Knights of House Cydonia, Taghmata Omnissiah and Skitarii

[deathspectersgt7]

Is the upper half hollow ? If it is I would buy a small drone and do some cutting to fit  .  fit some bits here and there and there is your own cyberskull  .

[JeffTibbetts]

YES! I can't wait for this. :D

[Battybattybats]

Is the upper half hollow ? If it is I would buy a small drone and do some cutting to fit  .  fit some bits here and there and there is your own cyberskull  .

 

The cranium is indeed hollow, but i expect the lift/weight ratio would end up with a large rig above the skull. Though i know little about drones.

 

YES! I can't wait for this.

I'll have a chat to some of my more modern-tech-savvy friends soon, but feel free to chime in on what could be put inside it and how to do so.

 

Meanwhile todays work will mainly be continuing painting of my void shield generator and promethium pipes and contemplating and planning work on my Shadow War Armageddon kill-team while waiting the next box of rangers to arrive via my local game store.

 

I'm thinking perhaps that the Ranger Alpha might just be the best use of my leftover Archmagos head from the Forgeworld Archmagos Draykavac, as the hooded head would be best for a Ranger while the large Cog Halo would be sufficiently impressive and St-Hoagland-y for the leader of a force i'll end up strongly invested in. How well it will look and fit on a skitarii body though is the question, and with the head turned sharply to the side it may necessitate some conversion work with the phosphor pistol if it's pose gets in the way of the face. I may or may not magentise the gun-arm anyway (though am pretty sure i'll stick with a power sword for the other arm) but i might use one of the radium pistol arms and swap the guns at the wrist. I might even do similar with the sword.

[Battybattybats]

I'm glad I didn't have a spare set of Skitarii infantry when this hit, if I did I might have got to gluing my killteam to bases before finding out that there are new bases coming out! Sector Mechanicus Industrial Bases, oh yeah!

[deathspectersgt7]

I'm glad I didn't have a spare set of Skitarii infantry when this hit, if I did I might have got to gluing my killteam to bases before finding out that there are new bases coming out! Sector Mechanicus Industrial Bases, oh yeah!

 when ? when?

[Battybattybats]

Apparently they are coming up for preorder with the next lot of sector mechanicus terrain. The other kits seen in the gamebox art (different combinations of the sprues we've seen) plus a 'galvanic servohauler' box which is presumably the crane used in the warhammer world Armageddon oilrig table, plus the bases! So could be this Saturday!

[Battybattybats]

So the bases set apparently won't have any 28mm in them, which is weird and annoying. But i might base my killteam on the 32mm ones.
In the meantime i want to ask peoples views on this:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0002_8.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0004_9.jpg

The head is a bit larger than an ordinary Skitarii, but then it will be filled with more 'upgrades' than usual.
What do you think? Too out of proportion or definitely one to go ahead with?

[deathspectersgt7]

Go ahead .

[JeffTibbetts]

That is a really tough call. The first angle looks almost comically oversized, but the second one doesn't. That leads me to think if you remove the bit of collar it might work? Plus, the face itself looks way too clean from these pics. It would AT LEAST have to have the standard Ranger eye lenses. The halo is too good to pass up, though. Maybe just add that to a more standard Skitarii head? 

[Battybattybats]

Hmmm... removing the cog from the head would be tricky. If i had a spare Draykavac or a source for bits from the Draykavac/Archmagos it'd be easier, the halo for the Draykavac head is separate unlike the generic Archmagos head. But even then i'm not sure i want to re-use a ranger head i've already used. As for his face, both eyes are lenses but they are shrouded and his mouth is unaugmented. I'm currrently contemplating how hard it'd be to get another face in the hood, but that was hard enough when i put the necron-ish wraith face in a plastic hood let alone the resin one so would be plenty of work. As for cutting the collar down, doing that much would mean losing some of the bottom of the halo or angling it forward.

I'm leaning towards removing the front collar-like band of cloth, removing some of the face, cutting the front of the face off a skull-mask dark elf head i have and trying to get that into the hood. The head would still be oversized, maybe even moreso as the skull mask might sit further forward, but then i quite like the over-sized headed space marine comms miniature from rogue trader days and it's heresy era remake and a special-ops ranger would be handling a lot of data-traffic and cogitation so it makes some sense.

I'll try blu-taking legs and limbs on and getting some more pics to ponder it over further.

[JeffTibbetts]

Hmmmm. I trust you'll make it work. Certainly seems like a big project. 

[Battybattybats]

Ok so here's some better shots with legs and arms blu-tacked roughly on.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/SWA1.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/SWA2.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/SWA3.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/SWA4.jpg

Now keep in mind the blu-tak does bulk the limbs and torso slightly.

So what i'm thinking is to remove some of the messy cloth at the chin, drill away the face, then put in either a Cairn Wraith necron-ish face like i have on one of my unfinished WIP knight pilots (who will be i think my Warden pilot) or one of the two the Dark Elf Executioner heads i've accrued which would need a lot more fuss cutting to shape and would closely resemble the stylised skull faceplate on my first Knight. Then the neck and side gap issues and cleanup would be filled with a little tentacle-maker greenstuff cable.

As for the arms i'm thinking of maybe gluing the sword arm on but magnetising the pistol arm and swapping it at the wrist for the phosphor pistol and making also the option of Radium Carbine and Galvanic Rifle.

[Battybattybats]

I'll try and get some pics tomorrow, i cut the face from the elf head, removed the chin cloth and drilled away the face hollowing some of the cowl. I'm liking the way it's sitting in my dry-fit so i'm pretty happy with it so far, making the disproportion look better while still odd, now it's looking to me creepy-odd not silly-odd.

