Solid Zaku Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Hello all, Solidzaku here with my LPC model. I received a Baneblade for Candlemas this year, so I figured I'd do something special with it. That of course being I'd make it my LPC contender. Now, the blizzard hit my part of the world like a relative powersack of doorknobs wielded by an Angry Marine leaving a Justin Bieber concert, so I can't get this thing painted quite yet. I'm going to try my hand at airbrushing...something I have zero experience with. As such, this will be as much of a learning experience for me as it will be my LPC. I'd like to thank the proprietors of the LPC for not stipulating that they have to look at all good... Also, I fully intend on writing a story as this model progresses that ties along with it since it is a bit of an unusual model, being as it's crewed visually by Astartes. My real hope is to have my wife-cum-illustrator draw out a 'pinup' girl on the Imperial Guard half of the tank, but we'll see on that, busy as she is with university. So, that being finished, let's get onto what you're really after, you leechy little picture-hounds! I present: the Wendigo... Bland? Uh huh. Pfft, that's just swapping out the IG crew with that one tank bit from our Rhino's everyone has? Aye. No story? Also true. As soon as my camera battery recharges, I'll show you how the Wendigo went from rags to riches! And maybe a story supposing I don't get too lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Styphus Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 At least the tank has a large bottom. You've got plenty of practice space to work with that airbrush on. Do you have any ork or Iron Warrior trophies you could display on the tank for some flare? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Zaku Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Alrighty then, update number two, and this puppy's going to be a big one. Olaar was a planet almost without a history. First colonized three decades before the events of the Horus Heresy, Olaar was the only inhabitable planet of its own system in its own sub-sector in the Segmentum Tempestus. Having no great mineral wealth and, due to its distance from more amicable warp routes, had little in the way of strategic value for either side of that dread conflict. As such, Olaar was left alone both by the fallen Warmaster and the purgations that followed his death. Centuries later, Olaar remained a middling planet in a middling part of the galaxy, paying meager tithes at a regular rate, quickly becoming one of the millions of planets lost within the gargantuan beauracracy of the Administratum. Just as the Iron Warriors liked it. During M38, while pursuing the Waaaghdook Zill, the warriors of the Solidus' Legion Chapter of Imperial Astartes received a brief, abruptly cut Astropathic distress call from the one station capable of sending such a call from the Olaar system. Though murky as all such communication is, what soon became clear was that the elements of the Iron Warriors, the Chapter's chosen foe, had assaulted the practically undefended planet, claiming it for their own and systematically exterminating the populace. Wasting no more time with the Ork threat which they deemed was now manageable by the local Navy elements, the Space Marines wasted no time in translating to Olaar. Whilst in travel, the Chapter sent messages to nearby Imperial Guard elements which had assisted them before in combatting the greenskin menace. Many of these regiments owed their continued existence to these Astartes, and were more than honored to help repay their life debt. Some who later reviewed the battle brazenly questioned the honor of the Chapter for making such requests, to which the Chapter Master replied, "Let fools have medals placed upon their graves. I shall go unrewarded fighting in the Emperor's name." Upon reaching the planet's surface, the men of the Chapter found that a few regiments had already made planetfall more than a week prior, and were given a grim tactical situation. The treacherous Iron Warriors had in their possession the Warlord Titan Mereo Potens. Instead of using the god-machine for its proper use, the lunatic Warsmith of the band had butchered the formerly grandiose Titan and had its vast array of weapons and void shields turned into an ad-hoc fortress at the center of the planets main hive. Every loyal contingent had made attempts to besiege the corpse-fortress, but were repelled not only by the massive weaponry of the Warlord, but the arms of the traitor Space Marines as well. Making their attempt at the walls of the Iron Warriors redoubts as well after felling a number of void shields via orbital bombardment, even the Astartes of Zakuvia could penetrate the dark holds of the Chaos Space Marines. TAKEN FROM THE ACCOUNTS OF CHAPTER MASTER HEIRONYMOUS OF THE SOLIDUS' LEGION ASTARTES AS RECOUNTED BY INQUISITOR TORVILLUS BELMARCK Olaar was quickly turning into a bloodbath. Nearly a dozen Marines died in that one assault, and scores more Guardsmen, by the Munitorum records. I'm sure the leaders of those men were pleading with Heironymous to simply blast that damned place into particulate matter, but he wouldn't have it. It took nearly five years of trawling through 'encrypted' communiqués, but I think I know why that walking tomb was so seemingly eager to get in there on foot, or whatever those infernal contraptions call feet. Apparently, the Master's friends in Deliverance had been told by their friends on Mars that Mereo Potens was, if my own friends aren't very much mistaken, one of the traitorous Titans that did in Zakuvia Primaris under the Warsmith Jahqzon. My theory is that Heironymous thought that there might have been some clue as to Jahqzon's whereabouts in that vivisected god-machine. That being said, I'll leave speculating to lesser people, I'll just write down what I know for now. What he told me about the day after was something I think I would be remiss for not retelling. He was in the field base's vehicle repair center, tech-thralls and Chapter serfs running to and fro at the behest of their Techshaman, one of