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

[KrautScientist]

Sigh, Frater of this forum, I have become awful about keeping this place updated -- it's been over a year...

 

But on a more positive note, I finally have something to share with you all again, so here goes, right?

 

First up, something relatively smal that has been sitting on my desk: I wanted to build yet another World Eater based on one of those rather massive, Mk. III-wearing plastic Plague Marines. See, I enjoy running and leaping World Eaters as much as the next guy, but I think another really cool visual archetype is for them to be massive and menacing, covered in slabs of spiky armour and sizing you up from across the battlefield. This concept makes for a great contrast in between all of the blood frenzy — so I thought I might have another model like that in me. And here’s the earliest mockup for that model:

 

 

As you can see, the body is still all Plague Marine at this point, with all kinds of pustules and gribblies (as an aside, underneath all of the superficial decoration, it seems to be the EXACT same base sculpt as the one used in my other conversion above).
I mostly used this stage to get an idea of the pose I was going for, as well as the general parts. Two things that worked especially well, even at this early stage, were the very gladiatorial-looking shoulder pad on the Blood Warrior arm (even though I wasn’t as sold on the rest of the arm) and the vicious Mk. VII Forgeworld helmet (very much a Sarum pattern helmet in my head canon).

So the next step was to shave off most of that Nurgle-y detail. I decided to keep some of the wear and tear to the armour, as it seems rather fitting for a member of the XII legion as well. But the tentacles and gooey tubes had to go. I also sorted out the arms at this point, even though I had to nick a new left arm from a previous conversion.

 

Anyway, here’s what I have right now:

 

 

 

The model still needs quite a bit of cleanup, but I am really happy with the core concept! You can just imagine this guy slowly, purposefully advanving towards you on the battlefield, with wild mayhem reigning all around, yet there he is, just oozing menace: He WILL get to you, even if he’s taking his sweet time about it.

 

When it comes to possible additions to the model, I think I’ll want to add some chains to him, maybe even a loop of it running across his breastplate. Some dangling skulls would be cool as well — although the challenge here will be not to overclutter the model or mess up its silhouette. But I think I may be on to something here…

 

In other news, I have suffered a relapse...

 

Long time followers of this thread might be aware that I may have developed a certain…fixation on building models representing the XII legion Primarch.
…
To wit, so far, I have built four of the rascals:

 

 

 

And yes, I am aware of the fact that I was kinda, technically already messing around with a potential number five this time last year, so that was bad enough right? And that official Daemon Primarch Angron will also be happening, eventually, although I am yet able to resist its pull. And then…

Then I saw fellow Reg‘s latest Angron conversion earlier this year, and all my discipline went to hell in a handbasket, as I knew I just needed to build a similar model, mostly using Eightbound parts — in fact, to be quite honest, the thought had been knocking around in the back of my head every since I realised that one of those breastplate designs from the kit looked almost like Angron’s armour anyway…

 

So I threw together a couple of bitz, using an approach very similar to (and heavily inspired by) Reg’s. This was my first mockup:

 

 

The brilliant idea at the heart of Reg’s conversion was to replace the – very Spare Marine-y – lower legs of an Eightbound model with the contoured armour of a Stormcast Eternal. And seeing how I still had quite a few 1st edition Liberators from the AoS starter box knocking about, I replicated that approach. It’s an incredibly quick way of changing a silhouette that instantly invokes an Astartes look into something much more like the unique armour of a Primarch.

 

From there on out, it was mostly a matter of cleaning up the conversion and choosing the right bitz to approximate Forgeworld’s “official” Angron design. So here’s what I have right now, after a rather fruitful recent conversion session:

 

 

 

 

As you may be able to tell, Eightbound parts are doing most of the heavy lifting here: The torso, head, arms and upper thighs are all stock Eightbound bits. The right hand weapon is an Eightbound axe, too, although it was grafted onto a different hand and weapon haft (from the old Dark Vengeance Chosen, if I remember correctly — although the only important thing was for it to be a right-handed weapon). The axe in Angron’s left hand is actually one from the latest plastic Khorne Berzerkers — those things are freaking massive!
The shoulder pads are shaved-down Eightbound leg armour — another very clever idea nicked from Reg (who is, it has to be said, the uncrowned king of Angron conversions, with more than 20 Angron models under his belt at this point…). The cape is from the old FW Lord Zhufor model — I have had that piece in my bitzbox forever, and now the time has finally come to make use of it. It fits rather well, too!

So, what remains to be done? I am currently experimenting with adding vambraces to the model. And there will be chains, of course. I am also planning to add a layer of greenstuff fur over Angron’s shoulders — this should also offer a very nice opportunity to cover up some rough spots.

What I already like a lot is how closely this model follows the design of the “official” Forgeworld model: He even has the bigger and smaller axes, and on the same respective hands as on the official model, too! All in all, this seems like a rather feasible way of making your own plastic Angron!

