A return to the Death Guard and a new start.

[KrautScientist]

I couldn't be any happier with your decision to redesign the Defiler! The previous version was cool, but I had the same sneaking feeling I already had on the first version of your daemon prince: Pretty cool, but not GuitaRasmus levels of amazing. I didn't want to say anything, though, for fear of becoming this thread's very own "naysmith" ;)

 

The new version is just incredibly awesome, though: Something that perfectly fits 40k while arguably going beyond the stuff that's already there: You could imagine this machine as an actual kit -- like the Nurglite alternative to the Khornate Brass Scorpion. It's also a conversion to rival, and arguably even surpass, your older Plague Fly in coolness. Fantastic stuff!

 

Two suggestions, if I may: One, the legs are maybe still looking a bit Necron-y: Have you considered maybe shaving them down, so they taper down into points? They could even profit from a slightly uneven, organic look. Two, with the big gun positioned like a stinger like that, maybe some more organic tweaks to the barrel would make sense?

 

Your daemon prince is also coming along at full steam, it seems. What are your next plans for him? More armour plates? Will there be a shoulder pad on his right shoulder? I still think the head would profit from some cabling/tubing -- some way to tie it together with the body a bit better.

 

Anyway, you're back to your A-game, mate! I am very much looking forward to your next update! :)

[The_son_of_Dorn]

By the emperor. I have a soft puss filled spot for plague burgle armies.

 

You sir, have successfully kept me from doing important work for 35 minutes.

 

Nurgle is proud. Keep spreading that immaculate filth!

[Marius Perdo]

Thanks for the comparison shot. Having just started looking at my DG purely for mold lifts I had no idea how big the new DG where compared to other models. To see one compared to the other models you have converted has really helped get a sense of scale, they are all huge. Cover saves bonuses are overrated anyway ;)

If you do decide the legs need organifying, possibly ridges along the topside of organic spines and horns. I've been fiddling with the cheek bones/horns from Slaaneshi helstriders steeds for bone spine eruptions on my possessed, I am not sure if anything smaller than a slaughterbrute would work for anything as big as your defiler.

[GuitaRasmus]

That daemon prince is seriously creative work, I can't wait to see him completed! Nice piece of fluff too for Tugral, I liked reading his rise and fall. Maybe you could put a "boneless" victim on the base? Looking forward to seeing more!

 

Thanks! I can see what you're going for, but I've never been so much into trophies on the miniatures - I think the idea is cool, but I find it out of place to have a Helbrute stomping on an elder, when I'm fighting Necrons, for example. 

 

By god man, you were in an updating frenzy I see. 

 

I liked the Maulfiend. I liked the original Defiler... but I love what you've done by combining the two. I would love so much to emulate this, but I am aware my skills cannot come close to approaching yours. Very inspiring and it has officially surpassed the Helbrute as my favorite model you've constructed for your Death Guard.

 

The Daemon Prince has come together nicely. It's good to see the Hive Tyrant legs worked out so well, they definitely compliment the model.

 

I too share your pain with the Decimator. I have one lying around and while I love it's new rules (especially with the Soulburners), the model leaves much to be desired. I'm at a loss on how to get it to fit the army. Perhaps using parts of it with a Mhara Gal or a heavily converted Contemptor?

 

Thanks! :) I'm sure you could do a very nice version of it yourself - it's really not that complicated a conversion, it was just a bumpy road to the end result. ;)  

 

Yes, the Decimator... Oh, the Decimator. I have this hunch that I need to rethink the concept completely, but I'll let it sit for a few days, and look at it with fresh eyes, and see what I can come up with. 

 

The helm on the decimator needs changing out for sure.

 

Looks very Viking to me... In fact, it would look awesome as a head for a SW contemptor.

 

I think the reason that it is throwing you off is that with Nurgle each engine is part machine and part organic, this is pure machine, so it is trying to find a way of working in some fleshy bits. Also the hard angular sections of the upper plate are quite jarring as everything is is more smooth and rounded.

 

Maybe rupture some cables and make them look like intestines, or like clerar tubing with yukky unguents flowing around them fuelling the decimator/ daemon. Round off the plates slightly and take a dremel to the  chaos symbol to flatten it down and make it look uneven, like a build up of rust- deposits or very slightly raised scar tissue. Use the dremel to "distress" the armour too. Maybe something oozing out from between the segmented armour plates on the upper body.

