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

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Sorry mate, just saw the Slimux post. How about something like this?

 

[DuskRaider]

Jesus, are those shark teeth?!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Yup!

[DuskRaider]

Gentlemen... BEHOLD!

 

Philosophical Plaguebearer reflects on if there's really more to life than counting plagues and spreading disease...

 

I wanted grimdark and I'd like to think I got it. The base model that GW produced had great promise, but the execution was... well... sigh.

 

In the end, I went with the Glottkin head. It took a lot of cutting, trimming and imagination to get this working but I think it works.

 

The nice thing with this guy is he can hit the field as Epidemius, a Herald of Nurgle on Palanquin (hopefully we get rules) or in the case he's brought to the 41st millennium, Horticulous Slimux.

 

I'm still not 100% about Slimux himself... I've been thinking of changing the weapon, but the shears ARE pretty cool one way or another. I'll be painting this guy up ASAP and I'm also mid-paint with the Assault Plague Marines. Let me know what you think!!

 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I think the Mr. Grey shark tooth look would have been cool but the Glottkin head turned out better than I was expecting. Nice job blending it with the GS. 

[DuskRaider]

Thanks man, I'm really pleased with the end result.

 

Hot on the heels of the Beast Master is Plague Marine Squad #4, third ranged squad. The Blight Launcher Marine is for the Assault Plague Marines and will be swapped for the Plasma Gunner previously shown.

 

[Corswain]

Love your work on slimux! Great conversion that really sets him apart. I’d be willing to bet he gets a 40K transition with the codex so I don’t think you need to worry about that.

 

New Plague Marines look good too. That kit keeps impressing me, despite the limited posing options.

[DuskRaider]

Thanks for the kind words, brother.

 

Now to prove I can't leave well enough alone, I decided AFTER priming and painting that I needed to further modify the two. As much as I love the shears, I wanted to distance this guy from the stock Slimux.

 

Luckily, I had an old Axe lying around from a Dark Apostle I made for my prior Death Guard army, so he's now armed with a massive rotting Bearded Axe. I had to try to shave down the remaining haft of the shears to match the axe as best I could.

 

I've also removed the hoe and carrot on his side and replaced them with a dagger. To finish it off, I added a giant bell on the tree and a couple skull here and there for flavor.

 

So... NOW it's all done and ready for paint.

 

[brettfp]

Slimux looks great! You've made a cool model even cooler   I really hope he gets 40k rules with the new codex. 

The glottkin head looks great, it reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on what it is 

 

What's the bell from?

Edited December 11, 2017 by brettfp

[DuskRaider]

Thanks! Slimux is a pretty cool model, no doubt. I loved the concept of a snail riding Herald of Nurgle, seems very appropriate. I'm not too sure what the beast would be similar too, I just really liked the idea of it having a more grotesque and vaguely humanoid head, makes it much more disturbing. 

 

The bell is from the Noxious Blightbringer. I have three of them, but used the bell on a stick from the Putrid Blightking box for one of them so I kept the bell that came on the model for a rainy day. I originally intended to have multiple bells hanging from the boughs of the tree, but the other branches are a bit too gnarled to make it work. 

 

I'm actually working on a background for this guy. Obviously he'll use another HQ's rules (although I may make some for Open Play or whatever), but it's always cool to give them a story. 

Edited December 11, 2017 by DuskRaider

[Charlo]

Looks miles better than the stupid snail!

[DuskRaider]

So... I hate doing this, but I'm posting pics of the current progress on the Herald / Epidemius / Slimux. I really don't like posting pics this far along into the painting process, but I find myself at a bit of a bind with the shell. 

 

I'm not really sure it works with the model... it definitely fits the palette I've chosen for my Nurgle / Death Guard army, but I find myself doubting my decision if it works well with the flesh and overall piece. It's the same colors I use for horns and teeth on my models, but I don't think it contrasts the flesh enough and it kind of makes it all blend together a bit. 

