Space Wolves Dreadnoughts and Company Heraldry

[Forgefather]

So, after 7 days of anxious waiting and camping the mailbox, my Dreads arrived. I'm now a proud owner of a Forge World Space Wolves Dreadnought, and a Contemptor Dreadnought with Lascannon and Dreadnought Close Combat Arm. I know, I know, I should've bought the melta-arm, but eh, I'll order it and use some magnets to be able to swap the arms around. Anyway!

 

I've encounters problems along the way of building them, and the problems were many and diverse. Of the two, I constructed the Space Wolves Dreadnought first; they even tossed in a construction guide. Not that it was needed, but still. But when I started on the Contemptor Dread, I noticed I had neither construction manual, nor could I find one online. And trust me, when you open the box without a guide, and you see FOUR FEET, you panic. I know I did. So I spend 20 minutes looking at Contemptor Dread pics just to find out which piece was the groin piece. Anyway, apparently I didn't use enough glue, cause I had to glue it back together 4 times at least. I'll make sure to pin the next one.

 

So, six hours later, my Contemptor was constructed. And then came the hard part. I started to think about conversions and painting. Since it was going to be a Space Wolves dread, it just really had to have a few things; Wolf Tail talismans (more than one), Wolf tail Necklace (one to two), and a fur pelt (again, one or two). I drew up a few schematics and design art for the dread, and got down to work. I decided he should have a large fur cloak between his legs, a necklace on top of that. Of course, the other necklace would be placed around his neck or around his arm.

 

Now, the real problem is that I never really got to work with Greenstuff. Making a teeny-tiny necklace complete with fangs, runestones, rings, and perhaps a herb-bag might really be overkill. A fur cloak/patch might be easier, but looking at the banner included with the Space Wolves Forge World Dread more or less made me worry. I'm still looking for a plastic variant, and I'll probably end up harvesting all of my unused Space Wolf bits. There's got to be SOMETHING usable in there. Or so I hope.

 

The conversions itself are fairly straightforward. Besides the lack of skill, I don't really worry about 'em. Sure, I'm probably going to practice on a few test models (I've got a nice little Dreadknight here that's just waiting to be hijacked by more Blood Claws -- naughty troublemakers all of 'em), and I hope it'll come out alright in a few.

 

 

Now, off to a more confusing matter. Heraldry and painting. My Space Wolves are painted Shadow Grey, sparsely using gold or metal colours, spot coloured red-orange-yellow. Claws, power weapons, gems; everything's painted a burning yellow, much like the old Terminators used to be painted. It really brings out the model, and my Dreads will be painted in the same colour. The Dreadnought Close Combat arms will be given claws, and those will be painted in the same burning colours; the plasma cannon details will be picked out in bright yellow colours too, to really make it stand out.

 

The problem is heraldry. I don't know if a Dreadnought is part of the Wolf Guard. Perhaps the model was a Blood Claw before he was placed in the Dreadnought. Grey Hunter, Wolf Lord, Great Wolf, or Long Fang is more likely though. Even so, would a Grey Hunter be promoted to Wolf Guard when he is interned into a Dreadnought? Well, guess that's pretty much up to personal lore, and I'm free to make it up as I go along. It's probably going to be a Wolf Guard or Grey Hunter, though.

 

But what about Company heraldry? Is a Dreadnought still part of his old Company, even though he's now in the care of the Great Company? He would only be woken up when he's needed, and as such I wonder how strong his ties would be to a Company that has changed every time he wakes up. Maybe he enjoys being promoted into the Great Company? Or perhaps his ties to his old Company and his own, personal heraldry are too strong to break. It's a matter of pride, and the Wolves are known to show their colours proudly at all times.

 

So, long story short;

 

- Is a Space Wolves Dreadnought part of his own Company, of the Great Company?

-Would he wear personal heraldry, or that of his company? Both, perhaps?

-Does anyone have a guide on greenstuff fur pelt crafting? Or a decent one in general?

 

-FF out

 

Edit: I'll put some WIP pics on, plus the design drawings I made for the model sooner or later.

[hendrik]

- Is a Space Wolves Dreadnought part of his own Company, of the Great Company?

-Would he wear personal heraldry, or that of his company? Both, perhaps?

-Does anyone have a guide on greenstuff fur pelt crafting? Or a decent one in general?

 

-FF out

 

Edit: I'll put some WIP pics on, plus the design drawings I made for the model sooner or later.

1) dreadnoughts belong to the great wolf's company, and are only awoken when in dire need, unlike what the tabletop game suggests if i recall correctly

 

2) the artwork on battle of the fang contains a dreadnought with mixed heraldry if i recall. the old Bjorn dreadnought also uses a banner with himself on it killing a snake i believe

 

3) a quick searchy will give quite some results if i'm not mistaken

 

hope this helps

[Forgefather]

Yeap. http://z2.invisionfree.com/herdstone/index...showtopic=15357 seems to give a fairly decent greenstuff guide to furs. Now just the necklaces!