 

Be careful not to stray too far into Helbrute territory though.

 

Switch the chained mech cover on the power pack to a leering daemon head or even several nurgling heads to make it look like the metal is distorting and the daemons are trying to get out (re-overlay the chains to keep them in). 

 

What are you planning to put in the gap between torso and hips? Maybe something mech-y, but corroded and battered?

 

Not bad ideas at all - the danger of giving him a belly is that, like many Nurgle Helbrutes on the web, that the silhouette is lost, and he just becomes a blob with arms and legs. Perhaps I can make it work - we'll see. 

 

I had missed the defiler update, what a beast! Your daemon engines are the best man, and that defiler is almost big enough to be used as a Brass Scorpion of Khorne count-ass! And the Daemon Prince is also fantastic, the third arm looks completely right now that the second leg has been added, hadn't realised how HUGE he was!

 

Thanks a lot - Daemon engines ARE a great pleasure to model for me, so I'm glad it shows. Is it really that big? I always thought the Brass Scorpion was enormous. And yes, the Prince is big - perhaps a little too big, but oh well, the rule of cool and all that. ;)

 

I couldn't be any happier with your decision to redesign the Defiler! The previous version was cool, but I had the same sneaking feeling I already had on the first version of your daemon prince: Pretty cool, but not GuitaRasmus levels of amazing. I didn't want to say anything, though, for fear of becoming this thread's very own "naysmith"

 

The new version is just incredibly awesome, though: Something that perfectly fits 40k while arguably going beyond the stuff that's already there: You could imagine this machine as an actual kit -- like the Nurglite alternative to the Khornate Brass Scorpion. It's also a conversion to rival, and arguably even surpass, your older Plague Fly in coolness. Fantastic stuff!

 

Two suggestions, if I may: One, the legs are maybe still looking a bit Necron-y: Have you considered maybe shaving them down, so they taper down into points? They could even profit from a slightly uneven, organic look. Two, with the big gun positioned like a stinger like that, maybe some more organic tweaks to the barrel would make sense?

 

Your daemon prince is also coming along at full steam, it seems. What are your next plans for him? More armour plates? Will there be a shoulder pad on his right shoulder? I still think the head would profit from some cabling/tubing -- some way to tie it together with the body a bit better.

 

Anyway, you're back to your A-game, mate! I am very much looking forward to your next update!

 

Thanks - I really appreciate you taking the time to write and push me in the right direction; that is definitely the way to go, however frustrating it may be in the process. It's clearly pushed me to do my best, and I thank you for it. :) 

 

About the legs: I actually kind of like them the way they are - they look weird and otherworldly, while still retaining a gothic aesthetic; the cannon too - I'm wary of using too much organic material on the Daemon Engines - firstly, if there is too much skin, it can crash with the colour scheme, and secondly, organic material is often the easy way out - "Oh, what should I do with these joints? I'll just mash some greenstuff onto it." I would like to have them being more of a metal shell, with organic material here and there, instead of close to a 50/50 mix. The DV helbrute vs. Forgefiend is a good example - the Forgefiend is clearly a construct, riddled with organic material here and there, while the DV Helbrute, especially the back, seems a bit like the easy way out. 

 

As for the Daemon prince, the next plans are to sculpt armour for the legs, which should take some time, and start to detail him - I don't think he'll get a second shoulder pad, I'm trying to force myself to use more asymmetry on this project. 

 

By the emperor. I have a soft puss filled spot for plague burgle armies.

 

You sir, have successfully kept me from doing important work for 35 minutes.

 

Nurgle is proud. Keep spreading that immaculate filth!

 

Thank you. :) 

[Dantay VI]

Yeah, I do not think a belly is a good idea, I was thinking something cylindrical, or almost like a spine linking the 2 top and bottom halves together where you have the wire. Not sure if it would be too Necron-y.

[outlanders_luke]

Everything here looks simply amazing, cannot wait to see it all painted

[Fire Golem]

Where is the head on the Helbrute with the saw hand from?

 

Fantastic conversions!

