DuskRaider's 40K Nurgle - An Experiment in Flesh and Machine

[KrautScientist]

Your Renegade Knight House is a towering achievement, indeed! I love how each of the Knights explores a different aspects of Nurgle's gifts, as some of the recent kits do, without ever becoming too gimmicky or caricaturesque. And having these wonderfully twisted and mutated machines, with all those grotesque growths and icky special effects, while also having managed to retain a distressed version of the original house iconography is really worthy of praise!

 

Irae Throni is very much the star of the show here, obviously, and in the end, those bright colours are what really sells the model to me! In fact, you may have given me the missing piece of creativity I needed for my own Death Guard project (namely on my basing scheme) -- I only hope that when the time comes, I'll be as courageous about the use of bright colours as you have been! Also, that gnarlmaw looks about ten times better mounted on the Knight than it does by itself. A truly stunning piece!

 

That being said, the guy with the buboes and boils is also so very good -- the effect on the buboes is just brilliantly disgusting.

 

Fantastic work all around! If I have one gripe - and this has nothing to do with the models themselves, mind you - it's that I would love another picture of the Knight house against a somewhat less distressed (and distracting!) background. Pretty please? ;)

 

Keep up the amazing work! :)

[DuskRaider]

Wow... thank you very much, brother. Your kind words are very much appreciated.

 

It's funny to think back about how disappointed I was with the Knight and very close to walking away from it. It still isn't exactly how I pictured it, mainly the roaming roots... but I will admit that it turned out a lot better than I had expected. So thanks to all of you who had encouraged me to keep going with it to the finish line.

 

I wasn't sure how the model(s) would turn out with such bright colors, especially since I usually set out to avoid anything bright or bold with my Nurgle models. I'm not even really sure it's a conscious decision but it's how I see them in my head so I go with what I know, I suppose.

 

I think it was my Word Bearers that really helped me break the mold on using brighter, bolder coloration army wide. That really gave me the confidence to expand my pallet more and incorporate a wider variety of shades when I restarted my Death Guard, starting with the decision to pick out the iconography in bright red and really stylize the black instead of just choosing a flat color.

 

Obviously not everything has been a complete success and I still prefer my desaturated coloration as had been pointed out was at back in the thread. It helps to pull everything together. Despite being different armies, you can still tell that my Death Guard, Dark Mechanicum, and House Makabius (Pestigor too I suppose) are all interlocking pieces to a larger picture.

 

As far as a less distracting background... I have a black sheet I was going to use but I was afraid it would cause a lot of detail to be lost. I'm going to a craft store tomorrow (the wife wants more Christmas crap for the house), I see if they have something. It's difficult covering models this large, especially multiple ones.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Hey, not the worst person I could have been mistaken for. ;)

 

It's great to see how well the Evil Shrubbery Knight turned out after its painful birth. Good recovery on something you nearly gave up on, man. 

[DuskRaider]

Hah, fair enough. And thanks!

 

Well I'm almost finished with the flesh on the Gellerpox Infected and seeing that's at least 75% of these models, I'm pretty confident I'll meet the deadline ahead of time. Crazy how that works, it was almost a foregone conclusion I was going to fail the Call of Chaos.

[DuskRaider]

The Gellerpox Infected are just about done, I'm guessing by the end of the week I'll post completed pics. I completely forgot about Protean since it's so damn big and awkward, so I've started painting it as well. Definitely throws a wrench in the works but I should be able to complete it in 11 days.

In other news, I've made a purchase. A very Castellany purchase along with some goodies to make it even bigger and more Castellan-like. This will be my final piece for House Makabius (yeah, right).

 

Edit: 

 

  Oops, I'm actually going with a Valiant. I know it's not as good at ranged combat as the Castellan but it fits the theme of my army more (close range battle). 

 

Edit Again:

 

GODDAMNIT... I just found out that the Valiant and Castellan are two different kits and I accidentally ordered the Valiant instead. *sigh* 

Edited December 5, 2018 by DuskRaider

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

It seems so weird to think you lost faith in that conversion before getting back on track. Your work is great so I feel like it would be statistically unlikely that it not go well. Maybe difficult or tricky but I would always expect you to be able to steer them down the right path.

 

Looking forward to the Geller Pox chums.

 

Sorry to hear about the mistaken purchase, I had no idea they were separate kits either, good to know. Maybe you could make the weapons changeable and try to scratch build some very nurgley counts as weapons?

[DuskRaider]

It seems so weird to think you lost faith in that conversion before getting back on track. Your work is great so I feel like it would be statistically unlikely that it not go well. Maybe difficult or tricky but I would always expect you to be able to steer them down the right path.

 

Looking forward to the Geller Pox chums.

 

Sorry to hear about the mistaken purchase, I had no idea they were separate kits either, good to know. Maybe you could make the weapons changeable and try to scratch build some very nurgley counts as weapons?

 

Thanks bud... I'm happy how it turned out. It didn't come out exactly as I had planned, I wanted a more mangrove look to the roots and a lot more interaction between the root system and the frame but I couldn't figure out how to do some of it. For example. I wanted to have the roots somewhat crushing and twisting the frame of the left arm but when it came down to it I couldn't feasibly make it look right. 

 

I'm dangerously close to completing these quirky minis. The gribblies are all finished, it's just the Big Muties and Co. that are remaining and even then it's mainly just the rust and other little details I'm picking out. I'm trying to get as much out of them as I can while also being mindful of the deadline.

 

I contacted the seller so hopefully they can do the swap before shipping... if not, I'll just live with it and run a Castellan. I guess having one dedicated long range anti-armour option isn't the end of the world (Avenger Gatling Cannons are NOT good at damaging tanks / Knights). 

