standing there gurning.

This is such an awesome conversion though man, I knew when I saw the crypt horrors that there'd be some great conversions out there. I'd say keep the spine, it's one of my favorite parts of the crypt horror box, and it lends itself to the image of a berserker roiding out, whilst keeping that mutant horror of a spawn.

I love the idea of them having scraps of armour they used to wear.

I'm sure you know by now that this is one of my favorite blogs, and I love seeing every update!

(My fav. might be your Inq 28 blog. )

Love it thank you, I had maybe thought of using the actual DP model as my Greater Deamon and using the Vargheist for DP. I just feel that Greater Daemon should be a bit bigger than an ascended mortal. I may pick the kit up even if its only for the cool bits it contains.

The new guys looking good so far as well, exactly the kind of pose I was suggesting. Cant wait to see him with all his bits and pieces added.

Your work is amazing!!! I've really enjoyed going through this blog. Youi have some really original ideas! Keep it up

I really like these new spawn. The contrast between the lithe legs and huge, powerful arms really makes them stand out and look chaos-y/wrong. Great job once again sir.

Your work is amazing man, and I enjoyed going through your thread! A total inspiration!

Thanks a lot, guys! I am glad that you like the model(s)!

@ Biohazard: That idea was simply brilliant, buddy! Thanks again!

@ ghosty: Whoa, I am really flattered mate! Indeed, there is nothing like browsing through a great plog or two to get your creative juices flowing, and I am honoured that you should consider my thread to be among those inspiring ones!

Right, after Biohazard pointed me in the right direction RE: the spawn's pose, I couldn't help myself: I had to do more work on the other two models in the squad. A couple of hours and some lumps of GS later, I had this:







This guy's proportions make him look rather apelike, but I think it still works. I chose his weapon to reflect his former, gladiatorial lifestyle.

I also did some more work on the bellowing one:







I really couldn't be any more pleased with this guy's pose! It really screams "RAGE!" to me!

As you can see, both models received Butcher's Nails and a Triumph Rope. And while the GS on these may need some smoothing over here and there, I am rather pleased with the squad overall:



C&C always welcome!

These guys work so much better than the first. Their poses are filled with anger and are ready to butcher the foes of the XIIth. Looking forward to seeing some paint on them.

Very nice work! You captured the grotesque and unnatural look of the spawn without going over the top with mutations. They look fittingly Khornate!

Thanks a lot, brothers I am kind of fond of them atm, to tell you the truth.

Those spawn conversions are inspired!

R

Freaking awesome, they certainly look mean.

D

They look awesome, and mean.

Haven't checked in for a while, but just caught up (and looked through the whole thread again )
Your work never fails to impress! High standard all round.

Again, thanks a lot, people!

I've just noticed you mentioned the Legacy of Kain series. I love that series of games, Lord Malek Demios is even named after one of them. I'd initially wanted to name him Malek Kain but that name was already taken by Teethgrinder