In Midnight Clad - A Night Lords log

[Inquisitor Engel]

So it has come to this. 

 

After nearly fifteen years in the hobby, loyal to the Emperor (with a side stop on a Craftworld and in the Tau Empire) I have come to earnestly begin my way down the path of corruption and bloodshed. 

 

I have come to begin a Chaos army.

 

_____________

 

I actually started, and collected, a very Chaotic Night Lords warband in 2004, complete with Forge World Land Raider and all sorts of things, but never got around to painting it. I could never get the hang of the midnight blue and the brass. 

 

Now I've come to challenge myself again. Thanks to Aaron Demski-Bowden's works I've batted around the idea of a Heresy-era army would work best. With the right conversions and 'counts-as' choices, they can be used as Heresy-era, Pre-Heresy or modern Night Lords. 

 

I assembled a single model to test my planned paint scheme. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/dBnuZM7.jpg

 

And began sculpting a chest-piece of a winged skull. Once this is done, I'll hopefully have the resources to either resin-cast it, or have it cast for me (current apartment space doesn't really allow for it) and have them distributed across my army. 

 

Very, very WIP. It's been a long time since I sculpted anything... 

 

http://i.imgur.com/OGwR25c.jpg

 

So there you have it. The beginnings of the Night Lords Fifth Company. This will be an interesting ride, no doubt.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Inquisitor Engel

[Brother Ambroz]

Excited to see him painted!

[Captain Semper]

Great stuff, I'll be definitely following this thread. Just a thought though: if you do a Heresy or Pre-Heresy army, then FW older types or armor is the obvious way to go - no Imperial Eagle chest plates for one. If you go for a 40k army then as ADB very nicely described the armor would be an amalgamation of types... Even desecrated Mk 7 :).

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Unless the wings on that torso are going to be batwings, it's not the Golden age, as Semper mentioned. Only the Emperor's Children were allowed to display the aquila on their armor.

[Loken86]

nice sculpting brother i look forward to next update

 

 

ave dominus nox

[Inquisitor Engel]

Unless the wings on that torso are going to be batwings, it's not the Golden age, as Semper mentioned. Only the Emperor's Children were allowed to display the aquila on their armor.

 

Yes, as I said, the winged skull. I guess I should have specified, bat wings.

 

Why would I sculpt eagle wings, there are plenty of pre-made ones already. :P I need to find something sufficiently round to cut the curves out of it now... Hmm.

[Bewlay]

So many NL today

 

If you have any trouble with the paint scheme, look around the forum and ask people, there are some lovely painted NL armies

 

Good luck

[Inquisitor Engel]

That's for the encouragement everyone!

Well here we go.

I'm happy with the blue and the brass I've got.





I'll need to buy some finer brushes. The Citadel fine detail brush isn't fine enough for those highlights. Unfortunately most fine brushes I find don't have the rigidity to really paint with...

Anyway, I'm satisfied with the overall tone. Still dark and realistic, with relatively subtle highlights. It matches my Fists' aesthetic. I'm quite happy and look forward to doing an army of these bad boys.

Now... what colour for those weapons?

Blue is:

• Necron Abyss
• Highlight Enchanted Blue
• Wash Badab Black
• Highlight Enchanted Blue
• Wash Asurmen Blue

Brass is:

• Tin Bitz
• Highlight Shining Gold
• Highlight Mithril Silver
• Wash Gryphonne Sepia
• Highlight Shining Gold
• Wash Devlan Mud

Any tips for lightning everyone? I'm most disappointed in that.

Thoughts?

Edited November 3, 2015 by Inquisitor Engel

[Dosjetka]

Any tips for lightning everyone? I'm most disappointed in that.

I know Brother Nihm had a tutorial (I think) on how to do lightning. Maybe have a look in the Librarium? :)

 

Anyway, model-wise, looking good :)

 

Ludovic

[Inquisitor Engel]

Any tips for lightning everyone? I'm most disappointed in that.

I know Brother Nihm had a tutorial (I think) on how to do lightning. Maybe have a look in the Librarium? :)

 

Anyway, model-wise, looking good ;)

 

 

Found it! Thanks!

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...showarticle=138

 

I shall be using it, most definitely. Can we still get Ice Blue?

[Brother Nihm]

I shall be using it, most definitely. Can we still get Ice Blue?

Yes we can!

[Inquisitor Engel]

So I ordered the body for Tyberos off of eBay and was pleased with how easy it was to remove the single aquila. What to do with the shoulder pads though? I want something different and intimidating and semi-heresy-era, but many of the Cataphracti-esque ones I've seen (maxmini etc) seem TOO big in general.

