Night Lords "Tenebrous Winter" (GREY KNIGHT 08/12)

[Soldier of Dorn]

Really surprised I haven't commented before, since I've been following this plog since the day I joined B&C, but here we are. If I haven't commented, let me just say how much I *love* your highlighting skills. It's absolutely insane how cleanly you can do them, and how awesome your minis always end up looking due to it. Just... it's awesome, and I'm a total fanboy for it. Them being Night Lords is just a bonus. I wish I had the fine motor control to be able to do things like that.

 

Commander looks awesome, and it's funny that you bought the DV Librarian just for the hand, because there have been multiple occasions on which I've almost done the same thing. Any particular reason you're not using the head shown in the previous set of pictures, or do you just not like it? In any event, I look forward to seeing him finished. Just don't forget to vow him for ETL. ;)

[Brother Pheidias]

Sorceror is looking amazing, and I know the pain of needing just the right bit for something. The Rapiers are looking suitably brutal by the way!

[AlanofAngels]

@The Psycho: Thanks dude! That means a ton! The highlights are basically how I've always painted, and Emperor knows I've painted so many different navy-blue armies that I hope I have the dang color down by now

I'm being super picky right now with this dude because I've been looking forward to this model for quite a while! And chaos has so many cool bits it's just tough to choose! I think I've found what I want below, though.

@Pheidias: Thanks man! I'm glad you like those rapiers! My autocannon barrel swap certainly seems popular!

Hey fellas (and ladies)! While I've been waiting for ETL to start I've been putzing around with a couple of different head options. The first is one is a FW berzerker upgrade helmet, converted with a small strip down the center and the bunny ears cut off:

The second option, and the one I'm leaning a lot more towards, is one of the FW Raptor heads, with some small modifications to the wings on the mask, primarily cutting them down a little bit but leaving them big enough they are still the main feature:

And just for , here's my favorite of the two mocked up on the model itself:

I still haven't decided which direction to have his head facing, but it's pretty much between the two above since looking straight ahead would look pretty goofy I think! I'm super stoked to start this fella so more to come soon! And of course, an ETL pledge to be coming for him, hopefully tomorrow!

[Dantay VI]

I prefer te second one, but only marginally. The first one, makes him look like he is sneaking around on tip toes and is peaking round a corner or a door that he has prodded open with the sword.

 

The second pose to me is slightly better but the casting arm looks angled too low.

 

Oh yeah been lurking for a while, your Night Lords are phenomenal!! :tu:

[Olis]

I'll go with the flow. That second head seems like the right option to me. :)

[Augustus b'Raass]

I prefer the second option, because of the 'casting hand'. But I still wonder: why did you go through all the trouble of getting that arm, and then not use it to make a 'casting stance'?

[Dantay VI]

Looks more like a dropping motion, like letting a body part fall to the ground to complete a ritual or something similar.

[GrandMagnus]

OK, I will have to be honest that I love the berserker heads without the bunny ears. They look so gruesome with the teeth in the mouth grille and I think you could make it look really fearsome with some terror markings. However it's your mini so whatever floats your boat. 

 

In regards to the pose it's hard to choose, both are good options, however I do think the first pose would look great if the sword hand was turned so it crossed his chest. Just a thought.

 

Oh and you do know that chaos doesn't stand a chance in the ETL against the Codex faction, right, you heretic? :P

[Flint13]

Looking great man!

 

You and Kizzdougs just need to get together and have a freakishly clean high light competition. 

[Knight of the Raven]

I vote for the berzeker helmet, but that's because I dislike the Night Lords' bat helmets.

[AlanofAngels]

@Olis: Thanks brotha!

@Augustus: Yeah, I think as Dantay mentioned I am gonna angle the casting arm up a little bit so that should make the pose a bit more appealing! These photos just have a few quick-pinned mock ups for a general idea.
@Dantay: That's an excellent idea too!
@Magnus: You better check yourself, you loyalist scum! Yeah it was a hard choice honestly, but rest assured the berzerker helm will find use in this army, even if not on this model!
@Flint: Hahahahah, it would be a true battle for the ages
@Raven: I was %100 the same way before Forgeworld started making NL upgrades. I remember the original GW sculpts were just awful, but I actually really like these ones, since the wings are a bit more subdued. I'll take on the challenge to make you hate it less!

