Actual Scale Night Lord Captain Vahe Atawn

[Pig Of Sparta]

Greetings Brothers, some of you may remember me saying that I was going to attempt an actual scale traitor marine once I'd finished working on the Captain Orar mini I did. Well I finally worked out what bits I was going to use and how I might improve on the last mini. Alas my fall was complete and my innocent soul corrupted, for to understand chaos one must in some part become it..... so begins my wip. I haven't decided what colours to go with yet but I am being drawn to the Night Lords legion for some inexplicable reason (possibly because the aren't red :)) but the nature of chaos is fickle and this could all change.

 

On to the pics;

 

front:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/A-4.jpg

 

back:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/B-4.jpg

 

left arm:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/C-4.jpg

 

head choice one:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/D-3.jpg

 

head choice two:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/E-3.jpg

 

As you can see the marine is relatively uncorrupted as I wanted him to be from roughly the same time frame as the Captain Orar mini; somewhere between the beginning of the Horus Heresy to the end of the Scouring. I'm currently favouring the first head as 1) I think it looks cool and 2) as you'll see when I post pics of a mock up of the mini that the horns on the second one don't sit so well once the outer shoulder pads are in place.

 

I'm in two minds about GSing the bracing on the thighs as I don't want to lose the actuators on the front of the legs, I thought I might be able to get away with leaving it and saying that the traitor is wearing a hybridised (sp?) suit of power armour. Next update will hopefully have the power cables on the chest done as well as the neck guard and back pack mount. Once the GS cures I'll get a mock up of how he'll look photographed.

 

Please feel free to leave C&C, it is always welcome and generally needed, I found last time that it was people posting here that drove me to push the project along.

 

James

[Alys Dwr]

Looks good so far, and having seen your last piece i have no doubt this will turn out great. The legs bug me though - they are far to similar to the chaos termi lord legs ;). I don't know what to suggest but i'm sure they'll look fine in the end. Except for the hip plates. It's a personal annoyance of mine when people leave them on as it is not a part of power armour IMO. That aside, i look forward to where this mini goes, the blood letter sword works a treat but the handle is slightly wonky.

 

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i though the night lords were less chaosy with their armour etc than other legions?

 

Al

[Pig Of Sparta]

Hey Alys, I know what you mean about the legs, I went with these ones because I liked the simple banding on the greaves, and thought the loin cloth might be fun to play with. As for the hip plates, you're entitled to your opionion and generally I would agree with you, however I like to think they make the armour look as though it's from ages long past, and not as 'new' as contemporary power armour (my justification for not having the confidence to remove and resculpt these bits, yet). ;)

 

Thanks for the heads up on the sword handle, I probably wouldn't have noticed that till I started painting and then got really mad!

 

Update; I made a start on the power cabling on the chest. I don't know whether to leave it like this or add another thinner round cable to either side......

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/F-3.jpg

 

let me kow what you think,

 

James

[ItSeWiNg]

Looks Good

Nice Work

Should Try And Make Squad lol

See How It Turns Out

 

- IE

[Corvus_Coorain]

Hey James B)

 

Nice work so far! If anyone can pull this of it's you ;)

 

Looking forward to seeing the finished result :)

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Cheers

 

Corvus_Coorain ;)

[Terminatorinhell]

I think you should add a couple cables and go with head #1 and for the night lords too that'd look sweet.

[RazakelXIII]

Niiice. Excellent start, Pig of Sparta. :) Love the sword (might want to fill in that triangle so it doesn't look too Khornate for Heresy-era Night Lords, but it does look cool). I'd say the torso does need more cables, and as for the head... I personally like head #2 more, but head #1 is much more Night Lords-y.

 

As for the Chaosiness, Night Lords were less corrupted than the other Traitors, but what with their terror-tactics, some of the more radical ones (the ones that followed the crazier side of Kurze) might easily have gravitated toward spikiness to make themselves look more imposing. And I like the hip plates, too - not every Chaos marine has to look the same, plus it does have a sort of archaic feel. :)

[Pig Of Sparta]

@ItSeWiNg: thanks, I don't think I'll do a squad though. Although I've gotten quicker at doing these, it still takes a quite a while (mainly the GSing and waiting for the GS to cure) that said, I'll probably do a few more in various poses as display pieces.

 

@Corvus_Coorain: how's it going? how're your actual scale-ers coming along? Thanks for the vote of confidence, it's appreciated :) I'm hoping to have him finished early in the new year, so hopefully it won't be long to wait.

