Khorne's Eternal Hunt - KrautScientist's chaotic WIP thread 2024: Baby steps...

[Nemac Vradon]

That contemptor looks great Kraut, the Ursus Claw is awesome and the head fits really well :tu:

 

Nemac

[KrautScientist]

Thanks, guys! :)

 

Brother Aiwass: Cheers, although it's less of a return and more of an oscillating between at least half a dozen projects at any given point in time -- call me King Butterfly... ;)

[Charlo]

Fully sincere on the beard, looks awesome :D

 

As does that Harpoon :o

[Augustus b'Raass]

Holy crap, that head-twist makes such a difference!

As you know, I PMd you a suggestion of altering the angle of his body slightly upward:

Hidden Content

 

Don't get me wrong, I think you did an amazing job with him. But like Angron before him, I think the angle of his body suggests a speed that isn't articulated in the way his legs are posed. In other words; he is falling over, because his right leg wouldn't step forward fast enough to 'compensate' for the forward momentum his body's angle is suggesting, becauese the knee isn't bent wuite well enough to prevent his toe from scraping the ground - and subsequently tripping him. In yet other other words, I think his pose overall absolutely conveys his lumbering forward - it's just that the angle of his entire body relative to the ground suggests running - so the two speeds (lumbering and running) are both conveyed by different aspects of the model, and that doesn't jive quite well with my mind, which short-circuits. I really think that if you tilt him slightly more backwards, say 5 degrees, that it'd make a huge difference in the way I see him right now. 

... but that head change actually is a far more subtle -yet equally effective - change. Kudos! :tu:

[KrautScientist]

@ Auggs: So glad you like the pose better now! I think the turned head works really well -- and as you know, I am pretty fond of the way the upper body is angled forwards, leaning into the stride.

 

 

So here's a little intermezzo, so to speak: My good friend Annie was awesome enough to give me her old metal Be'lakor model as a birthday present, which really rocks! I had been trying to talk her into letting me have that model for ages, and now it's finally MINE! So during our joint hobby session yesterday, this happened:

 

 

 

It was always clear to me that I would be using the same red skin recipe on him I've used for the rest of my daemons so far, which also makes him look a bit more Khornate (always a plus! ;) ). This is further compounded by the sword: The stock weapon had been damaged beyond repair, so I swapped in a Bloodletter champ's weapon as a replacement. And while I was at it, I added some additional subtle touches that make his changed allegiance a bit more obvious ;)

 

So here's what he looks like today, in the daylight:

 

 

 

Still a couple of details left to paint and some cleanup left to be done, but I think I am getting there. As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Daemon2027]

I love that metal Be'lakor, and he looks really good in red. The Chaos star looks good, like its heated metal.

[Sagentus]

Be'lakor looks ace! really like the effect on the sword 

[Nemac Vradon]

He looks great KS, I think I actually prefer him in red :tu:

 

Nemac

[Joe]

Man, I'd forgotten how much I loved the old metal Bloodletters. Don't suppose you've got an old metal Bloodthirster hidden away somewhere? ;)

[Augustus b'Raass]

Nice! That Be'Lakor really is the best DP, isn't it? 

 

I love what you did to his sword - but you also swapped his right hand, right? At least it looks like it, because his right hand is noticably smaller than his left. He's like a lefty Trump, now! ;) :p teehee, gotta love it :D

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot, guys! :)

 

@ Daemon2027: Heated metal, eh? That's great, because that's basically the effect I was gunning for!

 

@ Sagentus: Cheers, man! It has become my trademark effect for daemon swords, basically ;)

 

@ Nemac Vraddon: Haha, yeah: He looks like a bigger Bloodletter anyway, doesn't he? ;)

 

@ Henricus Institoris: I used to, but I sorta kinda gave him away -- after seeing Augustus' brilliant retro Thirster(s), though, I have half a mind to give that old chestnut a spin one of these days...

 

@ Auggs: Believe it or not, that's his original hand (along with the original sword grip, actually): Only the blade and pommel from the Bloodletter sword have been carefully grafted on. I had originally planned to just use the Bloodletter hand as well, but it turned out to be even smaller -- distractingly so, in fact.

 

And yeah, best Daemon Prince model ever!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Actually I couldn't believe it, as it looks so small! But I looked at my own Be'Lakor and that's just the mini, indeed. I hate that I spotted this, as now I cannot unsee it - and think of Trump's baby hands lol 

 

But what I do get out f this is even more respect for the way you integrated the bloodletter sword into the original parts. It's seamless, so well done! 