[GuitaRasmus]

Yeah, I do not think a belly is a good idea, I was thinking something cylindrical, or almost like a spine linking the 2 top and bottom halves together where you have the wire. Not sure if it would be too Necron-y.

 

Well... I've messed with something, and I think that I might have to eat my words - a belly might be the way to go, even though that wasn't what you suggested. See below. :)

 

Everything here looks simply amazing, cannot wait to see it all painted

 

Thanks a lot! 

 

Where is the head on the Helbrute with the saw hand from?

 

Fantastic conversions!

 

It's the head from the plasma carrying plague marine from the Dark Imperium starter set. And thanks!

 

 

 

I've made a VERY rough mockup of a Decimator idea, that seems a bit more "nurglish" - the small bottles are placeholders for the Soul Burner Petards I've yet to make:

 

 

The head will of course also be changed - I'm still messing with ideas. Like I said, it's extremely rough, and I apologise this pic, which barely functions as a wip. It's meant to be sort of a sketch, to see if this idea is worth pursuing. I think it breaks up the standard Decimator "warmachine-aesthetic" nicely, but I'd love to hear what you guys think. :) 

[TURBULENCE]

I'm I love. That is an amazing start for your decimator. Really looking forward to seeing how it evolves

[KrautScientist]

That's a VERY interesting mockup there! I know you are going to hate me for this, but that head almost looks like a better-realised version of the - already pretty cool - head you have on the Daemon Prince...

[DuskRaider]

Oh wow, using the Blood Slaughterer is a great idea. What did you do for the legs? Awesome idea!

[GuitaRasmus]

I'm I love. That is an amazing start for your decimator. Really looking forward to seeing how it evolves

 

Thanks - I think it's starting to grow on me too. :)

 

That's a VERY interesting mockup there! I know you are going to hate me for this, but that head almost looks like a better-realised version of the - already pretty cool - head you have on the Daemon Prince...

 

Cool - so you think I should move forward with it? It's a little out of my comfort zone. Reg. the head - really?? I think the DP head is much cooler than the blood slaughterer head could ever be - this is just that, with a blob of white blu-tack on it. :D I have an idea I'm tinkering with, for a more mechanic head for this guy. 

 

Oh wow, using the Blood Slaughterer is a great idea. What did you do for the legs? Awesome idea!

 

Thanks! It's just the Decimator legs, with the edges of the thighs trimmed away, and some mauler fiend forearm armour plates added to the shins. 

[KrautScientist]

I absolutely realise that the Decimator head is just a really early mockup -- and yet I stand by my assessment that it actually works better than the DP one, even though they both share the same basic idea: The crooked horn looks great, as does the cabling that makes up the neck. The jaws on the DP head are great, but they're just there, without really interacting with the neck and shoulders. And it has a slightly unfinished look to it -- just take a look at the things that work really, really well on this early mockup and maybe try to use some of them on the Daemon Prince, is all I'm saying.

[Xin Ceithan]

It always humbles me to see the stuff you come up with. Your Mock up is mocking me...

The adjusted Demon Prince is great and the Hellbrute should be STC reference for all DG brutes.

But the Defiler... that thing is just beyond words! Sooo Giger.

[GuitaRasmus]

It always humbles me to see the stuff you come up with. Your Mock up is mocking me...

The adjusted Demon Prince is great and the Hellbrute should be STC reference for all DG brutes.

But the Defiler... that thing is just beyond words! Sooo Giger.

 

Thanks a lot man - really appreciate it.

 

I've been messing a bit with my Decimator idea, which has to started to distill into a concept;

 

I don't dislike the Decimator per se, but it just doesn't really fit in with the current chaos aesthetic of 40k - the armour plates are angled instead of curved, and it is extremely top heavy, where most of the Daemon Engines now have most of their weight in the body.

 

I've used a Blood Slaughterer torso (scavenged from my Maulerfiend conversion from years ago), stripped it, and mounted it on the Decimator legs, with the shin guards replaced by Maulerfiend arm guards, for a nice curved armour look. I thought long about it, and decided to make an armoured belly, instead of a fleshy one - fleshy stuff just seems to me like the easy way out. I made it from a blob of milliput, roughly shaped, and when it was dry I filed and scraped it into the right shape (much easier to me, than sculpting armour with sharp edges) It obviously still needs trims and detailing, perhaps some teeth sticking out from it.

