EdT

These are wonderfully archetypal Astartes. Particulsrly love the Celestial Lion and his Great Cannon belt buckle.

Truly wonderful stuff. They really do look like they’ve stepped right off the pages of one of the FW books. I particularly love the lodge tokens.

Brilliant use of the scenary kit there for the ursus claw- looks great!

Just to say in case people are interested that I'm currently working on a homage to Abakhol, one of the classic Horus Heresy CCG paintings, over here - I hope to post the finished version in this thread in time!

If you want an Ursus Claw that still allows for close combat work, how about replacing the carapace-mounted Melta with the harpoon gun from the House Orlock kit? The scale seems like it would work ok, it’s a great bit, and it would be quite fluffy in line with the Armiger’s role as a hound that flushes out and snares the prey. From a Khornate perspective I also love the idea of the smaller walkers bringing the prey down and itching to get in there and make the kill if they can, retreating with their (not perhaps entirely metaphorical) tails between their legs once the alpha knight turns up, and then sneaking in for a feed on what’s left once the big guy has had its fill.

...so it's been a while since I posted here! Sorry. Life's been busy and while I have made progress with this project, I haven't really had anything sufficiently interesting to post in one go about. There will be more soon- the spire base has progressed in a series of ways and there's even a little paint on part of it- but for the time being, I have a new model for Lord Catallus' retinue to show you. This is Magister Ignaz Schabel, itinerant chiurgeon and personal physician to Lord Catallus since the attempt on his life. Schabel came with hugely impressive credentials, but sufficiently detailed verification of them would prove that they are false and the real Schnabel died several years previously. Whether this is a fact known by House Catallus or not remains unclear; what is indisputable is that under his care, Lord Catallus has made a significant recovery and has a much better quality of life than before. His exact tratment is a closely guarded secret, however. As you can see I went for the plague doctor look, which I think is wonderfully grimdark. The route to get there was pretty torturous; I went through about three iterations, none of which I liked, and only hit on the combination of parts relatively late on. Then it took me forever to hit on a way to do that hat that satisfied me. But I got there in the end! I also gave him a little cherubic assistant who carries his doctor's bag. More soon hopefully.

Just posted my entry in the other thread...

So here’s my entry! It’s my attempt the reconcile some of the slightly older fluff about very individual, barbaric and intimidating Skitarii tribunes in books like Graham McNeil’s “Of Mars” trilogy with the highly impersonal and regimented Codex portrayal the force is given, as well as giving Skitarii a much-needed HQ unit. Skitarii Spatharios When the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus go to war, the faceless marching columns of the Skitatii are often preceded by terrifying four-armed constructs of flesh and metal, draped in grisly trophies and barbaric furs to imitate the Thark of ancient Martian myth. These fearsome individuals are the Spatharoi or “Masters of Skitarii”, the Red Priesthood’s chosen instrument of intimidation. Each Spatharios is carefully engineered by the Magii to evince maximum psychological impact, a careful calibration of threat postures, dymantic theory and violent potential. Their intimidating appearance is matched by their physical strength, skill at arms and the ability to coordinate allied forces on a tactical level, making each one a considerable military asset. The Spatharoi have two primary functions. The first is diplomatic, acting as bodyguard and protector to emissaries sent out by Forge Worlds as a token of the Synod’s support and an implicit demonstration of the Omnissiah’s potential wrath. Their other function is on the battlefield, where a Spatharios can unleash its full killing potential at the head of a War Cohort or Maniple of Skitarii. Spatharoii have been furnished with the computational ability to coordinate tactical manoeuvres and can continue this analytical behaviour even as they launch frenzied close quarter attacks on enemy positions and high value targets. However, the real value of a Spatharios is more subtle. Although they pose as the commanders of Skitarii formations and can even serve as such if required, they are in truth no more autonomous or militarily vital than any other Skitarius. An enemy might commit huge resources to assassinate a Spatharios or assume that their presence in the vanguard of an assault makes the target the Machine Cult’s primary objective; Magii safely secured in distant underground bunkers or in orbit have won uncounted conflicts by utilising such misdirection. Pictured below is Spatharios Unit 23-7 from the Legiones Skitarii of Forge World Phaeton, presently detached for protection duty and >error92462: Classified< in the service of Archmandrite Vikram, Comptroller Locum of the mining colony of Khamove Tertius. Here’s a bitz breakdown. Head- FW Khorne Berzerker with greenstuff hair. Torso and (upper set of) arms- AoS Darkoath Chieftain, with technological additions from various kits including Electropriests, FW Iron Tyrant terminators and Necromunda. Lower arms- FW Scylla Guardian automata Main weapon- FW Archmagos Draykavac with Zinge flexible chain weapon blade, sicaran flechette gun muzzle, and a variety of watch parts on the bottom to extend the shaft and shift the grip. Upper arm left hand- Darkoath Chieftain with hanging head from a Lizardman kit. Lower arm left hand- Techpriest bionic hand with Necromunda Goliath combi-weapon. Legs- Necron Triarch Praetorian with Darkoath Chieftain decorations on the shins and a Goliath bum-plate. Backpack- Khorne Skullreaper bannerpole with electropriest toppers, plus an electropriest powerpack.