[JeffTibbetts]

Creepy odd is way better than silly odd. Looking forward to it. The rest of the composition is looking good, and I think magnetizing is a great idea. 

[Battybattybats]

The bits shifted a little in carrying from my worktable to be photographed (you can see where i cut down a port on the chest for the chin), so the positioning is still super rough and blu-tacked, but this should give an idea.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/a1.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/a2_1.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/a3.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/a4.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/a5.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/a6.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/a7.jpg

Now i was thinking about drilling further up and in and cutting away more of the forehead of the face however i remembered this unreleased 1st edition Techpriest miniature...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gFS4DDRFD-Y/UybFzo1dN-I/AAAAAAAAD5Y/oK8NjVP4QMI/s1600/IMG_7450.JPG

More pics and the source of that unreleased 1st ed miniature here: http://eldritchepistles.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/unreleased-rogue-trader-adeptus.html

So i think i should keep the face hanging down onto the top of the chest. It makes the head far less human shaped like the Bryan Ansell techpriest and makes it clear that the rest of the head under the hood is strangely shaped and full of technology.

[JeffTibbetts]

Ah yeah, I can see the similarity with the classic model (which I've never seen before. Nice!) but I think you'll probably need to add a little tubing or greenstuff under the 'chin' to make sure it looks intentional. Right now it just looks like it slipped, but I like the idea of it a lot and if you can make it look like you meant to do it, it's a great effect. 

[Battybattybats]

A cable or two under the chin is definitely planned. It will help with the gaps too. If that doesn't do enough of the job, or if I decide I like the idea enough anyway especially if I find a good part for it, I'm thinking maybe adding a third mechanical eye peaking out under the peak of the hood.

[JeffTibbetts]

I guess it is sort of a high peak without something up there, right? 

[Magos Takatus]

How have I not seen this thread before? You've gone above and beyond for the Omnissiah's cause. I love your Cydonia Knight house and how is contrasts with your gritty Mechanicum and Skitarii models. I've noticed you don't have much in the way of Cult Mechanicus models. Are they not to your taste or are you too busy with other projects?

[Battybattybats]

Thanks Flame Boy! I have a number of cult mechanicus models bought (especially thanks to the big box deal back at christmas i couldn't pass up) they are just in the big pile of unmade stuff i am slowly getting through (and adding to). I will eventually have one of each unit done and shown here (maybe one day one of each weapon option but for now it'll build one unit of ruststalkers and one of infiltrators, my Kataphrons i plan to have a mix of weapons in each unit). My pace is slow though because i have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and also i work on things as the whim and/or inspiration takes me so i have a lot of things at various stages of completion which i go back to and finish periodically. So you'll definitely see Kataphrons, Kastellans and Electro-piests eventually, but you might see Scyllax before that or my other 3 Dragoons or the lifesize servo-skull or Bellisarius Cawl or a Knight and it's Pilot.

Currently as well as the Skitarii Kill-team Alpha conversion i'm currently painting some of my Promethium Pipes and the lower sub-assemblies of the Void Shield Generator, they are getting less scratches than usual but more grime than most as i'm using agrax earthshade on it to make them look more ancient and weathered and experiencing less contact wear-and-tear. I'll grab some pics of them soon.

[Magos Takatus]

That sounds good. I noticed you'd got a lot of projects running at the same time, I just hadn't seen you mention and Cult Mech stuff. I really like the creative conversions you've made. My own collection is lacking in that regard (though the Mechanicus bits box swells pretty quickly due to so many variant builds in the kits). I really like the thought put into the bell conversion on your Knight. I hope my own household will be fleshed out that well.

 

Keep up the good work! :)

[Battybattybats]

Lot of pics to get the Killteam Alpha from a lot of angles.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m1.jpg

Head is now affixed with the facemask in at the right angle this time.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m2.jpg

Meltabombs being big and awkward, and for at least one Shadow Wars scenario very very useful, i decided that when i take that option i'll go with the Cyber-Cherub carrying it, i'll put it on a base of it's own and use it like a counter.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m3.jpg

The jaw in place properly didn't leave as much room for a cable where i was envisioning it so i tidied the edge of the hood. I can always have the cable go to the back around the hood if it's still needed.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m4.jpg

The arms are magnetised. I haven't done all the options at the moment but i wanted to get pics of those so far. The Galvanic Rifle option is a problem though as the rifle goes past the shoulder line and doesn't work with this head (or some angles of the standard plastic one). But i'm more likely to have the leader amongst my forward line anyway. The servo-skull will be representing red-dot laser-sights so will only be used with the carbine but my 2nd backpack hasn't arrived yet.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m5.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m6.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m7.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m8.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/m9.jpg

I'll be using the larger 32mm bases so i can use the Sector Mechanicus bases. That will mean a larger round base for the Transuranic Arquebus rather than it's oval. Most of the rest of the force will be glued, but i'll use the magnetised backpack servo-skull for a number and magnetise heads for telescopic sights.

[deathspectersgt7]

I LIke the Alpha  . To let you know I'am working on an Iron Champions Kill Team.

[JeffTibbetts]

Very nice! I think it came out quite well compared to the classic model you showed. Doesn't seem out of place at all. 

[Battybattybats]

Ok so I just saw the objectives coming out for 8th and I love them! I'm also glad I haven't started cutting up the containment tanks for the Styrix yet because the new plastic one might be easier if it fits. And the medicae servitor looks great too....