 

 

And that's it for today. If anyone's still watching it, please let me know what you think!

[Pearson73]

Always cool to see an update on this log!

 

I really love the indomitable brutish take on World Eaters. They're not all whirling lunatics of death and it's mentioned often in the Siege of Terra books just how massive many of the legion had become. The worn and damaged armour seems very appropriate and the helmet is also spot on. It might be the perspective of the shot, but the arm with the heads looks a little stiff?

 

Digging the new Angron build too, I especially like the shattered aquila at the waist. Very cool to see how well the Stormcast legs work.

[Naryn]

Can't tell you how excited I was to see an update to this blog! That Angron is excellent and I love the way the Eightbound kit expands the options for Primarch conversions. Looking forward to seeing this guy evolve!

[Volgon]

Welcome back @KrautScientist! I saw your posts on the World Eaters subreddit and had to rush over here to see if you had posted any updates. Both conversions look great but I am a particular fan of the Berzerker, I'm a real sucker for hulking/menacing and that guy has it in spades.

[grailkeeper]

[Firedrake Cordova]

I like the menace of the Berzerker - as you say, they don't all have to be running into combat, and I always had the mental image of them implacably wading through their foes.

 

Angron #5 looks really good, too. (Insert "I'm Alpharius"-style meme joke here )

[KrautScientist]

Aw, man! You people are just the best -- I always feel so welcome back here, even when I haven't updated the thread in ages... Anyway, many thanks for all your kind words!

 

@Pearson73, yeah, that's exactly how I feel about the characterisation of the XII legion: The running, frenzied guys are great, but the menacing, plodding killers are such a strong visual archetype as well.

 

Regarding the Stormcast legs, I suspect some slightly beefier legs (from more recent Stormcast models) would possibly work even better, but I just had the Liberator bitz, and they were serviceable enough so...

 

@Naryn Thank you kindly!

 

@Volgon Thanks so much!

 

@grailkeeper Oh, stop it, you!

 

@Firedrake Cordova Cheers! Again, couldn't agree more about the pose (and character concept)!

Edited July 18 by KrautScientist

[drakheart]

I think it's safe to say you've been missed.

[KrautScientist]

@drakheart Aw, you're being far too kind!

 

So, quick update: Like I said, I am experimenting with putting some vambraces on Angron. Take a look:

 

 

 

The bitz I have used come from the same Mk. VII Legion Praetor that also supplied the parts for the belt buckle And since they are Horus Heresy era armour bits, they do suit the Heresy era style quite well. You'll see that they don't quite fit yet, because if I commit to using them, I'll have to shave down the manacles on Angron's wrists, so the vambraces can sit more or less flush against his arms.

 

But anyway, what do you think?

 

[grailkeeper]

Before I thought his body proportions were a little off, but this has solved that somehow.

[lionofjudah]

Ahhhh ya man!! I come back from the warp and see a blast from the past:)!! 
lovely work on the new angry Ron and I am a huge fan of your dg to WE conversions

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think they look good. They look a bit "chunky"  (or "raised"), but I think that's due to the tac that I think I can see lurking under them, making them seem a bit raised?

Edited July 22 by Firedrake Cordova

[DuskRaider]

Good to see you’re back, KS! I just happened to look in the WIP section and here you are. Great stuff as always!

[Pearson73]

I think you could go either way with the vambraces. The extra bulk (even when they're fitted properly) will help cement him as a Primarch, and the plate will add the opportunity to vary the colours along the arms when you're painting. 

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the comments and warm words, everyone! This place is just a joy, even after all these years...

 

I have a couple of small updates -- nothing spectacular, but let's keep this thing going while it lasts, shall we?

 

First up, on the matter of the Angron conversion, I have tweaked the vambraces so they sit flush against the arm/wrist, and pulled them down a bit, so they cover the back of the hand, as the design of the plates suggests they should. Take a look:

 

 

 

My plan is to use some chains on top of the whole assembly, both to suggest the way Angron's axes have been chained to him, and also to tie the whole thing together even more -- compare Angron's official FW model, where the chains actzally run around his wrists on top of his vambraces.

 

Now I won't lie: I did mostly get that second box of Eightbound to create that Angron conversion, but that left me with enough bits for two more Eightbound, so I experimented a bit...

 

The problem was twofold: One, the Angron conversion proved to be rather wasteful in that it ended up damaging two sets of Eightbound legs (one for the actual legs of the model and one for the shoulder pads). So I had to whip something up. The other challenge was that, in spite of the kit's surprising versatility, it's still easy enough to end up with repeated poses and silhouettes. My idea was to create two more Eightbound with strong-ish visual archetypes, in order to make them look suitably original.