the Chapter's many odd synonyms for other Codex elements. "How many, Naggarund?" he asked in that body-pulping basso his vox-caster would always emit. Neither man saw the other's face. One was clad in an ornate suit of oil browned reddish power armor fairly typical of the Martian pupils of the Astartes. The other was even less human than the cybernetically enhanced superhuman. Standing nearly three meters tall was the Chapter Master, long since entombed in the walking sarcophagus of the Dreadnought. How he got in there is a tale even more depressing than the one you currently read, so I'll leave that for a later account. Suffice it to say, he looked probably as bad on the outside as he did on the inside. As much of a piece of architecture as a masterfully crafted suit of armor as his was, Heironymous looked like a trundling ruin. Hardly a piece of him wasn't dented, scratched or cracked by bolt and las-weapon. His normal rumble that set your teeth to involuntarily chattering was reduced to a low, dangerous purr. He unconsciously mimicked the sound when he told me of it, and it sounded like a deep jungle cat does before it tears the throat out of some animal half its size. "Ten, lord, along with the Rhinos Zharr, and Koraz, and the great wounding of Rahzkytul." A groaning sound came from the two warriors. One grieved for brothers lost, the other for what amounted to children lost in some distant war. The Land Raider, Rahzkytul, would take nearly a decade to fully repair. It was an ambush, plain and simple. The traitor Marines were vilely clever about it all. If the void shields could be breached on the ground, disabling their power supplies and command elements would be child’s play. It was such a perfect lure. While the Space Marines were focused on the massive Turbolasers mounted against them, along with all of the other weapons carved out of the Warlord, they were distracted from the teams of heavy-weapon equipped Chaos Marines lying in wait in the ruins of the hive. Though it would be rather impolitic of me, I have a strong suspicion that the Chapter was jealous that they didn't think of something like that first. As a matter of fact, I think that blow to his pride forced Heironymous' hand. "Are you aware of the Valthor 125th on planet, brother?" Heironymous asked. "The Hellcats," he recited the regiment's pseudonym with a metallic clarity, "Superheavy armored division. Ten units, now four functional." "I have sent an order to speak with their commander. I would ask that you be present." "With all due respect, Master, would my assistance not be better used in tending to Rahzkytul?" Before he could receive a reply, a pair of Guardsmen feebly brandishing their lasguns entered the center, behind which entered a woman with a peaked cap over a swathe of blonde hair that framed a stern face. "Commander,” he said, “I'm glad you replied with such haste." She tightened her eyes slightly. I will admit that it's damnably difficult to distinguish sarcasm in that machine voice he possesses, though I don’t think he intended for any to be relayed. "Master Hieronymous," she said in a clipped, somewhat accented voice. "How may I be of assistance at the moment? I have numerous field repairs I must oversee, and we lost most of our environmental support in Designate A3225." Designate A3225 was the name of the focus of this report, as you shall read soon. "As it comes to that, Commander, may I inform you that that shall no longer be your concern." This recieved an odd glance from both the Valthorian, and Naggarund. "I will not waste time with cheap riddles, I will instead get to the point: we need your Baneblade, Commander. And we need it immediately." There was an odd silence for a few moments, with everyone except the Chapter Master wondering if he had just said what he did. "We will ensure that it is properly maintained in our care." While no unarmed human could kill a Space Marine enclosed within a suit of even badly damaged Dreadnought armor, I do believe she would have been quite willing to put her fist clean through his ceramite plating to get at him. "Master Hieronymous, as you were kind enough to save me the trouble of guessing through riddles, I shall return the favor. Get frigged.” I'm also sure that her escorts probably soiled themselves at this, because they probably realized that if either of the two Astartes took great offense to that remark, they'd have to be the ones in between them and their charge. Hieronymous, however, was as calm as a ten ton walking deathmachine could be. "Let us put things into perspective. You have the means to get your men into that Fortress, Commander, I have read your reports on the last assaults. However, I also know that your men are dead as soon as they step out of their behemoth. We can't get in, but if we can, we are able to cut out the heart of this heresy. My Astartes, and your machine are the solution to this problem that simply isn't adding up for either of us. I have already had a number of Marines await nearby Designate A3225 for embarkation." This received another death-glare. "Just enough to make sure Designate A3225 is well and secure in your hands if I were to refuse, I suppose?" Silence filled the chamber. "Commander..." "There's no need to continue, Master Hieronymous," she interjected, "simply understand that after this you may consider any obligation the Valthorian 125th have to you and your men payed in full." With that, she stalked out of the chamber, uttering curses I'm quite sure would have her needing to visit temple many more times in a day. Apparently, Hieronymous wasn't quite through stepping on his friend's toes that day. "I do not approve of this, lord," Naggarund said at last. "Worried about internecine human politics, brother? I didn't know you cared." "I don't," he replied without any mirth or glib. "What I disapprove of is your plan of action. What you would have me do would require me to make numerous changes to the interior of the vehicle, there would need to be added communication support for Chapter vox systems, alterations to the motive systems to accommodate our additional weight..." "So then it is a