Magdalena: Adepta Sororitas Crusader-class Knight-Titan

[DanforthLaertes]

(Long time not posting on the forums, and a long time away from modelling in general! 'Sup?)

At the beginning of the year, I was fortunate enough to get a couple of "side jobs" which bring me a bit of money each month, and so I have more hobby dollars than I did before! I spent the first half of the year assembling - both in terms of putting together and buying individual bricks second hand - the Lego UCS Millennium Falcon. It's awesome. But I haven't spent any of my hobby dollars since July.

And then I was struck with inspiration, and I bought this bad-boy;

http://dreamforge-games.com/products/leviathan-crusader

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb70/rwwingate/CrusaderComple-11oclock_zpsf1e1c686.jpg

(Image is not mine - found it on the internet)

I always liked this model ever since I first saw it; larger than the GW Knight-Titan (8.5" tall, they say), less expensive, and with more options for weapons. I fancied making a Sisters of Battle Knight-Titan. So, with that in mind, I bought the following in addition to the model itself;

• The "meltagun" looking weapon from Dreamforge
• The "power fist" from Dreamforge
• The Basilica Admin. building set.
• Some Lego 7mm ribbed hose

(I am awaiting delivery of these). I also have a large selection of Sisters and other Imperial vehicle pieces, and also the top from this kind of Tropicana juice;

(Tell me that doesn't make you want to drink that stuff everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner!)

I then gave some thought to how I might convert the model. I want it to echo the design aesthetics of both the excellent Jes Goodwin Sisters and the "robot with a castle on its back" look of the Imperial Titans. I did a bit of photochopping and came up with this mockup;

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah171/DanforthLaertes/leviathan-crusader-01_zpssf6lhs8j.jpg

The dimensions of the mockup are based on various guestimates from pictures on the internet. The idea is to construct a hexagonal "building" from the wall panels, with windows in a point to the front, doors to the sides, and the skull panels in the rear. I will set this on a hexagonal platform, supported by the juice top on top of the carapace (not shown in the mockup). There will be a walkway around the building, with a railing, with the flying buttresses on it. The top of the building will have a wall around it, and an eagle at the front (a sort of pulpit). I might put fire platforms for Retributors on the lower gantry - see how it looks.

The shoulder pads will be modified (using laminated plasticard) and decorated to look like the Sisters models, and the hose will be used to reproduce the unique chest design (which is not perfectly reflected in the mockup). I will make various other modifications to make it look more "Ecclesiarchy".

The weapon loadout will be the huge "meltagun" and the big fisty thing (I just love the Dreamforge fisty thing). If the scale works, I will use the Gatling gun that comes with the kit to convert a back-of-the-fist mounted mega-bolter. Otherwise, that will be eBayed along with the massive sword (too anime for my blood!)

The warmachine will be classified as a "Crusader" Knight-Titan (after the name of the Dreamforge model) and named "Magadalena" (after the Apostle to the Apostles, who I've loved for years). Unknowing Guardsmen will get to call her "Maggie" once . . .

Anyway - that is the plan. Thoughts, suggestions? Are there ideas I should consider? More things I should buy? Am I insane?

[carnosaur93]

looks really good to me, it has that nice oldschool warhammer feel to it (keep it in red black ad white, add some checkers and torn cloth, and you have yourself a perfect john blanche titan)

my one suggestion however would be to no extent the shouler pads, tehy are already kinda pointed on the base model, and i just dont think its worth the trouble to do a completely new shape to them, in fact i personally like the original pad-shape alot better...

a way to make them look bigger though would be to leave off the upper arm armor plating (which just generally look abit too bulky) and it also helps slightly dehumanize it with the raw structural parts. aside from that, the narrower shoulders and smaller upper arms will push it slightly more towards a more feminine shape

 

also worth noting, its just baaaaaaaaaaaarely almost the height of a warhound titan, with your back-castle way above that... go with dual guns, and you got yourself a solid count-as option there

[Canadian_F_H]

Well... I'm loving this model.

 

I personally wouldn't do the castle, but that's just me. I'd be plastering lots of grimdarkness all over it tho...

 

Exposed wires and cables, skull icons, kill banners and legio banners, litanies, purity seals... yes...

 

For SoB obviously ecclesiastical iconography...

 

 

 

Edit

 

Holy heck, this is nit knight sized!

 

http://www.ozdestro.com/uploads/1/3/0/1/13014732/3387505.jpg?262

 

 

Looks to be warhound and cerastus height. But has a mass between the 2.

 

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JJcSvgXco04/VMb_QqQvv7I/AAAAAAAABzc/H0ojoxGMvPo/s1600/CastigatorLeviathanCompare%2B(1).jpg

 

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-OzIaOSga4iI/UUZ2QuPQUtI/AAAAAAAABTc/1C75yKBX-jA/s640/IMG_0078.JPG

[DanforthLaertes]

Thanks for the comments, guys!

my one suggestion however would be to no extent the shouler pads

I'm going to mock it up with cardboard and paper before I start cutting into the kit itself, so I will see how it looks. I think something needs to be done with them; the SoB silhouette is so distinctive because of the shoulders, and the existing ones on the kit are very different.

also worth noting, its just baaaaaaaaaaaarely almost the height of a warhound titan, with your back-castle way above that... go with dual guns, and you got yourself a solid count-as option there

Yeah, it's a big kit - I think it would be too slight to be a Warhound, though.

