Khorne's Eternal Hunt - KrautScientist's chaotic WIP thread 2024: Suddenly, Death Guard...

[KrautScientist]

Phew, getting any feedback over here hasn't gotten any easier during my absence, eh? Quite the opposite, in fact...

 

Anyway, a short addendum on the Terminator helmets: Fellow Reddit user Money_Cost6121 suggested maybe using an ork skull for that Zhufor-style, grafted-on faceplate conversion, and that lit a fire under me and made me go down the rabbit hole into trying more options:

 

 

Not going to lie: In hindsight, I feel a bit foolish for only trying the most obvious option (using a Bloodletter face) last...

[BadgersinHills]

Lovely.

[Kaiju Soze]

Both the orc and bloodletter versions look good to me.

[Valkia the Bloody]

These helmet conversions are great! I especially like the Bloodletter one.

[YannTheMad]

OOOh this is brilliant (the bloodletter / terminator jaw)

[Firedrake Cordova]

I'm not a fan of the human one, but the others look appropriately savage and scary  (maybe the "snout" on the Bloodletter one is a hair too long?)

 

7 hours ago, KrautScientist said:

Phew, getting any feedback over here hasn't gotten any easier during my absence, eh? Quite the opposite, in fact...

I was struggling to think of anything to say beyond "they're great" (they are) for most of your posts, so I clicked like/love ....

Edited March 28, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[Urauloth]

The fangs from the Ork skull definitely give it punch. The bloodletter is ideal in terms of size, But I don't think the angle looks quite right? The upper set of teeth seem like they're sticking forwards. and the underbite is a little too severe. I can only see it from one angle, of course. Maneuvering skull parts into place can be a pain.

[OttoVonAwesome]

The human mouth helmet is cursed lol

[Pearson73]

Nice work on the Terminators, I'd definitely say that you've achieved the listed objectives. I particularly like the fellow styled off Zhufor, his pose and details are just spot on. The addition of the combat shield to the autocannon chap lends a heap of character too. 

 

I agree with @Firedrake Cordova it's hard to say much more than "wow!" sometimes.  I'm also amazed that almost every other time I've checked the forum you've posted again, I wish I was so productive with my hobby time! 

 

As for the skulls additions, I think each works in their own way.

[Montuhotep]

I think the human one is not aggressive enough for any Chaos, particularly Khornates - the Bloodletter looks more in proportion but also has more of a 'I've just been to the dentist, check these out', but the Ork one looks the best - not least because there's a genuine open mouth there. If you ever fancy a crack at a Possessed Terminator then this is the way to go.....

Edited March 29, 2023 by Montuhotep

[CMDR_Welles]

Human
Too Slaaneshi
 

Ork

I'm going to eat your face

Bloodletter
Speech Impediment

[Warden-Paints]

The Bloodletter muzzle matches the Zhufor helmet most closely I believe. Awesome to see you posting here, I followed your blog for years. 

[frankendoodle65]

I've not checked in for a couple of weeks, looks like you've been busy in that time! 

Love the banner bearers, I'm totally with you on making each one unique, always feels rather silly to see the same awesome handcrafted badass banner multiple times in one army.

 

Terminators are looking great too, you've done a great job of khorneing them up without going overboard. Attaching the bunny ears to the armoured hood instead of the head was a stroke of genius, these guys can actually turn their heads to see where they're going! The round shield with trophy head is a nice touch too, mind if I ask where that bit came from?

Re..the zhufor inspired head, I actually think the human skull works best, feels to fit the proportions of the helmet best in my opinion. The ork skull looks goofy and something about the bloodletter bit just doesn't sit right with me, I can't quite explain it though!

[KrautScientist]

On 3/28/2023 at 11:46 PM, Firedrake Cordova said:

I was struggling to think of anything to say beyond "they're great" (they are) for most of your posts, so I clicked like/love ....

 

On 3/29/2023 at 9:03 AM, Pearson73 said:

I agree with @Firedrake Cordova it's hard to say much more than "wow!" sometimes.  I'm also amazed that almost every other time I've checked the forum you've posted again, I wish I was so productive with my hobby time!

 

I may sound incredibly shallow saying this, but I'll take a "This looks cool!" or "They are great!" over no reaction whatsoever any day of the week, guys!