Some quick photoshop from Forge World's size comparison chart (which I believe is all on the same plane and angle) lead me to this image:



They SEEM big enough and while I'm not a big fan of the pose that resulted, it was enough promise for me to order some bitz from eBay to try out. Thoughts? They seem a tad lacking in protection, but also nicely "pre-Heresy-ish" without being gigantic. I'll probably recast Tyberos' helmet a few times for them too.

Thoughts? Or does anyone have any other suggestions?

Edited November 3, 2015 by Inquisitor Engel

[Inquisitor Engel]

Alright, so eBay came through! I only have Tyberos' body to test this out on, but I ordered some arms to see what he looks like.

DISCLAIMER: I did no cleaning of the parts in this whatsoever. Zero. Please excuse the roughness.

I'm rather pleased.

I will say that the power-fist arm looks a bit thin, though the other arm looks fine. I like the old-school look of the shoulder pads (the Crux will be replaced by a Nostraman Lion) and they evoke the ideas of Cataphracti Terminators without the gorget (which some terminators will be given, along with more old school helmet to match the below image.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fGFa0S9U6ss/TIKnA80ND5I/AAAAAAAAAII/6ij6e3wLFQY/s1600/iron-hands-pre-heresy-terminator1.jpg

I think using the Tartaros shoulder pads evokes the same 'layered' look without adding too much bulk, like a lot of the pre-heresy should pads I see.

Thoughts? The auction on 10 of these bad boys ends tomorrow!

Edited November 3, 2015 by Inquisitor Engel

[Pig Of Sparta]

I think that your Cataphractii-esque Terminator looks great. I too have developed a liking for the Tartaros layered pauldrons (I've just used one to convert a SM Captain for an upcoming project...) so I'd say go for the auction :).

 

On a side not I think the powerfist arm only looks thin because the lower plate of the shoulder armour is slightly too high. If you took the blu-tac away and sat it flush against the power cable where it joins the arm then it totally covers the 'skinny' bit and really bulks up the upper arm.

 

James

[Inquisitor Engel]

On a side not I think the powerfist arm only looks thin because the lower plate of the shoulder armour is slightly too high. If you took the blu-tac away and sat it flush against the power cable where it joins the arm then it totally covers the 'skinny' bit and really bulks up the upper arm.

 

Great call! Tried is, works perfectly! On the more extended arms though... may need some of those dangly leather strips. :D

 

Thanks for the input!

[Pig Of Sparta]

Glad to have helped :D

 

James

[subtlebrush]

That Terminator is awesome!

[Tyrannicide]

That Terminator is awesome!

Agreed. I'd say go for it dude. :)

[Inquisitor Engel]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! :)

 

I won the auction for 10 of the RIGHT shoulder pads but lost auction for the LEFT (the Crux) side which ... well, I guess I'm waiting for a little bit then. I did find some more Tartaros Terminators, so I at least got that out of the deal.

 

I'm also in search of Ivanus Enkomi's head, but that's apparently the part everyone else wants too. ^_^

Edited July 14, 2012 by Inquisitor Engel

[Inquisitor Engel]

And then I ordered a Contemptor with two claw CCW arms... :D Edited July 19, 2012 by Inquisitor Engel

[Inquisitor Engel]

Not an update as such but I've been slowly collecting the bits to really make this army what I want. The Forge World Horus Heresy news has slowed things do a little bit, but overall I only see it improving my plans. Oh, please Forge World, give me sculpted Night Lords shoulder pads that aren't Chaos-y! Please!

In the meantime, I decided I liked Tyberos' head enough to give it to all my Terminators...

http://i.imgur.com/7Y4Kqou.jpg

Edited November 3, 2015 by Inquisitor Engel

[Inquisitor Engel]

In case anyone was wondering how Night Raptors looked with the lightning claws from the Warp Talons box?

 

Pretty awesome. (Excuse the rough edges on the joins while they cure) 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/LB6GVct.jpg
 

I need to sort out heads, as the "bat winged" versions belong to sergeants and above only, being symbols of rank.

 

[Forté]

Could just leave the heads till the end of March when the Terror Squad heads get released.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Could just leave the heads till the end of March when the Terror Squad heads get released.

 

Not a bad idea! 

 

I'll certainly mix a few others in (I already have a Legion of the Damned MK6 beaky skull one) for variety. 

[Inquisitor Engel]

I had some fun assembling things last night. 

 

Meet Henrikys Rezil, Commander of the Night Lords Strike Cruiser "Signum Lamenti," Commanding Lieutenant of the Terran Claws, 2nd Chapter, 5th Company.

 

I've decided to use the Palatine Blade swords in a lot of cases because with the filigree removed, they actually look quite brutal - made for slicing and fine cuts... like skinning fallen enemies and whatnot. They also look quite aerodynamic and so fit on my Night Raptors well too. The head is from the Legion Praetors box, the body from the Legion Champion, and the right arm is from the MKIV command set.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Inquisitor Engel