Harvesters of Souls: Drakkar ravagers & steampunk craftworld

[brettfp]

More great work. I love your creativity. Very few people have the skill or courage to make whole characters from scratch. Well done. All such high quality. :)

[The Traitor]

Sorry for not being as active lately guys, I'm really trying to make a push this last year of school, and that isn't interacting too well with my hobby time :P... However I basically got a new army this Christmas, and that should mean some updates are coming! I'm starting a host of daemons that can either be used as Daughters of Khaine or Hosts of Slaanesh in AoS, or as Slaanesh Daemons in 40k. I've bought plenty of witch models from AoS and will mix up with some Slaanesh bits to create them, and I must say that so far I like a lot the aesthetic I'm getting.

 

Here's the initial plan for the army 40k-wise:

- 50 Daemonettes done mixing 30 witches and 20 actual daemonette models, though 20 of them will have whips and shields and I'll try not to use them in 40k.

- 3 Heralds on Exalted Seeker Chariot, based on the gorgeous Cauldron of Blood model and with press molded old seeker models to pull it.

- 10 Seekers of Slaanesh for which will probably use the actual models, though I'm thinking of getting Hellstriders instead, thoughts?

- The Masque of Slaanesh based on a Death Hag model.

- 3 Fiends of Slaanesh using Bloodwrack medusae as a base.

- A Keeper of Secrets done mixing parts from Khaine statues from the cauldron and a Hive Tyrant I have lying around. 

 

I know I tend to start big projects that I don't finish, but I've really fallen in love with this models (as well as spent a "moderate" amount of money on them, witches are very expensive even if buying the Blood Coven box), and after finishing a Harvesters of Souls army this summer I think I can do it again, though it'll obviously take more time. Also I plan to use this as a bridge into playing AoS more, as well as probably going to use them for 40k a lot after the Daemon Codex drops.

 

Now, to actual pics ;), I've already made enough progress on one of the Chariots/ cauldrons for you guys to see how it'll be looking:

I must admit the conversion is turning to be more difficult than I had thought, and it is taking a lot of time, but I like how it is looking so far (even if there's still a lot of work and I think this style will make for a very cool looking army. 

 

Also, worry not, they will be painted in my traditional black & white scheme, with some green parts, with the same swampy bases as always, for them to look perfect when allied with/ summoned by my Harvesters of Souls. The lore idea for them in 40k is for them to be Slaanesh daemons corrupted by Malal, and that's why they'll mix elements from both gods.

 

Hope to be able to update soon, and would really like to hear any opinion, thoughts or ideas you have about this new force!

[MikhalLeNoir]

Man man traitor. Sometimes you just amaze me. This is one of those times

[Subtle Discord]

I approve of this chaos inspired madness. Completely insane, in the best possible way.

[The Traitor]

Man man traitor. Sometimes you just amaze me. This is one of those times

Hahaha, thanks Mikhal, glad you like it, it is one of my most ambitious conversion projects to date.

I approve of this chaos inspired madness. Completely insane, in the best possible way.

I feel flattered, high praise indeed, specially for a follower of Malal as myself .

 

I spent the day at home studying and resting as I didn't feel too well, but I got some work done on the chariot:

Basically I finished the daemonettes and the herald, added the big spikes at the platform and stairs and worked on magnets and greenstuffed them after for the whole thing to look as smooth as possible. Right now the only things left before I can paint it are the two steeds at the right (which I'm still press molding), the chains that connect them to the chariot and the arms of the daemonettes riding the steeds at the sides.

 

To convert the witches into daemonettes I'm doing four simple things: carving a bit the boots and converting them into clawed feet, changing the grip of their longest knife so that they bear it tonfa-style (mimicking the usual daemonette claw look, to a point), carving the nose out so that their faces are plain like the classic daemonettes and removing the tiara/ crown thing they have as I think it's a very characteristic element of the witches and they still look great without it, though I've kept it on the Herald as a sign of status. As they still aren't glued to the chariot and won't be until after they're painted I would like to hear opinions about where to put them, both at the same height? Slightly displaced? One at the top the other at the bottom?