 

Anyway, cheers for the thoughts on the converted Terminator helmets, everyone. I am tempted to agree with @Pearson73 that each works in their own way. A couple of additional thoughts:

• human version: I cannot help feeling very fond of this, for some reason. Yes, it was the first one. Yes, it's probably less elegant than the other two from a conversion standpoint. But there's just something about it I really like that I cannot quite figure out...
• Ork version: Like I said, it's just a bit too monstrous for me, but it would be IDEAL for a mutated Terminator or for some kind of "Almost-Daemon-Prince"/Obliterator character.
• I still think the Bloodletter one is probably the most elegant of the three -- but there's really no way to shorten that snout without losing any of the facial features. And while I could have placed the mandible differently, this seemed like the best option to me. Your mileage may vary, though.
• One final though about these: It might be a cool bit of lore to say that each of the Terminators styled their respective helmets to resemble their favourite prey/the biggest enemy champion they have managed to bring down? That's not how I'll be using these, but it does seem like a very fitting bit of background for any given World Eaters force...

In other news, I have been hard at work on the next two (and final) members of the Terminator squad. Take a look:

 

 

First of all, let's take a look at the squad champion (although I really want them all to look equally impressive, so he doesn't stick out quite as much as he possibly would in a less customised squad):

 

 

 

The most obvious addition here is the left arm from the Lord Zhufor model -- I thought this would be a really cool alternative to the model's standard bolter arm. The - slightly dodgy looking - standard sword was replaced with a weapon from the AoS Varanguard kit (I think?!). I rather like its blunt, brutal and slightly daemonic look. And I added a helmet crest (from the Skullcrushers) and a World Eaters rebreather head, to round out the WE look.

 

And of course I couldn't resist the temptation of turning the last model into an icon bearer:

 

 

 

 

Now this guy uses the actual Lord Zhufor helmet (although I have had to replace the tusks, due to a small accident). The banner pole and the hand holding it came from the AoS Blood Warriors -- the bit was carefully grafted onto the existing Terminator arm. The Caedere Remissum crest came from the Skullcrushers once more.

 

Now this guy actually makes for an interesting challenge, because I have yet to find the right banner for him: I want him to be carrying the IVth assault company's battle standard, and none of the options I have managed to find in my bitzbox have managed to completely win me over, so I would love to hear your input on this:

 

 

This first option is a lovely banner in and of itself, make no mistake, but it's also very monothematic, what with the huge Khorne rune. What I am looking for is more of an old company standard, complete with a legion symbol, and maybe some of the IVth's battle honours, and the only way to create that from this bit would be to painstakingly shave off the rune, with a very high probability of ruining the part altogether.

 

 

This second option is an actual, blank Space Marine standard -- a real rarity these days. What I really love about this is how it would allow me to actually make the standard look like an age-old relic. But the main downside is how very, very clean it looks -- and I am not quite sure whether I'll be able to make it look suitably distressed and brutal for a World Eaters standard.

 

 

This third option has quite a few things going on in its favour: It's suitably Khornate and chaotic. It's also suitably tattered, while still leaving enough of a "blank canvas" for me to get creative. What I am not quite sold on, however, is the somewhat organic look of the crosspost. It also seems like a very safe choice -- and I guess that's what I find the most off-putting about it.

 

And finally, we have this:

 

 

I have actually wanted to use this as the IVth's standard before: The way it seems like a mix of banner and trophy display really ties into the theme of the Eternal Hunt. But is it maybe a bit too big, a bit too much? I'm afraid that it could overpower the model and cover too much of it. Am I justified, or is this the way to go?

 

 

I would love to hear any thoughts or suggestions you might have on this matter!

 

Oh, and here's the entire squad so far:

 

 

While I like the sense of bulk and menace about the "new" Chaos Terminator kit, it is also incredibly vanilla-flavoured, so my main challenge was to really, really make these guys read as World Eaters. I think I may have done a pretty good job on that account...

 

As always, let me know what you think!

[Pearson73]

I'm a big fan of the first and fourth banners. The shield fits really nicely and the skull trophies are very fitting for the first, whilst the claws and pelt trophies from the latter pair well with the more ferocious nature of the Khornate warriors, and all those tusks they sport. I'm also liking the whole pose of the banner bearer, and of course the helmet is a lovely piece. I must admit that I'm not such a fan of the champion, I think the head looks a little too large, or perhaps is sticking forward a bit oddly, I'm not sure, but there's something a little off. I do like the blunt executioner's sword though.

 

The whole group together look most intimidating and have such weight to them, spot on for Terminators!

[Bryan Blaire]

The work you have done on the Terminators is fantastic, and they definitely read as both Terminator and World Eater in well balanced proportion - it’s awesome looking.

 

For the banners, I think the last one looks great - doesn’t look overpowering at all to me, and doesn’t cover any of your more intricate detail work.

 

Your work is definitely what I’d want to emulate when I finally get around to my Khorne units.

[frankendoodle65]

One thousand percent that last banner. In fact it would be heresy not to use that one. And not the good kind of heresy.

 

All silliness aside I think it really is a great fit, I feel like it ticks all the boxes for that mini. I think a few skulls and chains would be a nice addition - maybe steal the hanging skulls and tassels from the first banner?

