Chaos Lord on Bike WIP

[techsoldaten]

I have been running a Chaos Lord on a Bike as part of my army for a while now, and have finally gotten around to converting an actual model for him. Wanted to share some pictures and my thinking here, since modeling the wargear has required some scratch work.

This model is a Black Legion Chaos Lord on a Bike, carrying the Black Mace, and he will have the Mark of Slaanesh and the Sigil of Corruption. He's been given a dramatic pose, pausing to bark orders at the other members of his army while erecting his mace in a menacing fashion.

I have an idea of a backstory for this guy, and see him as being brutal, petty and obsessive. His bike is (or will be) adorned with extra weapons and trophy-rack spikes that attest to his capricious nature.

The model is currently in 3 pieces plus a lot of bits. There is the bike, the lord himself, and the cape / backpack. Some of the items in the pics, such as the helmet, the whip and the bolter, are simply pinned in right now. Missing are a bunch of spikes, skulls and chains that will be part of the final model.

To build the lord, I used Terminator legs and a Chaos breastplate. I molded a back to the chest using greenstuff, just to give it depth. The back cannot really be seen on the model, but it does include some details as trim around the edges. The Terminator legs were used because they were so huge, I wanted to give him a sense of massiveness that you don't get from the standard biker legs. I sculpted the arms using ones from the Chaos SM sprues. The hands for each were sculpted using Super Sculpty. This was my first time using SS, and would definitely use Greenstuff instead for the detailed bits as SS doesn't handle sharp corners very well in comparison.

The mace was scratch built using Super Sculpty. I rolled a long cylinder of the stuff for the shaft, a round bit for the head, and 4 smaller rolls for the parts around the ball at the top. Before I am done, I will add some additional details to it, probably including a small chaos icon hanging from a rope. The pointed finger was done by drilling a hole into the hand, pinning it with a staple, and pushing clay around it to form a finger.

I used an Imperial bike for the model in order to make the model stand out a bit compared to the other bikers on my force. While it's a little hard to see, I did sculpt some details into the forward greaves, including some pointy arrows and flames. These will be done up as metal in the final model. The bike is missing some spikes on the front and back, which will be added to the final model (you can see where the spikes will go on the back from the overhead pic). I kept all the bits off in order to make him simpler to paint.

As you can see, I already started painting the lord using a wet-blending method. This is how I do most of my Black Legion troops, it's hard to show details on black and the greys make it easier to pick out details around battle damage. I will get some photos with better light before I am done, the pictures don't really do the armor justice. I plan on putting the Sigil on his left shoulder pad by painting several thin concentric circles in white, adding some runes, and finishing it with some kind of a glow effect.

Anyways, will keep you updated, and would love to know what everyone thinks!

[tvih]

Looking good so far! The pose is nice and the green stuff additions work well. Probably should get rid of those mould lines on the twin-linked bolters though :cuss

 

I've been considering a bike version of my Khorne Lord if the Juggernaut + Chaos Spawn combo doesn't really work out, but I'm not sure where I'll find a suitable-looking plastic upper torso etc. to mount on a bike.

[Attomsk]

Small question, what is his left hand doing? Shouldn't it be holding the handlebars? It looks like he is actually falling off his bike at the current time.

[techsoldaten]

Looking good so far! The pose is nice and the green stuff additions work well. Probably should get rid of those mould lines on the twin-linked bolters though :P

 

I've been considering a bike version of my Khorne Lord if the Juggernaut + Chaos Spawn combo doesn't really work out, but I'm not sure where I'll find a suitable-looking plastic upper torso etc. to mount on a bike.

Yeah, the hunt for parts on Chaos Lords hasn't been very easy for me. Like with the Mace, I could have taken one off a Terminator, but I use those for Terminators, and it's kind of huge compared to the CL himself.

 

If you are kitbashing, there is a fantasy Juggernaught rider model that has a pretty cool torso:

 

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/...Id=prod1710158a

 

I thought about using this guy, but have other plans for him...

[techsoldaten]

Small question, what is his left hand doing? Shouldn't it be holding the handlebars? It looks like he is actually falling off his bike at the current time.

Ah, yes, I could see why that would seem unclear.

 

He's pointing with his left hand, there's a finger extended. It should stand out better when the paint is complete.

 

The reason the bike looks like it is about to fall is that the Chaos Lord is stopped and stepping off it. He's barking orders at his minions while he decides what to oppress.

[tvih]

If you are kitbashing, there is a fantasy Juggernaught rider model that has a pretty cool torso

He's going to be my Juggernaut version. On order, but hasn't arrived yet! Not that great for converting to a biker at least without damaging the original, because the legs and torso are one piece according to pics I found. And given his price, damaging him is about the last thing I'm gonna do! Probably the only conversion is going to be hit right forearm, since he won't have the shield obviously. Something removable instead, probably gonna give him the Burning Brand flamer.

 

But I suppose Fantasy models would be the best bet for a bike conversion too. I considered the Skullcrushers of Khorne kit given its similar style to the Lord, plus it's plastic and thus the torsos would be separate and usable. Not sure if the legs could be mounted on a bike without cutting them to pieces. It's something to consider because I'd rather keep them mountable on the juggernaut itself if I ever got into Fantasy Battles (unlikely considering the cost plus apparently no one really plays it around here these days). And also because just mounting the fantasy upper torso on the regular biker legs would be quite a mismatch in style. But of course the biggest problem is that the kit costs 46 euros and I'd only need one rider model from it!

 

I reckon in the end it'd be wiser and cheaper to just try to get some suitable Fantasy infantry leg & torso bits to convert from eBay or such. Or a Khorne Berzerker could do in a pinch, but it would require some additional work to make it more Lord-worthy.

[techsoldaten]

I reckon in the end it'd be wiser and cheaper to just try to get some suitable Fantasy infantry leg & torso bits to convert from eBay or such. Or a Khorne Berzerker could do in a pinch, but it would require some additional work to make it more Lord-worthy.

That's the hard part about the updates to the Codex, putting together models that reflect the new armies we want to build. Part of the reason I thought it was important to share this WIP thread if I figured I am not the only person in this situation.

 

Besides Doomrider, there are no models that really looked 'worthy' for a Chaos Lord on a Bike, but I have been using one in almost every game I have played in 6th edition. Under the old Codex, I never would have put one on a bike, and having to come up with the bits and inspiration is turning out to be work. I probably spent a month thinking about what I would use and how he would be posed before I started in on this model.

 

Looking forward to seeing this one done, the great thing is when all the bits and ideas come together it's a downhill battle. I hope to have him painted and mounted before the end of the weekend. Then I am moving on to a Biker Sorcerer, who should be easier since he will be wearing robes.