[Pyroclast91]

Wow I just got done doing a little catching up since I've been gone for a while and sweet beard of russ have you done some amazing work in that time. Your conversions as always are amazing matched only by your paint jobs I'll definitely be looking to your Death Guard for inspiration while painting my own.

[KrautScientist]

@ Auggs: Aw, shucks, that is so nice of you to say ;) However, enough with the Trump shout outs already ;)

 

@ Pyroclast91: Cheers, mate! There'll be more Death Guard in a minute!

 

Before that, however, here's a fun thing that just happened: While working on Be'lakor, I accidentally knocked him off my desk and he broke apart in the most spectacular fashion imaginable. And for a moment, I was on the verge of just throwing the parts in a box and never look at them again.

 

Fortunately enough, I persevered and repaired the damage, and now he's basically looking none the worse for wear. Phew.

 

 

 

 

In any case, however, I'll be putting the last few finishing touches off until I trust my hands again... o_O

 

So, as for the Death Guard, thanks to an amazing trade with fellow Frather BubblesMcBub, a nice hefty box arrived on my doorstep today, containing the bigger part of the DG models from the Dark Imperium release. YAY!

 

 

It'll be interesting to see the "official" models next to my converted Plague Marines! Plus I find myself liking the Poxwalkers more and more the longer I look at them -- the level of detail on those guys is just insane! Thanks a lot to BubblesMcBub for agreeing to this! You rock, mate! :)

 

And while we're speaking of BubblesMcBub, I have just completed the finishing touches on the conversion for our mutual August Arena challenge:

 

 

 

It turns out I had one of those bigger oval bases in my bitzbox, which should be great for giving the model a bit more space to breathe on its base! And since it was suggested over at the Arena thread to add a Nurgling to the model, I did that as well: Thanks to an ebay mixup, I ended up with an extra copy of the Noxious Blighrtbringer model, and that guy had just the thing I needed:

 

 

So the Lord has a little assistant now, hanging onto the bike for dear life -- while obviously having the time of his life as well ;)

 

 

I am really looking forward to getting some paint on this model! :)

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

 

[Biohazard]

Belakor is one of those models I've loved for years but never picked up for some unknown reason. He looks great with that skin recipe. :tu: have to say though he's smaller than I thought. I've never actually seen him in the flesh.

I think you should definitely pick up one of the Classic Thirsters if you can. Would be interesting to see what you do with it

Edited July 12, 2017 by Biohazard

[Joe]

@ Henricus Institoris: I used to, but I sorta kinda gave him away -- after seeing Augustus' brilliant retro Thirster(s), though, I have half a mind to give that old chestnut a spin one of these days...

You definitely should! I love the new Bloodthirster model, but the old design will always hold a special place in my half, especially after the awesome depiction it had in Mark of Chaos for WHFB.

 

http://archive.gamedev.net/images.gamedev.net/features/art/warhammer/whcharactersketch.jpg

[Kordhal]

Woah that Belakor is looking gorgeous! Loving the contrast between the deep red and the bright blue of his blade! Am really excited to see what you come up with the Dark Imperium Nurgle guys, and the biker lord is looking ace!

[Marius Perdo]

Taken a while to read through everything you have done since I last looked (over a year ago). Great stuff, very inspiring.

Especially the adding of a face/bald head to the top of the DV Chosen power axe ribcage outside guy, and using the bottom part or the helm as a re-breather mask. Now that was insightful.

So I have sort of borrowed that for a Slaaneshi Havoc as I think that tongue works for Nurgle or Slaanesh ;)

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot, guys! :)

 

@ Biohazard: It was the exact way for me with Be'lakor, which is why I am extra happy to finally have been given a chance to have him in my collection. And yes, he's a bit short for a Daemon Prince by modern standards -- it's really the model's only shortcoming, if you ask me. I love most of the stuff GW do today, but Be'lakor - along with Juan Diaz' CSM Daemon Prince and the old Archaon model - is one of those models that show that maybe one of the most important thing to make fantastic models is restraint. And many of GW's designs seem to completely lack any kind of restraint these days.