 

@Terminatorinhell: I tried adding a couple of cables in today, and as you'll see from today's photos it didn't really work. I might give it another go, but I'm not sure just now. As for the head, I'm pretty much settled on the first one, glad you agree though.

 

@ RazakelXIII:Hey Raz, good to see ya! was thinking about trying to cover the gaps in the sword hilt with a couple of wee skulls, failing that, GS will be filling in so to speak :P I quite liked head two when I first saw it, but the more I looked at the skull helm, the more I thought that it could be painted as bone for terror markings, and add a nice contrast to the deep blue of the armour to boot. Things could change though.....

 

Today's update is not much really, I got the neck guard and back pack attachment point in place and GS'd I made an attempt to add more cables to the torso, but as you'll se in the photos there are none just now, it just didn't work the way I planned :( and I ended up tearing them off. I also GS'd a wee gap in the plasma pistol workings as I was a little over-zealous when I was trimming it of the donor hand. So without furthe ado, today's photos;

 

one:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/G-2.jpg

 

two:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/H-2.jpg

 

and now for the backpack. I have two options, the first:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/I-2.jpg

 

and second:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/J-2.jpg

 

The first one for those unfamiliar with it is the metal Emperor's Children champion backpack. 'Emperor's Children?' I hear you cry, 'didn't he say he was doing Night Lords?' There is a method to this madness, I figured that with all the speakers and things wired in to his armour he could broadcast the screams of terror that all his victims have uttered, for his personal enjoyment, and to scare the hell out of anyone he comes across. The second choice is a slightly more mundane standard pack, but either way I think I'll keep the trophy rack on the top, cause I've always thought that warriors of chaos would flaunt their achivements in this way, arrogant as they are :)

 

So that's it for today, as always please let me know your opinions, criticisms and anything else you have to say, I always look forward to hearing what folk have to say.

 

James

[El-Diablo]

Coming along nicely, looks like your getting the true-scale techniques down well.

As for the backpack, i'd go with the regular backpack, the EC pack would look good, but could confuse a lot of people due to the Slannesh connection.

 

Also, any chance of a shot of the back without the backpack on? Be interested to see how you've tackled the backpack connection.

[Asmodeus' Swordhand]

looks good. I would add a bulky belt, and the normal backpack is much normaller then the EC one

[Corvus_Coorain]

Looks great so far. Like the helmet alot! It's suits him :P Looking forward to seeing him finished :P

 

It's going fine thank you. Well, it's going slow, I've been busy painting some of my other mini's and vehicles.

And because my local GW shop closed, I'm a little short on GS and parts. And cash not to mention :P

But as soon as I get my paycheck, I'm gonna start on them. I'll be sure to post them as soon as I get started.

 

Cheers

 

Corvus_Coorain

[RazakelXIII]

Lookin' good so far! I'd go with the Slaanesh backpack. I don't think it'll confuse anyone once he's painted up, and it doesn't have to mean he worships Slaanesh - plus I reeeeally like your fluff explanation for it. ;) And we seem to think alike on the subject of the terror markings.

 

Sorry if I've been a little quiet lately, I guess I'm a bit of a habitual lurker. :P

[Kuchinawa]

Whoa I gotta get me one of those. :P

I personally like backpack 2. That way it's more like OH YEAH I'M TALLER THEN EVERYONE. WANNA KNOW HOW? I PRAY TO ALL THE CHAOS GODS! he has to yell cause he's chaos. I dunno somehow I feel he'd look really cool if he was just Chaos undivided.

 

Great Job ;)

[Sons of Horus]

i like head option 1 since it looks more unique. that guys looks big (love true-scaled marines). great job so far keep it up. :devil:

[Pig Of Sparta]

@Midian:m I'll get a photo of his back up as soon as I can. For both of the marines I've done in this scale, I've cut the back pack attachments from regular marines back plates, filed them down, and the GSed them to smooth the joins, but you could easily use a lump of sprue or plasticard, (My method is actually kinda wasteful I think :)) but I think it looks better than most alternatives.

 

@Asmodeus' Swordhand: Thanks mate, I'm probably going to bulk his belt up a little, to try and avoid 'Orar Waist Syndrome'

 

@Corvus_Coorain: thanks mate, he's coming along quite well, so it won't be long to wait for the finished result :). I know how you feel, having no money for mini's always sucks. But it kinda makes up for it when you get to go spend loads to make up for it later ;) I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your project.