I, Edt, undertake the Warlords Challenge to build Spatharios Unit 23-7 from the Macroclade Prime of Forge World Phaeton’s Legiones Skitarii by March 2nd 2018.

Thanks! Hopefully my last post plus this one should give a real sense of where I'm going with this base. So this morning was a lovely sunny one, and as a result I got my paints out to do some experimenting. I think previously i've mentioned how I want the Underhive base and the Spire base to be drawn together through the use of the same colour scheme- in the case of the underhive base it's rust and peeling teal paint, and to me the posh equivalent of that is copper and some form of semi-precious blue-green stone. I figured I should try out the method I suspected would get me there, so I took some plasticard and made a four-panelled section, giving me two squares to try out slightly different methods for both the copper and the stone. Here's what I ended up with... I'm pleased with how they turned out, especially the slightly oxidised copper- I didn't want to go down the slightly hackneyed verdigris route, although I will add a little here and there on the final model. This, plus the rust on the underhive base, have really made me appreciate the joy of stippling! There's still a long way to go before I can actually add this effect to the model, but it's nice to know that I have a recipe to do so when I get there.

Thanks all. A few things to show today. Firstly, I made some progress on the spire base. I've continued adding pipes and some other details to the area around the door, and started the process of making feeling a little more 'lived in' with purity seals and so on. When it's attached to the base proper, I'll be doing a lot more. I also did the bit job of adding the walls on. This involved two sheets of plasticards, a lot of glue and quite a few rubber bands! It looks ok in the photo but it's rather wonky in real life- I may have to do some remedial cutting and reshaping, if not take one of the sheets off and redo it. Still, when the back wall went on it began to look rather more finished then previously... I have one other bit of progress to show; some creepy homonculus (homoncula?) hand maiden to act as train bearers for Vellocet in her Spire incarnation. They look a bit rough in the photo but they are tiny- made from 15mm medieval monks with heads from the cherubs on the Devastator kit, they come up to the waist of a 28mm model. So that's where we are- more soon! I've been putting some paint on the Mohocks too, so hopefully there will be something to show there.

I've been doing some work on the door at the back of the Spire base and I have some progress to show. I used the wings from two flying Stormcast, a 40mm base and a cake decoration mold to make the House Catallus symbol. I want the whole piece to end up quite oppressive, so I was keen to channel this famous piece of architecture as much as anything boroque and ecclesiastical. It's added to the wall at an angle, so there's a space at the top- as I want the base to be a bit run down and decrepit (although carefully maintained in parts), I'll add some sort of bird's nest up there later on. You can also see, by the door, the initial elements of my stalagmite/organ pipe formations. They are way simpler than the Grenadan vaulting which inspired them, but I hope that the complexity will come from numbers rather than the individual 'pipes'. There will be loads more, and they will extend out into the staircase in parts too- it's going to be an amazingly time-consuming job to stick them on but I'm convinced the overall effect will be great.