 

@ Henricus: I will say that I am not as in love with the classic Bloodthirster as I used to be, and in many ways, the new plastic model seems like a more than worthy upgrade to me. The thing that brought me back around to liking the model again was seeing Augustus' really sweet paintjob on it, and I'm not sure whether it's worth it just to strive for a copy of a paintjob that is already perfect. We shall see. It's definitely not a priority by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Really like the concept artwork, though! :)

 

@ Kordhal: Cheers, mate!

 

@ Marius Perdo: Thanks a lot! Love your latest conversions, as I just said on your own thread as well! ;)

[K0rtmer]

Perfect. The biker lord is exactly right, will fit in beautifully with your Plague Marines and with the new GW line in general. To me, the Nurgling really completes it, gives the bike (which is one of the kits that hasn't aged too well) just the right "feel" to tie it together with its rider. I'm loving all of it.

I guess you'll be sticking to the paint scheme you worked out for your Plague Marines? If so, how about the bike itself? I feel you could be running the risk of losing detail with a paint job too uniform across both the bike and its rider? - How about painting the lord in a different color than your rank-and-file troops, like off-white or something? The bike itself could then be green? 

[BubblesMcBub]

Awesome job on the Be'lakor! Never seen him red before but man it makes him cool.

Happy the death guard models arives (wich is actually a lot sooner then i would have thought wich is cool!

 

The nurgling really gives the build a lot more caracter! Can't wait to see it painted. I think Brother Kortmers idea for painting the bike the green you painted you plague marines and the rider a diffirent color is a really good idea!

Edited July 13, 2017 by BubblesMcBub

[Vairocanum]

The addition of the nurgling on the bike is fantastic, definitely going to steal that idea for future use. Red on Be'lakor also looks amazing, a really great paint job. Looking forward to seeing what you do for the bases of both models!

[Sagentus]

That biker looks ace! the nurgling on the back hitching a ride lol. look forward to seeing it painted :) 

[KrautScientist]

Thanks, guys!

 

@ Brother Kortmer: That is some excellent food for thought about the paintjob, mate, and clearly something I will have to bear in mind. Not perfectly sure off white is the way to go, though, mainly because it would lessen the contrast with the model's copious amount of bare kin. That being said, thanks to your comment, I realise that making sure the rider stands out enough is of utmost importance! And maybe the helmet could be in a different colour (pure bronze, for instance), to better draw the eye?

 

@ BubblesMcBub: Haha, yeah -- I was giddy with anticipation, so it still felt like an age, but you're right: It was pretty fast. I didn't waste any time, though, as you'll be seeing in a minute! Thanks again, mate!

 

@ Vairocanum & Sagentus: Cheers, guys!

 

So yesterday marked my first foray into having some fun with the new Death Guard models from Dark Imperium, and in what may be a slightly surprising move, I actually started with the models I liked the least:

 

For instance, I've really grown rather fond of the Poxwalkers, both because the level of detail on them is incredible and because most of their strangeness - such as the strange angles of their limbs, their manic grins etc. - is actually explained really well by their background. Some of the models are still a bit too out there, though, among them the one in the torn hazmat suit. So I tried to subtly improve him:

 

 

Now this may not seem like a huge change, but I am far more happy with the model now: Here's what I did:

 

• The oxygen tank messing up the model's silhouette was cut off and reattached to the model's back.
• The hand holding the plague knife was rotated, so it looks less weird
• On the other hand, the left arm and head were tweaked to actually make them look weirder: The disease is what mutates these guys and locks their joints at strange angles, right? Now in my imagination, the Poxwalkers' moving should be full of weird twitching and spastic cramps -- like something out of Jacob's Ladder or Silent Hill. Which is why I carefully bent the arm to look even more unnatural. And I significantly changed the angle of the head to make it look like it too was subject to the strange cramps and twitches of the body.

In other news, I also started working on the Malignant Plaguecaster:

 

 

 

Now this guy is still WIP, but at least I have started to work on all the areas that bothered me on the stuck model: The strange cherub-like face has been covered up with a rebreather (the hood even has a small indentation in exactly the right spot, which was an awesome coincidence). I turned the staff into something less toylike. And I do think the right arm works better at a different angle -- still need to find a replacement hand, though...

 

As always, let me know what you think!

Edited July 14, 2017 by KrautScientist

[Augustus b'Raass]

GREAT job with the Plague caster. With a few simple alterations, you've turned a childishly comical miniature into something resembling an actual Plague Marine.

It's just a pleasure to see your subtle work.