matter of timing then? Or is it something else?" The intent in the question was clear. When he told me of this account, he replayed what the Techshaman Naggarund said in response, and to this day it chills me how calmly he did so. "You are only conscious, Master, because I will it so due to our friendship. I have learned secrets of the machine on the red fields of Mars so vast and important that if you were to know but one of them, it would be my duty to kill even you. Never again question my ability to assuage the spirit of a machine. I have merely observed that such drastic changes will rightfully upset the spirit of Designate A3225, and I cannot ensure that it would be in a forgiving mood." Again, silence. I would think within it was an unspoken apology, but I was not there, and the Chapter Master was less than forthcoming on the matter. "If it feels unforgiving, then it will take out its ire on the true foe. As your friend and brother, Naggarund, I apologize for my words. As your Master, however, I will not have my orders subverted. This will happen." Though they're only brothers in the sense that all Space Marines are, through whatever genetic reconfiguration they undergo, similar, Naggarund and his Chapter Master were apparently friends when he was still among the fleshy living. I'll not speculate on how badly this battle affected their friendship, but I'd be willing to put down a crown that it wasn't particularly helpful. That being said, the work was completed by morning of the next day, and that very night the bastion fell. There is only one more element to this account I need mention, and it happened less than an hour before the machine set out on its grisly business. Master Hieronymous was able to walk once more without difficulty, and he made a point to see off his hand-picked team. Brother Sergeant Karzeinar was waiting outside, making final preparations with his squad. He heard his Master approach as soon as his massive frame ducked out from the repair chamber, thralls in tow. "Naggarund has performed a miracle, lord." "That he has, brother," he said without letting the sergeant in on the joke. "You can barely tell anything's different from the outside. But something bothers me about it." "Something has bothered us since we arrived, brother. I do not care for this world, I fear it has been tainted and our moods sour more every moment we remain." At this, Karzeinar simply chuckled a bit. "Did that strike you as amusing?" "Not exactly, but it did aid me in discovering what bothered me. It's the name, lord.” He enhanced his point by pointing his hand roughly in the direction of the identification plate that held Designate A3225’s identification tag. “This thing needs a name. Traditionally, tanks like this get their name after they've been in a fight, but I think this one's earned one before it even rolled off the grate." "That being?" "Well, this entire planet's been playing tricks on us since we got here, so I think we should return the favor." And so, filled with a lethal cargo and vengeance on their minds, the Astartes of the Solidus' Legion Chapter were carried into the heart of the traitors defenses by Designate A3225, foreverafter referred to as 'Wendigo'. END And now, ladies and xenos, may I present the improved Wendigo!: Simple additions like taking cut out pieces of tank tread make wonderful tags, or can even look like added armor plating, without it looking like you just glued old tank tread to your kit. Since this is an Astartes-crewed blade, I felt it needed something more along their aesthetic, so I trimmed some of the unused Dreadnought faceplates I had in my bitz box and turned them into vision ports. It's a bit of an off-angle shot, but this is just showing what I was able to do with the rest of the plate. If it looks mis-cut from this shot, I do apologize. Just a few more embellishments to make it look like home for any genetically enhanced killing machine. This was just a personal little niggle, but I just didn't like that hexagonal 'bolt' at the rear of the Baneblade, so I made an alteration Fortune smiled on me a bit with this one. While 'in construction' one of the antenna masts broke off the turret. While I attempted to simply glue it back in place, the part simply wouldn't stay. So, I decided to try my hand at pinning, and luckily it worked like a charm. Additionally, I was able to do something I had wanted to, but couldn't figure how. The new 'Astartes Vox-transmitter' is actually just a paperclip and a bream saber from an old Mobile Suit Gundam model I've had laying about my bitz box for years. I'm actually rather happy I was able to incorporate my old (but still loved) hobby in such a manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulkan454 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Great story and good work so far, I'm interested. But one of the things I could help but notice was that your servo skull has a bit of a vampiric nature :( : Vulkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Anvilus Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 That servoskull just looks like ' Yo, Superhuman, Get your head INSIDE the big tank...' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Zaku Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Hah, indeed he does look like he's about to make a snack out of poor Naggarund but, I assure you, that servo skull is no Baalite native. Glory to the Emperor! The weather has cleared up for a bit, long enough for me to get the Wendigo primed. Shame about Primer-Leather effect, but all things considered I'm lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapter Master Ignis Domus Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I can't wait to see this ready an' rolling! What color scheme are you planning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Zaku Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 I'm going to be attempting something similar to the Banesword in this picture, but I'll try and 'blue' the grey a little more than it's shown there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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