 

I'm very happy with how the herald is looking, it clearly gives the impression of being more important than the daemonettes, and is a focal point of the model, as she should as the rest is only his mount. The lash was made gluing together two lashes from the Sisters of Slaughter and, though the arm pose doesn't look too natural, it is mainly because it is magnetised to the body (to be exchanable for a chalice-holding arm when I use it as a Cauldron of Blood) and the connection was pretty difficult to make while keeping it as smooth as possible. 

In the original model the staircase  has a supporting structure beneath but, as I've turned the stairs outwards and the frontal wheel rack upwards (which now acts as support, that's why it has greenstuff extensions at the sides), that structure didn't fit. However I've found a great use for it as an extra armour at the sides for the outer steeds to be chained, but I've magnetised it so that I can remove both the Steed and the armour if I want to use it as a regular seeker chariot instead of an Exalted one or as a cauldron of blood, giving it a sleeker look.

 

Tomorrow I plan to go to my local store to buy Daemonette and/or Seeker boxes, so I hope after I finish this I can actually start with some infantry. Still I am debating between seekers and hellstriders though, any last minute opinions?

[Sagentus]

That looks epic traitor! loving the posses of the daemonettes 

[Vairocanum]

Wow, brilliant work as usual! Your reposing of the witches looks so natural, stellar job making them look so seamless! Can't wait to see more!

[The Traitor]

That looks epic traitor! loving the posses of the daemonettes 

Thanks Sagentus, I'm liking a lot too how the converted witches look compared to the actual range of daemonettes, they feel more like the old Juan Diaz sculpts, which I liked much better and is great since my seekers are a copy of those (I actually own seven of the originals, but I have them painted and based and they weren't enough for the three chariots).

Wow, brilliant work as usual! Your reposing of the witches looks so natural, stellar job making them look so seamless! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks a lot brother! It looks so natural because they aren't reposed at all :P, just converted the heads, feet and a knife. As for more, I already have two units half assembled, will post pics soon.

 

Well, after a week of work (with some interruptions) I have finished the Herald on Exalted Seeker Chariot!!!

 

I'm very happy with how this conversion has turned out, and I hope it'll take less time for the following two chariots as I already have the Seeker copies done and actually know what I'm going to do, as this one involved a lot of experimentation and trial and error, as I didn't know the kit and was pretty clueless about how I was going to convert it, only knew I wanted an Exalted Seeker Chariot. It would have also been much easier if I hadn't wanted to magnetise it to be usable as a regular Seeker Chariot or a Cauldron of Blood, and gluing it to the base would have also helped, but I want to keep it unglued to paint it more comfortably.

 

And the not-Exalted version:

 

Also you might have noticed I've painted one of the daemonettes, that's because I'm doing some test models and she was the first thing I had at hand. I'm pretty happy with the skin-tone I've got, shows a bit it's past slaaneshi allegiance, though I still want to try a more "human" tone to see how it would look. What I'm not sure about at all is how to paint the hair:

As you can see here compared to another half-finished model, I've also tried out black and, while it contrasts nicely with the skin, I don't dig it being the same as the armour... Maybe black with white points? Or a white strain? I'm open to ideas. Another thing I'm not sure about is the green eyes, maybe black would look better, or regular white with a pupil... And at last I have to try out different kinds of tattoos to see how they fit, I think they would add a lot to this models.

 

Hope you liked it, any help with the colour scheme will be greatly appreciated, and there's more content to follow soon (that new daemonette came out of somewhere after all ;)).

[hushrong]

I didn't know what to expect reading about a chariot but damn I'm impressed! 

[The Traitor]

I didn't know what to expect reading about a chariot but damn I'm impressed! 

Thanks Hushrong, you should already know Slaanesh isn't about being paractical, but about looking badass :P!!! Chariots in 40k may not sound too believable, but they look cool anyways... 

 

So, after finishing the first Herald on Chariot I've set myself to a number of tasks, and have already finished the first Daemonette squad:

 

As I have 30 witch models and 20 daemonettes I'm doing the squads on a ratio of 6:4 bodies, and thanks to the many options that come in the witch box all of them will have Witch or Sister of Slaughter heads and weapons.