 

The head is a rough mockup, just an idea I'm trying out - very interested to hear you guys opinions.

 

Also, the cannons (soul burner petards) are a bit of a pain - I've tried making some on my lathe (more on that on the bottom of this post), but I'm not quite sure they work - maybe they just need detailing, maybe they need to be bigger, or maybe they just shouldn't be curved, or maybe I just need to cough up the 24 pounds for the originals. Let me hear your opinion and ideas.

 

 

A side shot, so you can se the rather bizarre profile - I kinda like it, it's very different from most other walkers and Daemon Engines.

 

 

The lathe;

I was in the fortunate situation that one of my student's father (I'm a school teacher by day) knew that I'm somewhat of a woodshop/workshop fanatic (I also work a lot with wood and metal, besides plastic crack) and one of his neighbours was widowed some years ago - her husband used to be a machine worker, and had a lathe in her basement, which was just collecting dust - I could get it for free if I would just come get it. I joyfully drove to her house with my dad (who has 40+ years experience with lathes) to inspect it, only to find that it was freaking enormous. I had hoped that I could just take it in my car - that was not going to happen. Anyway, I talked to my dad (and the missus of course, not to risk her wrath) and concluded that I would never get a chance to own a machine like that again, and since we had the space in our garage (where I have my workshop), I got some professional movers to do it for me. Good thing, that; they were 3 gigantic guys, who struggled with it for 2 hours. It weighs 450 kg (about 900 pounds), and IT. IS. GLORIOUS. It has all the accessories and tools with it, is handmade in Denmark in the 1930's, and he has kept it in great shape:

 

 

It is a great tool to have at ones disposal and something I'll enjoy for many years to come. :)

[Maarten]

Oh man that lathe makes me jealous!

On the petard: They're a bit too heavy for my tastes with the thin arms. Shapewise they're great though.
The belly armor looks perfect to me aswell and the face works well with the pose.

[Biohazard]

Man he's looking good, I love the bizarre profile. The head works really well, is that part of the magma cutter and the jaws from the Khorgorath arm/fist/mouth?

 

The soul burners I think are almost there maybe slightly oversized. Do you still have any of the teeth you used on your older Death Guard? Or can you still make some of them? I think some of them would work around the nozzle end, will you be adding the piston like details and armour plates etc?

 

Actually looking again, to add to the bizarre silhouette how about shortening and thickening up the arms that carry the petard and have them sit slightly higher?

 

It also now reminds me of the mechs from an old Xbox game called Phantom Crash :)

Edited August 24, 2017 by Biohazard

[Aasfresser]

That decimator starts looking really good. As for the petards, Biohazard is right. They're on the right way, some teeth or claws and some more trim and they look just as good as the official ones.

What's the situation on the defiler and the prince? Any news?

My father would kill for that lathe, btw :D

[Daemon2027]

Oh man I missed your return. I loved your old Nurgle army, your ability to mash different kits together so seamlessly is amazing. I'm going to be starting my own death guard soon so I'm taking notes.

[Marius Perdo]

Like the decimators stance/aspect/profile/silouhette.

 

Love the head. Looks like a magma cutter bit with a new death guard shoulder spine as the horn and a khorgorath claw as the jaws.

 

The petard look too wide bore to me, even with larger arms added. Maybe if they came out of the shoulders as if they where the arms like an old Adeptus Titanicus plastic warlord titan?

 

It made me go and look at FWs but I have no real idea how good those would look on yours.

 

It kept reminding me of something, took me ages to realize it feels like some ace chaos you Nurglified fusion of an old titan and a war jack.

[GuitaRasmus]

Oh man that lathe makes me jealous!

 

On the petard: They're a bit too heavy for my tastes with the thin arms. Shapewise they're great though.

The belly armor looks perfect to me aswell and the face works well with the pose.

 

Thanks! I'm also really happy about getting such a machine into my workshop. :)

 

Man he's looking good, I love the bizarre profile. The head works really well, is that part of the magma cutter and the jaws from the Khorgorath arm/fist/mouth?