As I mentioned, I settled on the Night Lord raptor helmet, but I think the berzerker helmet may make an appearance as I build this army to 1,850

And, to quote my post in the Chaos Strategium (sorry Flint ):

I, Alan of the 91^st Company Night Lords, rise to the challenge of E TENEBRAE LUX and vow to complete 1 Chaos Sorcerer (with Mastery 3, Last Memory of Yuranthos, Spell Familiar and Aura of Dark Glory) from Codex: Chaos Space Marines of total value 170 Points on or before August 15th, 2016. Success will bring eternal glory to Chaos and the VIII^th and failure will doom me to bear the Badge of the Oathbreaker until the year-end.

ALL GLORY TO CHAOS AND THE FALLEN LEGIONS!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Du us proud, brother! And don't worry about that fool-witch Flint. She can't let go of the past. We of the true legion know that humanity's true vindication lies with the universal truth. Ave Dominus Nox. ;)

 

(I'm going to get some backlash about this... :d )

[AlanofAngels]

@Augustus: Thanks man! Yeah I kinda figure if Flint can't just accept that 10,000 year truth, I sure as can't change her mind!

Making some good progress on the Sorcerer!

I got a decent amount done today, basically out of %100 excitement to finally be painting him

I plan on making even more progress tomorrow on the fella, so a ton more to come! Thanks for lookin'!

[AlanofAngels]

What's up y'all! With my time off, I managed to finish up my Sorcerer (in record time, for me)

And some closeups from various angles:

The Sword

As you can probably tell by the fact that I took a million photos, I'm in love with this feller! For me, holding off painting him until the end was definitely worth the wait! In general, I went for a bit more of a blinged out dude compared to my rank and file, but I didn't want him to be too over the top that he barely fit in anymore. Despite myself, I went for the gold on the already OTT raptor helmet since I thought that would look pretty badass as a mask, with almost a "samurai from hell" kind of feel

Typically, I like to paint my power weapons blue with that "sheen" to it (like grey knights on the GW box art), but I figured that would be way too much blue for the model and it wouldn't contrast at all so I went for a bit more of an "earthy" blade. I still threw some turquoise color near the base of the sword near that circuit piece to make it look less like it is solely metal.

Anyways, enough of my jibber jabberin!

With this guy finished, it marks the completion of my 1,000 point Night Lord list!! I've got some ideas in mind to push it up to 1,750 so you'll have to stay tuned, and I think up next should be a Contemptor (who may or may not be in the mail already)

Since I've reached my army's first milestone, I think this a good time to mention how amazing the community is here. The ability to be inspired by everyone's awesome work and interact with the artists on here personally is one of the coolest parts of the hobby for me. Suffice to say, this is furthest I've ever made it in an army project (somewhat due to hobby ADD ) and the feedback and inspiration I receive here is one of the biggest factors in motivation. Being exposed to everyone's ideas and creativity makes for the best hobby forum on the web!

TL:DR, B&C YOU ARE THE BEST!

...and much more to come

[Kizzdougs]

Amazing work as always :tu:

[recon0321]

Wow so awesome

[Kierdale]

Fantastic work. :tu:

The mask is excellent and I think you made a great choice with a metallic blade.

[Midnightmare]

Beautiful work mate, massive kudos :tu: :tu: :tu:

 

EDIT: Group shot of the finished 1k? ;)

[Iron Bars]

Thats a lovely commander, not over the top but conveying a sense of dread anyway.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Lovely, lovely model. I love your repose of the casting arm. You've ended up with a thoroughly convincing badass sorcerer there.  

 

Congrats on finishing your 1000 pts list! I recently experienced the feeling of making a list and finishing it firsthand, and I'm very happy for you to experience it yourself. Kudo's!!

 

I totally agree on the quality of and inspiration through the B&C. We're awesome! ;)

[BrotherJim]

Well said brother! Well painted too! It's all just pretty well awesome. Really love these fellows, congrats on achieving your goal!

[Flint13]

"Samurai from hell" is probs the coolest description I've heard this week :D

[Soldier of Dorn]

Wow... amazing work, brother, both in finishing this model and your 1000 point list (Lord knows I've never made it that far. :P) I look forward to everything the future will bring!

[GrandMagnus]

Great work, brother! And congratulations with reaching the 1000 point milestone, an achievement I have yet to complete (soon hopefully!) The mini looks super cool, the face mask in particular is eye catching. I regards to the sword I think you made the right decition going with a metallic blade and a blue sheen around the.. ehm... power-node-thingy. Also, you definetly need to tell me how you painted that sword.

 

I'll be looking forward to see that contemptor and see the best night lords army on the forum grow larger. Keep on rocking!

[Olis]

Marvelous job brother, simply marvelous. :tu: