Ed's Heresy Kill-Teams: Custodians and ruins

[EdT]

So, continuing the Martian theme; much to my relief, the crackle medium has started to crackle! I'm forcing myself to leave this at least a couple of days to fully dry, but I'm pleased with how it's beginning to look; depending on how much more it cracks, I may add a thin coat of Agrellan on top of some of those big plaques to add some interest.

 

 

While that's been curing, I've been doing a spot of painting. Here's the Eremech done save for the dust (and there will be a lot of that- this guy lives out in the wastes). I'm quite pleased with the Blanchesque colour pallette; using test base I reassured myself that a dirty Mechanicus red is actually fairly distinct from the orange oxidisation of Martian regiolith.

 

 

Next up, (probably) the Scrivener. He's going to be a tarnished bronze.

[EdT]

More progress to report...

 

First off, the Scrivener is done bar the weathering. Here's the little fellow; I'm quite pleased with how the verdigris came out on him, although for some reason the photo has come out a bit colourless compared to how he is in reality.

 

 

I've alsop done a lot on the base, which is finally looking properly Martian! As you may remember, last time I was waiting for the crackle medium to dry. Well is has, and that's allowed me to put some paint on it. I basically followed the process I used to drybrush the rocks, just on a white foundationrather than a black one, and painting a proper terracotta basecoat down. At first it was looking far too bright, but a brown wash soon dulled it down and tied everything together. Here's the whole board at this stage; 

 

 

And here's a close showing the transition between the two terrain types.

 

 

So far so good; and it was finally time to put on the rest of the topcoat. For this I used my secret weapons, some Iron Oxide-coloured model railway track ballast. This stuff is quite cheap (the two bags set me back a tenner) and were the perfect Martian colour.

 

 

To affix this to the base, I used some of the glue designed specifically for the purpose; it's like a super PVA that dries clear and matte. I poured some into a pot, used a large paintbrush to coat the areas where I wanted the particulate and then just sprinkled it on. I tried to get a bit on the rocks and other assorted debris to show where it's drifted; obviously this was particularly important for the shrine. On occasion, areas that looked a bit bald needed a second coating of glue and another sprinkle. Here's what things looked like halfway through the application process;

 

 

And here's what I ended up with! Looking quite Martian, I think....

 

 

 

When I was convinced that the glue had dried, I did a dangerous thing; I turned the base upside down over an empty bin and shook it gently, letting all the excess particulate (and nothing else, thankfully) fall off. I then went around re-applying some of this to anywhere that looked a bit sparse. When this was dry, I put some of the glue in a cheap atomiser I bought at Boots for a pound, and sprayed the whole model, making doubly sure that everything was in place. I'll also do a coat of varnish to act as a final seal.

 

There's still work to do; I need to do some dust weathering, finish off the prayer flags and their chain, add a final dusting of particulate on a few bits I missed, and also add some native Martian fauna (well, not native in the true sense of the word- but I figure that by M.30 the Martian wilderness is crawling with little cybernetic beasties.)

 

In the meantime, here's the Eremech wandering around his 90% completed native habitat...

 

 

 

[StoneSentinels]

Wow!!! Amazing!!

[Battybattybats]

Excellent!
I'm very interested to see what you use for your cy-beasts!

[EdT]

Funny you should ask! I've been painting my critters this afternoon. My favourite is the Monocyte, as he's effectively a skull with a scorpion tail- but he doesn't photograph well, sadly...
 
 
*Adopts David Attenborough voice*
 
 

The Martian Copperhead is one of the most ubiquitous mechaniforms to be found on the Red Planet. Some claim that they predate the human presence on Mars, but more likely they are the sole remainder of a planet-wide automatic maintenance system dating back to the Dark Age of Technology. Small copper-wrought constructs measuring up to two metres long, they feed on electrical current and congregate around exposed wires. By doing so, they often restore otherwise broken circuits, and therefore have a reputation amongst the devotees of the Machine God as bringing good luck.
 
 

There are countless billions of servo skulls on Mars, and have been for millennia. Given this fact, it is unsurprising that a certain proportion have gone feral, while others retain their original programming long after it has become meaningless, endlessly attempting to complete incomprehensible tasks given to them by long-dead masters. As such, they are a common sight in the Martian wastes, sometimes coming together into vast flocks which then drift aimlessly, before scattering at an unseen signal.
 
 

Saprophages are the name given to larger feral servitors, often the size of a human, that endlessly wander the Martian wastes scavenging sustenance from the detritus of ruined machines. While they serve a useful function within the Martian mechasystem, preventing the planet from becoming buried in derelict machinery, their tendency to devour precious archaeotech means that many Magi see them as pests as best, and manifestations of evil at worst.
 
 

Monocytes are small predators that hunt servo-skulls and other comparatively small prey, draining their energy to sustain its own bio-chemical batteries. They are seldom any danger to humans, although an injured traveller in the wastes my find themselves preyed upon by opportunistic scavengers. The majority of Monocytes were deliberately released by successive generations of Martian Magi as a way of controlling the population of feral servo skulls, thus denying larger feral servitors of sustenance themselves.

[Wolfmerc]

I really like how much detail you are putting into all of your projects, they are looking great!

[Battybattybats]

Superb! :D
What was the source of the little claw bits on the servo skull? Great work making the oft-drawn clawed servo skull of artworks from Blanche to the skitarii codex into a reality!

[HighGothic]

That was so cool.. things like that are some of my favourite parts of the hobby. The idea of servo-skulls hunting living copper is brilliant. The board looks ace, by the way. 

[malika666]

Machine ecosystem! Ha, I've been working on a sort of similar project, but this is just awesome! Keep up the good work!

[Olis]

That is a brilliant idea. I hadn't considered a machine ecosystem on Mars. It's one of those ideas where you think to yourself "Why didn't I think of this before?" :D

[Ceadus]

Haven't read this thread for a while, but man!!! Great stuff with the mechanicum, and the Thousand Sons are awesome!

 

Please tell me how you achieved this lovely metallic red. For my Night Lords I use a blue metallic scheme, but this red is really cool.

 

Can't wait to see more.

[EdT]

Glad people liked these, they were fun to do! Not as much progress today- have had other things to do- but I do have a little to show.

 

@Battybattybats- the claws on the servo skull are from the bottom left head here; or do you mean the claws on the Monocyte? They're taken from one of these...

 

@Caedus- thanks! The metallic red is actually quite simple; it's a base layer of Runelord brass, shaded with agrax earthshade and highlighted with a little mithril silver. When that's all dry, I put on a layer of ancient citadel red ink; it comes up a nice candy apple red colour.

 

Now, on to the small amount of progress I've made today! First up, the Noblewoman is done; here's a rather poor photo of her on her steed, which I haven't started on yet. In real life she's very shiny indeed; you can also see the parasol's hand on hers, the rest of whom will be added when it's painted.

 

 

Here's an update on the valet too. I'm quite pleased with how his face is coming along, although again it's not the best photo- the light's not that good this time of day. In person, it definitely has that china doll look, although the blusher is a bit difficult to see here.

 

[Ion]

...you have suddenly given me an incredible interest in the machine ecosystem of mars....

[Battybattybats]

The valet has come up well even in the poor light! And the noblewoman looks great and the simple scheme will really pop in the context of the rest.

Indeed i meant the servo skulls. Thankyou! When my finances recover from the latest battering and the massive storm on the horizon ;) then i'll have to grab that necron piece myself to have some Blanchian clawed servo skulls.

[EdT]

I have to say, I find the Martian mechasystem fascinating. The fluff seems to position Vorax battle autonoma as the main apex predators on Mars, which makes sense; presumably they fulfil the same niche as wolves or hyaenas, and there's probably quite a few feral ones in addition to the units remaining under the Mechanicum's control. I'd imagine though that there would be plenty of other weird and wonderful megafauna (mechafauna?); surely Mars has to have at least one cyber-sandworm burrowing around the place if nothing else?
 
Anyhow, I'm making a bit of progress painting the pilgrims. Finally got round to weathering some of the completed ones too- here's the Rembrancer wandering around the red planet waiting for his fellw travellers to turn up. I'm really pleased how Martian everything is looking!
 

 
Here's the Eremech with his pets...

 
 
And here's the newest addition to the group, the Luggage servitor and the Valet.

[StoneSentinels]

Wow, that's so so so so cool! Awesome and great progress on the group. They look very blanchian.

[Battybattybats]

This is coming along well.
A backdrop painting too eh? Nice!
 

 

I have to say, I find the Martian mechasystem fascinating. The fluff seems to position Vorax battle autonoma as the main apex predators on Mars, which makes sense; presumably they fulfil the same niche as wolves or hyaenas, and there's probably quite a few feral ones in addition to the units remaining under the Mechanicum's control. I'd imagine though that there would be plenty of other weird and wonderful megafauna (mechafauna?); surely Mars has to have at least one cyber-sandworm burrowing around the place if nothing else?

That reminds me i really need to get back to work on that MDF mecha sandworm kit (Steel Wyrm is the name on the packaging) i got for Christmas. So many projects running at once.

In my House Cydonia background there's a need to periodically cull the cyborg cy-beasts when their population grows too high. While the Vorax fulfil that function on Forgeworlds especially of maintaining the human worker population rogue ones are bound to exist (perhaps the explanation for The Thing in The Forbidden Zone in French Cartoon Robo Story?) so it could well be that a part of the regular work for Ruststalkers is to hunt down rogue Vorax maniples. Now that sounds like an AMAZING Kill-Team game! Ruststalkers Vs Vorax amidst old dense rusting ruins!

[Fortis]

I love the weathering on the luggage servitor. The tarnished silver coming through the chipped red paint reminds me of old metal Dinky Toy cars you see in antique shops!

[EdT]

Thanks all.

 

@Battybattybats, it's not much of a backdrop painting really- just a plasticard sheet that I used as the raw material for that corridor painted with the same terracotta I used for some of the basing. The visible brushstrokes do give a vague sense of sand dunes, which is handy; really I'm using it as a way of slapping in a more properly Martian backdrop in using photoshop when the whole vignette is done.

 

 

@Fortis, glad you like the weathering! I did it using the AK Interactive chipping fluid; you paint on the desired under-colour (in this case, bare metal), seal, add a coat of the chipping fluid and then paint over it with your desired topcoat immediately afterwards. When you're ready to weather, all you need to do is drag a toothpick over the desired areas and the paint chips naturally. It's rather satisfying stuff and gives a nice effect.

 

And speaking of which, the Noblewoman is done. I'm broadly pleased with her; I had some problems with the parasol-servitor as it turned out that the head I chose for her didn't quite have crisp enough detail on it to sell the china doll effect as I'd like. I persevered and ended up with something servicable if you don't look too closely; in the picture the gloss varnish on the head doesn't help in obscuring a little of the detail.

 

[Olis]

I've just realised how much that cyber-luggage reminds me of a certain piece of luggage with many feet in a world resting on top of a turtle...

[GhostMalone]

Great work mate I love it, any chance on doing a dark mech counterpart maybe showing the horrific science between amalgamating warp and machine?

[HighGothic]

^ I second this, I would love to see BadMech (see what I did there?)

[Battybattybats]

I really like the back of her side-saddle. And the paint has come up nicely especially on her hippoperambulator.

And the backdrop works for these pics :) The final version will be very cool indeed.

[EdT]

No progress to show today I'm afraid- I've had an election to help win- but now that's all done and dusted I'll get back on track.

 

@Olis, that was definitely an inspiration! The original plan was to make the luggage servitor a tripod, but looking at its shape I thought the 'lots of tiny legs' approach might be a little more fun...

 

@Kurama and @HighGothc, you guys are awful on my wallet! You've got my mind working, and now I'm going to have to do a few Dark Mechanicum. I'm working on a proof of concept now; there are also some slightly counter-intuitive forgworld goodies on the way, so watch this space!

[malika666]

But didn't you already do Dark Mechanicum? Or are we talking about a few figures in this diorama?