 

@RazakelXIII: Don't worry about lurking, I do it from time to time too :) Glad someone likes my fluffy explanation for the EC backpack, cause I'm still thinking it'll look better than a plain one! Oh, and terror markings.... we're definately thinking alike :)

 

@Kuchinawa: he will be Chaos Undivided, just imagine the back packs in blue and brassy gold..... and tell me that the EC one doesn't scream gothic horror themed to you, it's like he's got gargoyles perched on his shoulders :)

 

@Sons of Horus: thanks mate, Cristmas might take it's toll, but don't worry, I'll keep going.

 

They'll be a photo update coming soon.....

 

James

[Mordus]

Go for head one. The lack of horns sizes it down in the eyes considerably, and will help emphasize his massive bulk, making him look bigger. Plus the horns might get tangled in something.

Go with the EC backpack.It just yells out awesome gothicky chaos wyrdness. I dont think it should confuse anyone, as long as you shave all the Slaanesh symbols off and keep the color scheme nice and prominent. The more awesome details you can add, the better. Howsabout a lightning talon Kurze-style in the other hand? Could evoke an image of Abaddon (sword + talon) to give him an extra mystique. ;)

[RazakelXIII]

Howsabout a lightning talon Kurze-style in the other hand? Could evoke an image of Abaddon (sword + talon) to give him an extra mystique. ;)

 

Very much seconded! :) Wouldn't be legal, but I suppose you could count it as dual LCs.

 

And yeah, I'm still sayin' go for the Emperor's Children backpack. Very characterful and scary. Honestly I don't see anything particularly Slaaneshi about it in the first place... and I'm starting to think it'd look good adorning one (or five) of my Word Bearers... ;) Can't wait for the update. B)

[Pig Of Sparta]

I've got a lightning claw kicking about somewhere I think, I'll dig it out and try him with it tomorrow. It might look kinda cool. As for the backpack Raz, I think it would look great on word bearer marines, very in keeping with their trappings of finery :) I say go for it! :)

[Terminatorinhell]

he looks a bit like Zso Saahal except without the raptors stuff.

[Pig Of Sparta]

As requested by Midian, a photo of the marine's back showing the backpack attachment point:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/K-2.jpg

[Pig Of Sparta]

All I've got today I'm afraid is a mock up of how the mini'll look assembled. I've started to undercoat today, so painted pics will be up sometime soon ;)

 

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/L-2.jpg

 

James

[cathar the great]

Since his pose is already so static (which I like), why don't you lower the sword arm a bit so that the blade points downwards? It would add to the pose of the mini I think.

[Pig Of Sparta]

@cathar the great: I'll give that a try when I'm reassembling him, thanks mate.

 

This is probably going to be the last update before christmas, so please forgive the many (in some cases badly lit) photos. I've got the base coats onto most of the mini now, with the exception of the metallics on the backpack and his weapons. I've not quite decided on coulours for them yet. As you'll see from the photos I decided against any more power cables on the torso. I think I'll save that for the next one of these (if there is a next one) ;).

 

On with the photos:

 

head:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/Q-1.jpg

 

front:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/M-2.jpg

 

back pack :

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/N-2.jpg

 

left arm:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/P-1.jpg

 

right arm:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/O-2.jpg

 

back pack:

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p456/pigofsparta/R-1.jpg

 

The wee arrow on the brow of the helmet will be brass to match the trim on the rest of the armour and to contrast the bone of the rest of the 'skull'. I'm not sure whether to do the 'loincloth' as flayed skin or fabric, I think flayed skin would be more fitting, but I'm open to suggestions. Oh and, blue or green for the plasma coils on the pistol?

 

as usual, please feel free to leave c&c

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

James

[RazakelXIII]

OH GOD YES. :drool: It's looking awesome! I take it you're not going for the claw, though?

 

I usually like green for plasma, but blue could go well with the rest of him, especially with lightning markings... Well, I'd at least try blue. Flayed skin for the loincloth all the way, though. ;) Merry Christmas!

[Mordus]

you have to consider the overall tone of the mini. Its a tricky issue... blue will blend in, and make the mini hard to find a focus on. Green will give a lovely contrast, giving an extra bit of spark to it.

Yet with the green constrast AND flayed skin, there will far too many contrasting colors, and the overall effect may be ruined. Go with a dark cloth loincloth, possibly with stylized blue flame effects to stand out without detracting from the overal appearence. To burn brightly against the green coil, make the hellblade black edged with a red to orange glow like a bloodletter I did for a friend.

Remember the color harmony. And well done on the head and backpack choice. :)