 

So at this point, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads... do I keep the current coloration which also seems to be the most common for gastropods, do I paint it the blackish grey blue I do the black on my Death Guard, or do I make it rusted metal (of all things)? Obviously the tree isn't done yet, I just based it before posting this and I do intend on adding brighter colors both to the rotwood tree itself (think the weapon my Plaguecaster is wielding), the sphagnum moss hanging off some of the branches, the boils present on the tree itself, and the moss and fungi on the sides and back of the shell in various places.

 

Any advice at all?

 

[Azekai]

Blanche would be proud, Duskraider! All the little details you added look great.

I rather like the current shell color. If you do something really different with the tree, it should be fine, methinks.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I vote for really crusty, tarnished bronze with lots of green verdigris for contrast against the other colors. 

[brettfp]

I can see what you mean. I would suggest either going darker with it or possibly adding a green tint to it. Otherwise looking very nice :)

[Corswain]

Execution on the shell is great, it looks good. I do understand why you might want to change it though, I always like a strong contrast myself.

 

Maybe have a look at some real snails. I have seen snails with a pale flesh colour that have brown shells with strong yellow bands/stiripes on them. Maybe not specifically what you’re looking for but it might be a good starting point, inspiration wise.

 

Edit: did some googling myself and found these - https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cuban-snails-world-most-colorful-snail-688310263

 

Mightt be tough to do with the texture of the shell but it’s something.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Corswain

[DuskRaider]

I saw the Cuban Snails as well... I had thought of doing black with red and white spirals but the texture of the shell definitely throws it off.... hmmm...

 

If I do the black, I may add Nihilakh Oxide to the recesses or something similar (maybe a mix of Sotek Green and Pallid Wych Flesh or Oxide, watered down). If i do the rust, the orange would definitely be prevalent in the recesses as well which would also pop... this is a difficult choice.

[Calyptra]

Right now it looks like nearly the entire model is done in desaturated warm colors. My suggestion would be to get some more cool tones in there. Your blackish bluish grey would accomplish that, but there are plenty of other options as well.

[DuskRaider]

Yeah, that's the way I see it as well. I have made my decision, using the same process as many a great man has in the past... I flipped a coin. Black it is.

[Sagentus]

Dam that thing looks amazingly grotesque! Amazing work DR! 

[DuskRaider]

And here we are...

 

 

How's That? Should I bring the black up a little more?

[DuskRaider]

                                   -Sepsus Rotmaw & Cadwyygan the Forsaken-

                                       

                                                         -Sepsus Rotmaw-

    Blightwarden, General of the 4th Cohort of Nurgle's Plague Horde, The Black Hand, Orchestrator of the Gutspore Infestation, Doom of Sepulchra VI, The Eye of Nurgle

 

                              Sepsus Rotmaw was one of Nurgle's Seven Proctors and his sole Emmisary to the XIVth Legion in the Warp. Created when the Plague God was still in it's adolescence along with the other six Proctors, Rotmaw was given command of the 4th Cohort of Nurgle's Host and is the most militaristic of the Seven. To aid him in his task, he was given Tooth, an Axe forged from a chip of Nurgle's Plague Cauldron. Militant and disciplined, he has no patience for insubordination or failure and has both banished daemons under his command that he deemed unworthy of his leadership and summarily executed Legionnaires of the XIVth who challenged his authority.

 

                               Once a resident of Nurgle's Plague Garden, he now finds himself in the dominion of the Death Guard's home planet where he is a permanent resident. He assists the Commanders of the Legion and it's Daemon Primarch with battle planning and rallies the daemonic hordes to accompany the Undying God's mortal throngs. His secondary objective is to keep a close eye on the Corpse King and his Legionnaires and reports any disobedience back to Nurgle or otherwise deals with it himself.

 

                              Rotmaw, home sick for the pestilent gardens of his home, has begun tending to his own Plague Garden on his adopted home, ever expanding its range across the rotting world. In battle, he is a vicious creature, bellowing orders from the front lines and leading the shambling masses of bloated flesh directly into the heart of the enemy.