Really appreciate the feedback everyone, as ever- thanks! So, on to the next bit of the project; the scenic base for Lord Catallus' retinue. As I mentioned before, the concept is basically a flight of stairs leading into a grand ballroom; as it's in the Spire, I want it to be grand, oppressive and very slightly decrepit, although obviously not to the same extent as the grubby underhive. I started in exactly the same way as with the underhive base; an identical hunk of round MDF with sharpie marks on. I then needed to build up the staircase; to do this I bought some fairly cheap foamcore board. Just as with the underhive board, I wanted to add some depth so the first layer more or less covers the entire base, with some cut-out servitor niches. Then I added a series of layers. I alternated foamcore and plasticard, with the plasticard layers being a few mm larger to give each step a sort of 'lip'. I'm not used to plasticard construction and the whole thing was very time-consuming, not to mention rather painful when I somehow ended up with a modelling knife a couple of centimetres deep in the skin between my thumb and forefinger... Eventually I ended up with something that approximated the shape I needed- I figured I could sand down the backside of the staircase when it's all together. I then needed to add some detail. This mostly involved scoring panel lines into the plasticard to show where the stone of the main stair gives way to a metal covering. I also added some strips of textured styrene to the vertical parts of the stair. This will tie the staircase into the back wall when that goes in. When I was happy with the overall look and had made sure everything aligned properly, I stuck the layers on top of each other. The entire back half of the base will have a wall on it, but the plasticard that it'll be constructed from hasn't turned up yet, so instead I then started on the doorway. The core of this is a cut-down door from the Sanctum Imperialis set. I also added some details liberated from the inside of a Coronus Grav-Carrier. So here's how all that evolved... There's still loads to do of course! The next step is to sand the plasticard/foamcore layers to fit the curve of the mdf base; when that's done I can add the back wall and start detailing. This wil involve a massive representation of the House Catallus symbol, lots more textured plasticard and a decoration element shamelessly nicked from David Lynch's Dune; a motif of angular stalagmite formations which should basically have the room look like it's being slowly being taken over by a profusion of organ pipes. My plan is to use square styrene piping to make these formations. Anyhow, watch this space...

Well more you shall have! As I mentioned in my last post I had a very productive couple of modelling sessions and all of a sudden a whole load of half-complete models suddenly resolved themselves, so here are two more members of the gang. This leaves only one member of the Mohock Blades unbuilt- Cuz, the Juve, who is currently experiencing some scaling and proportionality issues. So, on with the new members of the Blades. The first is the Heavy. This is the Honourable Trajan Gustavus Naesby-Cottingham, AKA "Quim". Quim is Vellocet, the gang leader's, boyfriend; he's one of the fancier members of the group and is armed with an antique plasma fusil borrowed from the House Catallus vaults. His foot position is a bit odd on a normal slotta, but when attached to the scenic base he'll be resting on a bit of scenery. Quim has been a difficult model to put together; he's been through about six or seven iterations and I have a couple of half-built versions lying around that I couldn't make work. It was only really when I realised that he could be holding his weapon 'at rest' that the whole thing coalesced; The next new member of the Blades is the leader, Vellocet, properly known as The Exalted Lady Araminta Tanit Xanthippe Alicia Dominica Catallus. She is the great-granddaughter of Lord Cattalus himself, and is something of a favourite of his; if she continues to do well during her excursions into the underhive, she will eventually find a range of other opportunities within the House. Vellocet is a mash-up of a plastic Commisar and Inquisitor Fairfax's brilliant high-heeled boots. I particularly like her hand cannon, which is the combination of a Mechanicus serpentia and a Wrack's club. I see it as being a Howdah Gun kept for off-world safaris and designed to bring down large game. This isn't the only version of Vellocet I am doing, by the way; she will also feature in Lord Cattalus' retinue, but in full formal dress rather than gang wear. The contrast should hopefully be interesting. That's it for now; next up, some progress on the scenic spire base.

