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

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Excellent job they look really great!

[DuskRaider]

Thanks for the compliments, brethren, it's much appreciated.

 

Phew, life has been hectic. I've completed the Death Guard Leviathan almost two weeks ago at this point but just haven't had time to take photos. It's still not based, I purchased a pile of bases from Dragon Forge a couple years back and have no clue where I put them so I need to start poking around to find that stash somewhere.

 

I've also begun work on the Despoiler. Originally this was going to be another Knight heavily influenced by the Dark Mechanicum, but as I've been assembling and throwing ideas around it's taken a much different turn. Essentially I realized that other than the three armed Knight and the Tyrant, all the other ones are mainly just dark tech looking (the Gnarlnaw Knight isn't actually mutated, interestingly enough...). So I'm looking to remedy this, but with a twist of sorts. You'll see soon enough.

 

I'm also unsure if it'll be armed by the time Call of Chaos ends. It looks as though the awesome Den of Imagination Kickstarter for the interchangeable Gatling Cannon / Rapid Fire Battle Cannon has been successfully funded but I don't know if the weapons will arrive in time. I also ordered Kromlech Gatling Cannons in case the Kickstarter failed (it was looking like it wouldn't reach as of yesterday) so I'll have extra Cannons lying around...

[DuskRaider]

Well as promised, here's the completed Leviathan and based Knights.

 

First, the Leviathan:

 

And now, the Knights. I still have a bunch more to do, but this is a good start.

 

[DeadFingers]

They are truly and positively disgustingly beautiful. You can almost hear the Leaviathan making simultaneously crunchy and sloshy noises as it walks. Papa must be proud.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Holy moly that's some insane work! Amazing!

[Verux]

The styles differ so greatly with the knights and the leviathan some might say they aren't the same army. But that's why I love them. Nurgles gifts are many and promote diversity!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent works. The Leviathan is especially vomit-inducing, as appropriate for Nurgle's followers.

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

I've always felt that Leviathan model was too busy. Too much going on. That said, it looks great. Well done.

[Dwango]

The styles differ so greatly with the knights and the leviathan some might say they aren't the same army. But that's why I love them. Nurgles gifts are many and promote diversity!

Ha. The one truly inclusive god!

 

They are some wild conversions there duskraider! It's some impressive work backed up with a cracking paint job! It can't of been easy to get a smooth consistent covering on the leviathan! How long did it take you to create it from start to finish?

[Krakendoomcool]

That Levi is an absolute unit. It's a great idea of the sculptor to reuse all the FW parts. But it does look like a tough one to paint. A lot of dabbing into all the holes I imagine. You've done a great job of it.

 

Great bases! The statue is a great idea and conveys the size very well.

[DuskRaider]

Thanks everyone!

 

@Verux: well technically they are two different armies. I've tried to keep my Death Guard, House Makabius and Nurgle Daemons as three distinct forces with some shared themes and schemes to tie them all together in general, mainly the flesh.

 

@Zeph: you're absolutely right, the Leviathan is borderline kitschy and I think that's what made me buy it. It's just so absurd and busy that I just had to try my hand at painting the damn ugly thing.

 

@Dwango: much appreciated, but I actually didn't convert the Leviathan. It's from a Russian seller on eBay, he does some wild conversions using pretty much nothing but FW parts. It's definitely interesting. Now with consistent covering do you mean the paint? It took me about five days, 3 or 4 hours each day to do the whole model. Some of that was waiting for washes and ink to dry each day.

 

@KDC: washes. I relied on washes to get into a lot of the crevices, much more so than usual. There was some stabbing and dabbing with the paint brush, some filling in with paint to get those particularly deep pits and whatnot that it seemed just wouldn't accept wash. As for the statue on the Armiger base... I really wasn't sure what to do with it. I don't think it matches the others very well, it has a less urban feel to it. I tried to give it more of a graveyard look but I'm not even sure there are graveyards in the 41st (or so) millennium. I probably should have taken more up close pics as well, there's cracks in the ground with skulls coming up.

 

Is it just me or do the legs look stumpier than a usual Leviathan?