The leader has a claw and is the only one to keep the tiara to mark her superior rank. For the rest I've kept the formula of changing the feet, head and a knife to make them daemon-like, and in the case of the ones based on daemonette models I've "redone" the plain half of the breast to bring them more in line with the witch models.

Overall I'm happy with the unit, and the two kinds of bodies integrate fine enough with each other, though I'm already modifying the next batch of daemonettes to look more dynamic as they're a bit lacking in that sense.

 

And a happy group shot of what I've finished:

One Blood Coven box done, just two more to go and two daemonette and three hellstrider boxes afterwards!

[Kordhal]

These conversions are incredibly impressive, love how dynamic your daemonettes have turned out! Am really excited to see how they turn out painted!

[Augustus b'Raass]

That Chariot is the stuff of legends. Well done! 

[Vairocanum]

Daemonettes look brilliant! Great use of parts on them, can't wait to see you paint some more of them!

[hushrong]

The chariot definitely looks cool! I sadly think I have lost my Slaaneshi ways but I still got a rush checking out your creation. So the spark is still there.

 

And I think the word 'unbelievable' does not exist in 40k's vocabulary where giant men travel across the galaxy using city-sized spacecraft to punch an alien with an oversized, armored fist is the norm. That and the guard still have horse cavalry.

 

Your daemonettes also rock! Great work on using those kits together. Those dark elf witches are perfect for any Slaanesh army and you hit it out of the park with your iteration.

[The Traitor]

These conversions are incredibly impressive, love how dynamic your daemonettes have turned out! Am really excited to see how they turn out painted!

Thanks brother! The witch models are really dynamic, love how they're posed, so the credit isn't all mine, I simply used one of the best models GW have ever produced, as for paint, I want to assemble a playable force before I get to painting, but will keep you guys updated with some test models here and there to try out things :P.

 

That Chariot is the stuff of legends. Well done! 

 

Thanks a lot! Still have to do two more though, maybe I'll even do a quick tutorial on how to make the conversion, as I was surprised to find so many little content about it on the internet when it seems such a perfect kit for that purpose to me!

 

Daemonettes look brilliant! Great use of parts on them, can't wait to see you paint some more of them!

Thanks Vairo! As I told Kordhal I want to assemble a bigger force to batch-paint them, but will post some test schemes to see what you guys think.

 

The chariot definitely looks cool! I sadly think I have lost my Slaaneshi ways but I still got a rush checking out your creation. So the spark is still there.

 

And I think the word 'unbelievable' does not exist in 40k's vocabulary where giant men travel across the galaxy using city-sized spacecraft to punch an alien with an oversized, armored fist is the norm. That and the guard still have horse cavalry.

 

Your daemonettes also rock! Great work on using those kits together. Those dark elf witches are perfect for any Slaanesh army and you hit it out of the park with your iteration.

 

It can't be! I need to see more of those awesome Sonic Weapons!!!! I'm sure that spark will eventually turn again at some point to the blazing fire of excess it used to be ;). 

It is true 40k is a great place for the unbelievable, but realism always adds something to models... That's one of the reasons I added steeds to the original kit, as it had virtually no way of moving those wheels...

And thanks a lot for the kind compliments, witches are actually perfect for Slaanesh daemons, and I think their price-tag is the only reason we don't see them more.

 

So, didn't get much work done this two past days, but started on my Keeper of Secrets, who is still in very early WIP stages:

He is based on a Hive Tyrant that I got as a trophy from a painting competition (that's why he's primed in gold :P) covered in pieces from two statues of Khaine from the Cauldron of Blood, and now he's starting to get a thick layer of greenstuff. I've just posted him to get feedback on the pose and the idea as I'm not that sure of him right now, so I'm very open to suggestions. The head is basically just a filler, as I plan to change it drastically, and he still needs loads of greenstuff work everywhere, specially on the legs and the back. Also I will put spikes everywhere later on (proabably large ones sprouting from his back) as I'm getting so many out of the statues!

 

I am very happy with the positive feedback this army is greeting so far, but I really need your help with this one as I fear it is just going to end up being an unimpressive conversion and he's my greater daemon after all, so he should grab some attention!