Hi all, A lot of progress to show this time around. Sometimes the muse just comes upon you; I've been able to solve quite a few of the little modelling problems that had left various members of the gang tantalisingly close to completion, and a few things I'd been puzzling over that miraculously came together without much effort on my part. So, firstly, the gun I showed off in the last post. It's actually now safely in the hands of "Quim", the Gang's Heavy (or is it now 'specialist'?) but I still have some greenstuffing to do there, so it won't be on display just yet. After looking at it, I decided that it was a bit too long and unweildy, even as an esoteric archaeotech weapon. I also realised that by cutting the very end of the gun's barrel off and hollowing out the end emitter bit, I could make it look a little like some sort of archaic plasma weapon. So this is the final version of the weapon... With the heavy 99% done, there are only three more members of the Mohock Blades left to go; the leader, Vellocet, who is 90% complete, the Juve, Cuz, who is currently a disembodied head, and a Ganger. This chap is the Oswald Vitellius Japheth D'Arquebus, AKA "Ozzy". Ozzy is one of the more showy-offy members of the gang, and affects quite a piratical look with his rapier and las-lock pistol. His pose is a little odd on a slottabase, but that's because when he goes on the scenic base his feet will be at a little bit of an angle. So that's the kids- what about the grown-ups? I've been making a lot of progress on Lord Catallus' retinue as well. Part of that is in terms of the base, which I have spent a lot of time planning out and have started- though no photos yet. I want this to be very much a companion piece to the underhive base, but very much the other side of the same coin. So it'll be a similar size, have a similar colourscheme but otherwise quite different- tall where the underhive base is flat (they are spyrers after all), grand and monumental where the other base is squalid and cluttered… So what’s the concept? While the underhive base was a based around a roadway, the Spyre base will be based around the entrance steps to a grand ballroom in the upper levels of the Palatine Hive. Lord Catallus and his retinue will be posing for a pict, just like the Mohock Blades, but this one will be a bit more formal; being able to place different models on different levels on the stairway will display them better and also suggest an element of social stratification. The inspiration is very much the Imperial throne room from David Lynch's Dune... http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-djTUJjqeQws/U6Dv0T8wy_I/AAAAAAAAA10/nkT1oRJd3LY/s1600/throne+room.jpg I'll elaborate on my concept later on when the base is more done, but for the time being here is the first complete-ish element of it; a servitor, who I have named "Bill". He and "Ben" will introduce new arrivals; Bill is basically a trumpet with a set of lungs attached, while Ben will announce everyone who enters (if they're important enough). The symbol of House Catallus is not given anywhere in the background, so I needed to come up with something. Because it already features on a few of the retinue models so far, I've decided that a heraldic sun (a sun with a human face) is a good choice, and that's something I've tried to carry through on the others. So in this case the servitors have the house symbol for a head. Following this theme is the next model from the retinue, a chirpy little homonculus icon-bearer who I've reused from an older project with a little modification. The Confrontation artwork has a lot of homonculi, so I figure they work quite well in the servant roles and will have a few others. There's a final retinue member to show off. This is the Honourable Lord Eckbert Balliol, Constable of the Catallus Spireguard and Head of House Security. My concept for this guy is that he used to be a pretty successful and feared Gang Leader himself, until an Imperial Navy impressment party caught up with him and forcibly began what turned into a highly successful career as a Naval Armsman. Hopefully he looks sufficiently badarse and grizzled. His weapon is based on a 16th century combination wheel-lock pistol and mace which I thought was quite fun; this one incorporates an energy weapon in the end, should he get tired of smacking people around. So that's it for the time being! Hope you've enjoyed them- more soon...