[Russ Brother 92]

Yeap. http://z2.invisionfree.com/herdstone/index...showtopic=15357 seems to give a fairly decent greenstuff guide to furs. Now just the necklaces!

 

hah you beat me to it - there's also this one: Sculpting a Wolf Cloak TUT

 

idk about necklaces - methinks they should be a LOT easier.

[GalaxyChief]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that they wear the pack and company markings from when they were still walking around in their bodies. But as stated a couple of posts up they all belong to the Great Wolf's company.

[PupLord]

Hi.

 

The tutorials already mentioned for sculpting fur are great.

 

As for necklaces, I would suggest not sculpting them at all. Instead on a dreadnought scale I would personally use a guitar string or thin copper wire. They don't cost much, are easy to work with and justifiable on dreadnought scale. Then if you want to add details, you can easily use the out-of-the-box plastic wolf tail talismans or wolf skulls or even try and sculpt a few claws or "stone tokens" from greenstuff.

 

Hope this helps!

 

-Pup

[Forgefather]

As for necklaces, I would suggest not sculpting them at all. Instead on a dreadnought scale I would personally use a guitar string or thin copper wire. They don't cost much, are easy to work with and justifiable on dreadnought scale. Then if you want to add details, you can easily use the out-of-the-box plastic wolf tail talismans or wolf skulls or even try and sculpt a few claws or "stone tokens" from greenstuff.

 

Hope this helps!

 

-Pup

 

I think the problem with using guitar string is the texture. It's great for cables or fuel-cables used on the models, but I worry it's not smooth enough for rope, wire, something like that.

 

...Unless, of course you're talking about acoustic guitar strings, and I'm talking about electric ones.

[hendrik]

you can always use the necklaces that hangs underneath one of the normal space wolves breastplates, quick and easy ;)

[PupLord]

As for necklaces, I would suggest not sculpting them at all. Instead on a dreadnought scale I would personally use a guitar string or thin copper wire. They don't cost much, are easy to work with and justifiable on dreadnought scale. Then if you want to add details, you can easily use the out-of-the-box plastic wolf tail talismans or wolf skulls or even try and sculpt a few claws or "stone tokens" from greenstuff.

 

Hope this helps!

 

-Pup

 

I think the problem with using guitar string is the texture. It's great for cables or fuel-cables used on the models, but I worry it's not smooth enough for rope, wire, something like that.

 

...Unless, of course you're talking about acoustic guitar strings, and I'm talking about electric ones.

 

It shouldn't matter whether you use acoustic or electric guitar strings as long as the ones used are the three with the highest pitch (E, B, G usually). The thickness of acoustic strings is better though in my oppinion. Or just be smart and do as Hendrik suggests :yes:

 

-Pup

[Forgefather]

Aye, they're indeed smooth and tiny cables. I'll keep it in mind (in my defence, though, I've been playing a bass guitar for years, while I hardly ever touch a guitar - but aye, you were right) and I'll give it a few tries. As to the chestplate: I generally just buy what I need. I only have a single unused wolf packback left at the moment and it's one without a necklace bit. Then again, I still want to build a plastic Rune Priest and Iron Priest, so I guess I'll be off to the stores sooner or later. ...And I want to build a plastic Rune Priest from the Wolf Guard kit, too... hnnrg. This hobby is getting too expensive.

 

Anyway, I've so far seen some pretty decent modeling tips and frankly, I think I'll be fine. That just leaves heraldry. I've decided that it was a Wolf Guard that was interred into the Dreadnought's sarcophagus, and will as such continue to wear Wolf Guard heraldry. He will also become part of the Great Company, but used to be part of Harald Deathwolf's Company. Now, I was thinking about painting his close combat arm (just the lower bit), right shoulder and left kneepad in Wolf Guard colours (yellow/black triangles), with the left shoulder picturing the Great Wolf's Great Company Mark (The Wolf That Stalks Between Stars). I was also thinking about using his right kneepad for either the Deathwolf's Company mark, or something of a small icon (perhaps indicating campaign, squad, assignment, or something likewise -- perhaps I could add this patch throughout the army to give it something in common).

 

I was wondering if this might perhaps just be a bit too much. Most of the Contemptor Dreads I've seen so far were pretty plain, and I'll have to keep in mind that this one will already be loaded with a wolf fur or two and trophies. Perhaps all this heraldry will make him look more like a walking colour circle rather than an ancient protector. Perhaps I just ought to use the heraldry sparingly and stick to a single kneecap or arm/shoulder. Opinions are, as always, welcome.

 

That said, what do you guys think about the helmet? I feel like I should either paint it like the rest of the model (and the rest of the army's helmets for that matter), or go to town with it and perhaps swap it with a wolf-shaped helmet or paint it in a special colour; I just have no idea what or how. Once again, suggestions are welcome, and I'll put up pics sooner or later (I tend to slack on that stuff).