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the feedback, guys! You are confirming a suspicion I already had: That the fourth banner option maybe IS the one to go with, after all. Maybe I can start experimenting on it a bit more tomorrow!

 

@Pearson73 , I definitely hear you on the champion's head: Now that I have basically committed to the choice of head, I may have to shave down the back of the head a bit to make sure it looks more natural inside the Terminator armour's head "cowl".

 

@Bryan Blaire Cheers for the very kind words!

 

@frankendoodle65 Oh yeah, there'll be skulls and chains galore! In fact, regardless of which banner I'll be going with, it will need a careful choice of skulls, chains, trophies or talismans to really make it look like an ancient standard that has been with the 4th assault company for ages.

[Shovellovin]

Hot dang! That first standard is awesome! I really like that. I’d love to see that version painted. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think they look great, @KrautScientist  An army converted/customised to the level you're doing here is going to look very special indeed    

 

As for the banners, whilst I appreciate the idea of the artwork you'd be able to put on it, I think the regular Space Marine banner is just "too clean" for a Chaos army, unless they're "freshly turned" (this is just my opinion, and may be wrong). I do like all of the other options, though! (particularly the first and last ones)  

[CMDR_Welles]

First banner, cut the rune off the shield. Put the old markings and honors there. 

 

Otherwise, you would need to go with a banner that would be closer to either Heresy era if that is where your army originates, otherwise there needs to be some remnant of Imperial design. 

But honestly, if you are going to add artwork to a banner, then #3 or #4 are the way to go. #4 is awesome, but I would personally cut out that middle horn from the bottom of the banner, and then you are probably going to have a hell of a time getting it to sit right. The central tail of the banner might have to go behind the pole to get the top to sit more vertical. Of course, it could just be my poor eyesight and bad spatial awareness, and it isn't caddywompus at all 

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the additional thoughts, everyone! I agree that the standard Space Marine banner is just too clean. The Skullcrusher banner, on the other hand, is quite lovely, but I don't really see any way of getting rid of that big Khornate rune in a convincing way -- especially since the entire rest of the banner has a noticeable texture that I would have to replicate. Make no mistake, however, there's a pretty big chance that we'll be seeing that particular banner elsewhere in the future -- just not as the company banner.

 

Which leads us to my current WIP of the banner: @CMDR_Welles did have a point about the middle horn, so I carefully shaved it off. I also bent the banner into shape a bit more via the old "hot water/cold water" method. And I started adding elements to it. So here's what the IV assault company's ancient warbanner might look like:

 

 

I really wanted some kind of shout out to (Pre-)Heresy times, and in the end I realised that actually using a (shaved down) 30k Vexilla piece might just do the trick. It even has a little space for an obvious Heresy callback, such as a red WE symbol (or XII numeral) on white -- or maybe even a War Hounds icon? Beyond that, I added some skulls and talismans. Not everything has been glued in place yet, so I'll stil have as much access to the central area as possible when I try to put together a design for the banner part.

 

So, what do you think? Does this work?

 

In the meantime, the entire Terminator squad has gone through another round of detailing: I found Wade Pryce's notes on his own Terminators in the issue of WD that had the preliminary World Eaters Index/Codex, and he talked about shaving off some symbols off leftover Blood Warrior parts and gluing them to the Terminators. Brilliant! So that's what I did. I also tweaked the crests on the champion and icon bearer a bit. Take a look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a look at the entire squad again:

 

 

As always, let me know what you think!

[Montuhotep]

This is just an idea for a regular power-armoured standard bearer....

 

I have a mental picture of the banner itself being used as a weapon - well, the banner pole at least. Picture the FW Alpharius with his spear poised over the Wolf. - that sort of pose but with a spike-ended banner pole instead, as if the bearer is about to finish off a prone foe.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Montuhotep

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, @Montuhotep -- that is a very cool idea for me to file away for an upcoming icon bearer conversion! And incidentally, I have already been making sure that at least some of the icons my World Eaters use look like they could be wielded as weapons in their own right:

 

 

In the meantime, I think I am prepared to call the conversion work on the Terminator icon bearer complete*:

 

 

(* yes, I do realise that the way the banner attaches to the banner pole still needs some work )

 

 

One small touch that makes me stupidly happy, even though it is of small consequence, is the fact that the icon bearer is now actually wearing his gun mag-locked to his armour (and doubly secured with a little chain):

 

 

I carefully carved a concave shape into the inner half of the weapon casing, to make sure it conforms to the curvature of the armour underneath and doesn't end up messing up the model's entire silhouette.

 

As always, let me know what you think!

Edited April 10, 2023 by KrautScientist

[frankendoodle65]

Love it, that banner looks even better than I expected now you've added all the extra details.