Well... I'm loving this model.

And it's fairly inexpensive for what it is.

I personally wouldn't do the castle, but that's just me.

Well, it's a chapel, really - hence the SoB stuff.

I'd be plastering lots of grimdarkness all over it tho...

There will be grim. And dark. And grimdark. Perhaps not as much as some might desire, though

Holy heck, this is nit knight sized!

Yeah, big kit. And LOTS of options to purchase extra arms ... which are hot-swappable

[Canadian_F_H]

Given its stature I'd probably try to mimic one of the cerastus knights in terms of rules and equipment. It is certainly height appropriate if it doesn't have the mass for a warhound imo.

 

A standard knight rules seam underpowered...

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Magdalena, as in Maynard's 'black Madonna'?

[Major_Gilbear]

I would personally consider altering the feet - currently the look nothing like any other Mechanicus-made walkers, nor do they look like the SoB's own armoured forms.

 

As for the back and shoulders... Hard to say. I think maybe the chapel on it's back has the potential to be cool but if it just looks tacked-on, it will spoil the model. And although I do think it's an appealing idea, considering Inquisitor Karamazov's model as an example, I think you would need something much more involved for it to look integrated - only you know if you can pull that off or not!

[DanforthLaertes]

I would personally consider altering the feet - currently the look nothing like any other Mechanicus-made walkers, nor do they look like the SoB's own armoured forms.

Agreed - I think they have the potential to match the Sisters' look - the SoB look is achieved with a long, lean calf / shin with integrated knee armor and feet consisting of three lames. I think that can be achieved - a minor lengthening of the calf would allow me to smooth the ankle and knee plates together into a single shin plate and then the feet could be worked on.

 

 

Even allowing for heroic-female distortion (which makes the legs MUCH longer than they should be) there is a much longer appearance to the legs. Note also the shoulder pads there - which are different to the classic Sisters' - and the interesting segmented armor on the hips and abdomen. I may be interested in trying to replicate / be inspired by that.

 

As for the back and shoulders... Hard to say. I think maybe the chapel on it's back has the potential to be cool but if it just looks tacked-on, it will spoil the model. And although I do think it's an appealing idea, considering Inquisitor Karamazov's model as an example, I think you would need something much more involved for it to look integrated - only you know if you can pull that off or not!

The main kit is very forgiving of being assembled and then taken apart again - I watched a video where a guy assembled this thing while barely using any glue (it was all snap-fit together and then held with screws). Obviously, assembling and disassembling isn't good for final stability but I plan to glue it at the end in a single pose rather than have it moveable. So, I will be doing a lot of mockups with cardboard and paper and seeing what it looks like.

[Major_Gilbear]

There's another thread here on B&C (you've probably seen it here) which has some similar ideas to your proposal. Whilst I am not suggesting that your project needs to be anything like that involved and complicated, it is nonetheless a great example of how a big knight can be made to fit the "walking chapel" look of something that the Ecclesiarchy might have.

 

With respect to the SoB artwork you've linked above, I think you may need to decide if you're going for a general Ecclesiarchy look or a more specifically Adeptus Sororitas look - ending up halfway between the two would be missing out on the project's potential I feel; rather than fitting in with both, it would more likely not quite fit in with either.

 

Anyway, I look forward to seeing how you get on with your project. :)

[DanforthLaertes]

Magdalena, as in Maynard's 'black Madonna'?

Ha! The Magdalene humbly endures your mockery

There's another thread here on B&C (you've probably seen it here) which has some similar ideas to your proposal. Whilst I am not suggesting that your project needs to be anything like that involved and complicated, it is nonetheless a great example of how a big knight can be made to fit the "walking chapel" look of something that the Ecclesiarchy might have.

With respect to the SoB artwork you've linked above, I think you may need to decide if you're going for a general Ecclesiarchy look or a more specifically Adeptus Sororitas look - ending up halfway between the two would be missing out on the project's potential I feel; rather than fitting in with both, it would more likely not quite fit in with either.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing how you get on with your project.

I have seen that thread - and am much jelly of it!

I think you (and others) are on to something here - I think while the chapel-on-the-back look is very Imperial (from the Imperator Titans) and the walking-chapel is quite Ecclesiarchy, trying to marry all that together with the "Sisters of Battle Knight" look is a different matter. The version I saw in the store put the "organ" exorcist guns on the back of the Knight - which is a cool look, but perhaps not something I really want to just copy.

I think the relatively "clean baroque" look of the Sisters is what should be done. I think I shall ditch the idea of doing the chapel on the back, and instead construct something else - I am inspired by the idea of making this look somewhat like a scaled-up Sister, with an Ecclesiarchy "winged-I" icon on the back (as a rallying point).

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

No mockery intended.

 

'Magdalena' is a track by A Perfect Circle, it's allegedly about a stripper Maynard was obsessed with.