 

                                                                                   -Cadwyygan the Forsaken-

                                                        The Marked, The Ever Damned, Coward of the Valgryn Steppes, Khorne's Shame

 

                                The ponderous beast with which General Rotmaw rides into battle is more than just a rotting flesh golem of the Plague God, for this damned creature was once a formidable warrior on ancient Terra. Once known as Cadwyygan the Great, he was a Warrior-King of the Valgryn Steppes. His battle prowess was steeped in myth and legend and it was said his skill with his great sword had captured the attention of the War God himself, Khorne. The Blood God marked this man, imbuing him with great power and a massive army with which to conquer the Atlan plains. But it would not last long.

 

                                 In the face of certain death, the Warrior-King chose to abandon his warriors and flee... retribution would be swift. The Blood God sent his hound Karanak to retrieve the disgraced king and bring him to Khorne himself. One may think death awaited the mortal, but the God had something far worse in mind. Khorne would not allow such a low creature to simply die and be done with it. This man had forsaken his oath, he had turned on his brethren, and he had spit on Khorne's honor. 

 

                                 The War God stripped Cadwyygan of his gifts, leaving him as weak as he had displayed himself to be. He removed the man's spine, for a coward has no need for this and reduced the man to a gurgling flesh spawn. And in the final act, he gifted Cadwyygan to his brother, the Undying God... Nurgle. The Plague God was most pleased with this and knew exactly what he would do with this pathetic being. He would be forced to crawl on his belly for eternity like the lowborn creature he is. He would be given consciousness and the ability to speak, but only in Kharnthi... the language of Khorne himself. For his part, the Blood God erased the dialect from all tongues but his own and Cadwyygan... he would plead with Khorne for absolution for eternity.

 

                                 After this was done, Nurgle gifted the beast to one of his Seven Proctors... Sepsus Rotmaw. Over the millennia the two have ridden into countless battles, through both hellscapes of the Warp and bursting through the ether into the realm of Man. Cadwyygan has become a "living" ecosystem for Rotmaw to travel with his Garden, growing various poisons and contagions to use against the enemies of Grandfather Nurgle. To this end, Cadwyygan embodies the very essence of Nurgle himself... the balance of life and death all in one creature.

 

So... here we are. I tried putting together a little blurb for the two from notes I've jotted down since the idea of this little project came to mind, but I'm kind of pressed for time and I just want to get this out of the way. 

 

On the actual artistic side of this, it presented some real challenges for me. While the bottom half of the creature is standard fare for my Nurgle and Death Guard, the shell and it's little ecosystem on top of it were very different from what I'm used to. I've used colors on this model that I rarely, if ever, use normally. I also tried to contrast the pale and sickly creature with vibrant and lively hues up top. Bright yellows, greens, blues and even a little purple here and there all act as a yin to the creature's yang.

 

There was a lot of detail on this piece, honestly it's quite impressive for a plastic GW model. Little things you wouldn't normally notice like writhing maggots here and there. There's even a little snail in the tree that I've taken care to paint in the scheme of the original shell, something I thought would be funny. I've tried to capture a lot of the detail in the pictures, I hope I succeeded. 

 

Also, I may come up with homebrew rules for this unit to field in Open Play. I'm skeptical we'll get Herald on Palanquin rules, the Epidemius rules are pretty decent but doesn't lend itself well to a melee HQ, and it's all hearsay that Horticulous Slimux himself will make the jump to the 41st Millennium. So now shhhh... no words... only pics now.

 

 

And here's a sneak peek of him on what will be his base. It's an 80mm Trench Base from Dragonforge and while I realize that's not the base he comes with nor is it the 60mm you'll usually find Epidemius or a Palanquin on, it's the only size he'll fit on without completely enveloping it or looking out of sorts in a 40K game. I also intend on carefully cutting away the rocks he's standing on and replacing them with something more appropriate for the theme... what I'm not sure of yet.

 

 

So there we have it... whew! Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Plague Marines to finish.

[Corswain]

Shell looks great, excellent choice!

[Reyner]

Wow that looks great and the fluff is pretty good too :D 

[DuskRaider]

Thanks guys! I'm super happy with the end result. As far as the fluff portion, well... maybe someday I'll go back to it and make it better.