[DuskRaider]

Gellerpox Infected are now finished.

 

These are some interesting models. A bit quirky, a bit cheesy, definitely remind me of the antics of the Rogue Trader era... but they're cool. I'm not sure how much I'll actually use them but they were a treat to paint even if I did feel a bit rushed (justifiably).

 

I'll probably scoop up some Sector Imperialis or whatever bases for these guys and call it a day. No long thought on what theme to base them on, there's no need. When I do that is anyone's guess, bases are my nemesis.

 

So here you go. I'm working hard to finish Protean in time, I should have no problem doing so.

 

[rednekkboss]

I just got my hands on those minis.  Of course, for some reason, I have to convert them, though I think tentacle guy might get the least.  i love all the little gribblies

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

Nice work on these models man! They are really nice minis and you've done a great job on them

[DuskRaider]

I had plans for converting these guys, mainly the big 'uns... just never happened. Funny enough, Squid dude was probably my least favorite when I first saw them but after beginning the paint process he quickly became my favorite. I think his theme his hokey as all get out (like where the hell did these harpoons and crap come from?) but he was a joy to paint nonetheless. 

 

Edit:

 

Thanks PBB! Much appreciated.

Edited December 7, 2018 by DuskRaider

[Augustus b'Raass]

They looks fantastic dude, well done! I'd love to paint them, but for some reason I've developed a barrier against buying miniatures I will never use (says the guy who painted 105 poxwalkers - or maybe that was the reason I developed the barrier). 

 

I especially like the smaller critters!

Two nitpicks though. The faces on these guys:

Hidden Content

 

either look unfinished or need more highlights to make them pop, methinks. 

[Brother Lunkhead]

Great work on the Gellerpox Infected ………. and those Knights...….WOW!!

[Shovellovin]

Excellent work on the Gellerpox. Did you use washes over a skintone paint?

[DuskRaider]

Thanks guys!

 

@Auggs: I'm normally the same way, but two things: 1) they're Nurgle models and that makes them a must-have and must-paint, and 2) my friend gave them to me so we could play Rogue Trader so I felt obligated anyhow.

 

Concerning the faces... I'll admit, the Mutant Spike Speigel's face was a bit of an afterthought. I was so concentrated on all of the other details that I didn't put too much into his face detail. Vulgar, however... *sigh*... for some reason I was having an issue with washes on the models overall. I think it was the multitude of assembly points, perhaps the wash was running inside of the model itself but doing any kind of shading on him was nigh impossible. I hate how his flesh turned out

 

@Lunkhead: thank you very much, sir!

 

@Shovel: Yup, it's various washes over Pallid Wych Flesh and then highlights. I posted a tutorial on it, there should be a link on the first page.

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

Can't you try to shade that one model with paint rather than a wash?

[DuskRaider]

Probably but it's not really a concern for the time being. That and I would be concerned it would deviate from my color scheme.

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

I k owbit would be difficult to get it exactly the same... But you said you "hate" how it turned out so I thought it might be a risk worth taking if that's the case

[DuskRaider]

Meh... I mean... Yeah, I'm not thrilled with it. I could probably go back to highlight it at bit at some point but I've got other stuff planned that I want to start soon... the Armigers, the inbound Valiant, Adeptus Titanicus...

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

Coolwork on the GellarPox Infected! Just picked up a set from Ebay. My plan for the little gribbly models is to turn them into Nurgling bases and use the big mutants as Chaos Spawn of Nurgle... I probably won't ever play another game of 40k again, but Kill Team and Blackstone Fortress has me thinking about small games again.

[DuskRaider]

I'd absolutely suggest Kill Team. The nice thing is you can use the various flavors of uhh... Kill Teams... in... Kill Team. And thanks!

 

Well, I've finished Protean. When I say 'finished', what I mean is, 'I didn't know where else to go with this'. In other words, I've picked all of the details out (and I do mean everything, even his little squid beak onthe bottom that you can actually see) but I'm not really sure I'm satisfied with the end product.

 

Originally I wasn't going to pick out the veins on the body but when it came time to highlight the model, it just happened. Instead of leaving them white I knew I had to do something with them... so I mixed up a pale blue and carefully picked them out. Afterward, I washed them. The result? I'm not sure really. It kind of looks like a floating testicle, lol.

 

I guess it's alright. Rarely am I satisfied with the end result of my paintings so why should this be any different? Minds eye to reality sort of deal.

 

I'll submit it as finished for Call of Chaos and complete my vow but I am open to suggestions. Unlike the Gellerpox Infected, I actually care about this model... even if it will see virtually zero battlefield use due to not actually being an existing model at all. So let me know what you think!

 

 

PS: I may come back to this tonight and add some fluff to the post. We'll see.

[Augustus b'Raass]

It looks gross as hell. The blue indeed makes it look like a giant, floating, tentacled testicle. Yuck!

Also: *cough* base *cough* needs *cough* finishing *cough*

[DuskRaider]

I know, I know... I'll get to the bases at some point. When? I have no idea. I have such a backlog with basing that it's nauseating. I'm still unsure how I even want to base these models, they're not going to share the same theme as my Death Guard. I'm thinking some kind of wartorn industrial theme since most of my recent models are based on the Fall of Antioc.

[Gederas]

It looks gross as hell. The blue indeed makes it look like a giant, floating, tentacled testicle. Yuck!

I agree. It does look like a floating, tentacled testicle.Then again.... It IS Chaos. :lol:

Edited December 10, 2018 by Gederas

[rednekkboss]

Now we know what happens to Space Marine testicles.  ;)  Seriously, that is cool in the grossest of ways. Again, something I must loot!