 

The first one's codenamed "The Brawler" for now:

 

 

 

Going through the Codex again, I liked the idea of a massive, brutish Eightbound in a crouched pose with two massive fists -- the kit totally supports this right out of the box, so it was mostly a matter of choosing the right parts and getting the pose just right. As you may be able to tell, this model's stock leg armour provided Angron's shoulder pads, so I grafted parts of the lower legs that were used to make Angron's legs to these. It took a bit of shaving and cutting, but it works well enough, with only a few gaps left to fill. I rather like this guy, to be honest!

 

 

The last model, meanwhile, threw me in for a loop, as it ended up looking far too similar to my existing Eightbound models. I went for a twin-sword setup, which made for a cool start, but the thing that really turned the model into something slightly more original was to swap in a new head:

 

 

 

All of my Eightbound are using the more mutated head options, but I didn't want to reuse any of the faces within the same squad, so I already had the idea of swapping in a helmeted head. In the end, the one I chose ended up working really well, leading to an almost knightly look. This is definitely an archetype that works!

 

And finally, just for the sake of completeness, I also worked out a new left arm for that Berzerker I stole the arm with the two dangling heads from (to be used on my chonky World Eater further up in this thread):

 

 

Nothing fancy, really: I just used a slightly tweaked vanilla CSM arm. The pose was opened up a bit, and I also shaved down some spikes on the back of the chainsword to make the whole thing look more like a blunt weapon of war -- and less like something straight out of Masters of the Universe

 

 

 

Anyway, that's it for today's update! As always, let me know what you think!

[Pearson73]

Nice update! I particularly like the head of the brawler, such a cool piece. Cool pose for the build too, nice that you could replicate the muse without too much hassle.

 

The vambrace placement looks spot on, and I think the chains going over them will look good.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Really nice work. The helmeted head on the Eightbound looks great.

 

I really like the Berzerker, too - if I didn't know it was a conversion, I'd have assumed it was like that from GW

[Montuhotep]

Gods, I wish I had half of your imagination, the combo's of parts you use just work.

[grailkeeper]

I've been thinking a bit about his pose. 

 

His head and neck seem under real tension. Its very angron. You can see all the veins and his trap muscles popping out. 

 

The rest of his pose seems a lot less tense. He isnt straining his other muscles in the same way. He appears to be standing still whilst his neck alone is straining to go forward. 

 

I'm not sure exactly what the solution is beyond maybe filinf down the neck muscles a bit, which I can understand you not wanting to do. 

 

Just my thoughts, not a criticism. 

[KrautScientist]

As always, cheers for the kind words, everyone!

 

@grailkeeper Yeah, the problem with the Eightbound neck portions is that they are all slightly hunched forward, probably to match the models' overgrown, heavily muscled look. It's also not really possible to change the angle of the head because it consists of two parts: the face and the neck and back of the head, including the Butcher's Nails. So fixing any of these parts would take a ton of cutting and, more importantly, sculpting in order to rebuild the detail, and I'd probably end up with something inferior, so I think it actually makes more sense to leave it as it is, especially since the effect doesn't look quite as pronounced on the actual model -- but maybe that's just cognitive dissonance on my part...

 

In the meantime, I've been sidetracked by Grandfather Nurgle, as I felt the compulsion to build a Death Guard icon bearer, after seeing a fantastic inspiration on Apologist's blog, one of my favourite hobby blogs.

 

I've always chafed at the fact that you actually have to pick up a separate (and not too cheap) model if you want a Plague Marine icon bearer -- that simply couldn't stand. And I loved how Apologist came up with a cool idea that uses both one of the super awkward snapfit Plague Marines AND one of the more awkward Plague Marine heads. So I used his conversion as a starting point and made some adjustments, based on the bitz I had:

 

 

 

As always, let me know what you think!

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice conversion.  If it were me, I'd like to see the icon a bit more vertical, but that's very much my personal preference.

[Volgon]

I agree a bit with @Firedrake Cordova, though if the pole were longer and touched the ground (while still being at an angle) I think that would work too. Or maybe a pose where the pole is behind the leg rather than in front? It would probably still need to be lengthened though.

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, guys!

 

Ah, I don't know about the icon, though: I really like having it at an angle. You see: If you look at the model in front of you, you get the feeling that he's barely holding it together, that any moment now, something vile and monstrous could crack his armoured shell and emerge from it, and the position of the banner really leans into that for me -- I will have to adjust some elements, like the little bells, though, putting them at a more correct angle -- the icon itself has just been tacked together for now.

 

On a related note, there may be some more Death Guard in the immediate future, as I have been distracted by the Grandfather -- but it's all part of the Great Work, eh?

[grailkeeper]

Theres nice symmetry in the arms. I like that they're parallell in their slant.

[KrautScientist]

Hah! You're right @grailkeeper -- that was....uhhh...totally planned, of course...

 

Quick update with another WIP Nurgle model: I suppose I'll have more to say on this subject soon, after snapping some more photos.