 

The soul burners I think are almost there maybe slightly oversized. Do you still have any of the teeth you used on your older Death Guard? Or can you still make some of them? I think some of them would work around the nozzle end, will you be adding the piston like details and armour plates etc?

 

Actually looking again, to add to the bizarre silhouette how about shortening and thickening up the arms that carry the petard and have them sit slightly higher?

 

It also now reminds me of the mechs from an old Xbox game called Phantom Crash

 

Very well spotted, about the head - that's pretty impressive! 

 

I can definitely see what you mean about Phantom Crash, having just googled it. 

 

Yep, I think I'll have to experiment a bit with the arms and petards - I think they need to be this long though, I experimented a bit with the length before making the petards, and I think this works best. I can definitely make more fimo teeth, though. :)

 

That decimator starts looking really good. As for the petards, Biohazard is right. They're on the right way, some teeth or claws and some more trim and they look just as good as the official ones.

What's the situation on the defiler and the prince? Any news?

My father would kill for that lathe, btw

 

Yep, I'll have to go into thinking mode for the petards. The defiler is almost done, only needing some detailing done, final sculpting of some seams, and I got the last leg armour plates in the mail yesterday. The Daemon prince is in the sketching stage, as I'm drawing a few ideas for the leg armour, and pondering that a bit. 

 

That's me in a nutshell - 5-6 unfinished projects in rotation. What can you do, eh? :D

 

 

Oh man I missed your return. I loved your old Nurgle army, your ability to mash different kits together so seamlessly is amazing. I'm going to be starting my own death guard soon so I'm taking notes.

 

Thanks a lot - that's a nice compliment. :)

 

Like the decimators stance/aspect/profile/silouhette.

 

Love the head. Looks like a magma cutter bit with a new death guard shoulder spine as the horn and a khorgorath claw as the jaws.

 

The petard look too wide bore to me, even with larger arms added. Maybe if they came out of the shoulders as if they where the arms like an old Adeptus Titanicus plastic warlord titan?

 

It made me go and look at FWs but I have no real idea how good those would look on yours.

 

It kept reminding me of something, took me ages to realize it feels like some ace chaos you Nurglified fusion of an old titan and a war jack.

 

I've just googled some old plastic titans, and I see what you mean, although I've tried with shorter arms, and it seems a little comical. I can definitely see what you mean about "old titan/warjack" fusion though - I hope that's a good thing. :) 

[Marius Perdo]

@GuitaRasmus: It is only by reading your post I saw that other folks made similar observations. The titan/war jack thing is a good thing :) I vaguely recalled a Nurgle corroded large bore cannon as an image, but that was on the discontinued Nurgle Plague hulk from FW so that would be impractical. Might help with some visual cues.

[GuitaRasmus]

@GuitaRasmus: It is only by reading your post I saw that other folks made similar observations. The titan/war jack thing is a good thing I vaguely recalled a Nurgle corroded large bore cannon as an image, but that was on the discontinued Nurgle Plague hulk from FW so that would be impractical. Might help with some visual cues.

 

Got ya. :)

 

I think I've cracked it, regarding the Petards. It took a lot of milliput and green stuff, plus scraping, filing and sanding, but I think I've cracked it. The green stuff is drying as I write, hopefully an update tomorrow. :)

[GuitaRasmus]

I wasn't happy with the tubular cannons, so I was sitting on the FW webshop, credit card in hand, ready to press "check out", when I got an idea.

 

I have loads of Ectoplasma cannons lying about (since nobody wanted them for the last two editions), so I decided to do something with them; I glued them together with some plastic spacers between, giving them a gap of 5-6 mm, to broaden them quite a bit. After this I used LOTS of milliput and Milliput/greenstuff mix to fill in the gaps, cover the plasma coils, and make a new look for them. After this was dried I filed, scraped and sanded them smooth, and sculpted on the trims, and added some teeth were the gap was.

 

They're obviously not finished yet, needing minor detailing work, and perhaps some spikes and/or tubes, but I think they look enough like petards to justify using them, and far enough removed from ectoplasma cannons as to not be confused - but let me hear your thoughts. :)

 

 

[Biohazard]

YES! Just yes! They look great! What an inspired use of bits!