[Gederas]

The Knights look badass. The Leviathan makes me itchy and uncomfortable :lol:

 

Is it just me or do the legs look stumpier than a usual Leviathan?

They look to be the same length as the normal ones, it's just the model is so top-heavy with all the extra gunk (not to mention the ECKSBAWKSHUEG banner) on it just exacerbates the fact that the Leviathan has kind of short legs :lol:

[Atia]

Wow that Leviathan is really awesome!!

 

Edit: Thanks for sharing him, I think I managed to snap the last one haha 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Atia

[DuskRaider]

@Gederas: yeah, good point. The model is wicked top heavy (and that banner is barely able to stay upright). The legs on the Leviathan did always bother me a bit, especially when compared to the more proportional Contemptor.

 

@Atia: can't wait to see you paint it up!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Yeah, I was worried the NurgLevi would be too busy and it definitely is. You've done a great job painting it but the first time I saw it was in a small pic of it on my phone and I couldn't even tell what it was other than a multi-colored shape. 

[DuskRaider]

Yeah, I had a feeling that would happen. Truth be told, in surprised it came out as well as it did. There's very little smooth surface on the model and a lot of my painting depends on it to an extent. There's no real focal point either, which is a problem. It doesn't match the rest of my Death Guard either. But, it was an interesting distraction and it got me familiar with painting Death Guard again, which I need considering my Series 3 Death Guard are on their way.

 

I'm still in the midst of modeling my Knight. I'm a bit unsure of the direction it's taking so I may snap some pics later and post for thoughts. It's funny too, I'm working on this one and I'm already getting ideas for other ones... although most of my ideas are CC Knights and I already have a fair few of those so I'm torn.

[DuskRaider]

I don't usually share WIP pics, they often times obscure the big picture of a model... but I'd like some input on this before I venture further.

 

So this is my Knight Despoiler. The idea is that the Greater Daemon bound to the frame has been attached against it's will and so it's struggling to escape. Attendants of House Makabius have bound the creature with incantations, runes (which will be added later with decals), and imbued chain. Despite this, the daemon is still attempting to detach itself from the Knight, hence the writhing mass on the carapace.

 

I didn't want to give the daemon itself a distinct form. It's a Greater Daemon of Nurgle, but it has no real corporeal form and so it's this mass of flesh, tendrils and claws. The idea is it hasn't properly bound to the frame so it's just everywhere... The body itself is spilling out looking for an escape route and it's even in the leg (of which the plate has been held on with barbed wire).

 

I'd like some feedback. Anything to improve? Anything to add?

 

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

Better than anything I can make. I'm really impressed with it, and have nothing to add or critique. I'm excited to see it finished.

[Krakendoomcool]

It's a great idea and I think you've really captured the motion and tension that is taking place. I'm reminded of Akira and Princess Mononoke so it's a winner from me!

 

I can't think of anything to add. I'm not sold on the fly legs as they are but could just be my taste and not necessarily something to change. Useless advice. I love it overall.

[YoungWolf7]

I wasn't sold on it until I saw the fly legs, so there's +1 for keeping them.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Super cool!

[MegaVolt87]

I like the knights, just the bright yellow fly wings are a bit too prominent for my taste, otherwise pretty sweet. 

[DuskRaider]

I wasn't sure on the fly legs myself, but I wanted something utterly inhuman, almost bestial reaching out looking for anything to grab onto or at the very least tear apart.

 

I should also mention, this will be my first Knight with an actual cockpit. I was going to use it for my Seneschal but decided that the exterior was more important for such a unique model. This is the next best thing, I guess.

 

As for the fly wings on the Tyrant, well... it really came down to ensuring they match those of my Plague Drones. It's important to me that I share themes and schemes from one Nurgle army to the next in some way. While each one is its own individual "life" with it's own unique feel and personality, they are all intertwined in some way and that really helps sell them as a cohesive force when they all take to the field (which has yet to happen). You're not the first to make that claim and even I'm somewhat taken aback by them, but in the end I find them appropriate for the big picture.

[Mechanist]

Looking really good. Gives an impression of the surface rippling as the beast inside is trying to bust out testing the defence all over the knight.

[Jukkiz]

You could add some droll form facevents. something along gurgling on spit/puke since it´s sick knight