[carnosaur93]

the keeper is very promising! i actually quite like the humanoid face as it contrast in a pretty creepy way with the monstrous four-armed look. and the pose too, i know how hard it can be to get four-armed creatures to look right collecting tyranids myself, but you definately nailed a really nicely agressive and nimble looking pose, while still looking like he moves liek a big creature would

 

the legs do bug me a little though honestly, i think the lower segment (just above the feet) seem a little too thick though, either needing to be narrowed down and feet scaled down as well, ot maybe just the top of them so tehy have abit of an upside-down V shape, flaring at the bottom.

In the same sorta vain, i think his hips could use some narrowing, basically removing the extra space between the thighs and the pelvis, right now it looks abit imbalanced as the hips are wider than his shoulders, and i think wideing his torso and shoulders will jsut make him too chunky, especially for a once slaaneshi demon

 

:EDIT:

i forgot to mention the tail, i think it might interfere a little with the arms poking in from the side like that making that particular corner of the model abit too busy, also it really does not quite fit the flow of him striding forwards like that, maybe re-bend or resculpt it so it flows behind him?

[The Traitor]

@carnosaur93: Thanks a lot for the kind compliments! I'm going to keep the humanoid face but change the head shape, not a fan of cone heads or the positioning of the bladed horns. As for the legs, I think you're right, that's what's bugging me, the lower part and the feet are too thick, so I'll dremel them to look thinner and replace the claws for smaller ones before I sculpt over that. And I forgot to mention it but I totally intend to repose the tail, it makes no sense for it to be there, though maybe I'll make it point frontwards anyway if I add some kind of sting, like with the friends of Slaanesh... Will play a bit with it before committing to anything though.

[carnosaur93]

@The Traitor: no problem man, i was actuallythinking exactly that with the head, if changing anything it should be the blade-horns and maybe cone-shape :p

but yeah for the tail a stinger would be cool actually, maybe if sorta turned up so you can see it over his right shoulder? kinda a bit like a scorpion sorta thing

[The Traitor]

@The Traitor: no problem man, i was actuallythinking exactly that with the head, if changing anything it should be the blade-horns and maybe cone-shape

but yeah for the tail a stinger would be cool actually, maybe if sorta turned up so you can see it over his right shoulder? kinda a bit like a scorpion sorta thing

Finished the head with that in mind, pretty happy with how it looks, thought I still have to do the tail, and I fear it's going to be a damn lot of work... :P. But yeah, a scorpion stinger is what I have thought of, will see how that turns out.

 

So, here is the KoS as he stands right now:

So, right now, I only need to work on his legs and tail and he will be done! Which is probably going to take ages... I'm pretty happy with how everything is fitting together, though I've realised I really didn't need the Hive Tyrant base, as I'm covering it all up and I'm not even using his proportions...

 

Additionally I've started a unit of Hellstriders, whose body is magnetised so I'll sculpt a Daemonette version to use them as Seekers:

 

And, at last, I was commissioned a small Cypher conversion:

Basically he has been reposed to look like he's shooting, and I saw myself in moral obligation to fill some gaps, lol... 

 

Hope to finish the KoS through the week, and I need at least 10 more daemonettes for a game on the weekend, but RL is keeping me too busy!

[MikhalLeNoir]

JEEPERS CREEPERS!!!!

 

 

 

Your Keeper of Secrets is coming along quite well. Love the dynamic, but he is overshadowed by your troupe of malal daemonettes. So cool, can't wait to see them painted.

[Pearson73]

The Keeper's looking great, there's such a difference between the two progress shots!

[Augustus b'Raass]

That thing is insane. Seriously. WOW!!

I know it's temporary, but love the gold and green and grey. :D

[The_Chaplain]

Some great slaanesh conversions in this thread, very interesting to see how you've mixed the witch aelves and daemonettes parts together.   Sigmar is supposed to be getting an aelves release soon if the shadow queen/morathi teaser is anything to go by, think that might play a part in the shaping of this new slaanesh force?

[Vairocanum]

That KoS is amazing, even more so when you see how it started out! Really liking the Cypher repose as well, definitely looking forward to seeing more from you!

[hushrong]

Dude, I love the updates but that Keeper of Secrets! WOW! That thing looks righteously wicked and creepy to the point of perfection!