Genteel Brutality; the Mohock Blades, a Bratt Gang

[EdT]

I've been doing some work on the door at the back of the Spire base and I have some progress to show.



I used the wings from two flying Stormcast, a 40mm base and a cake decoration mold to make the House Catallus symbol. I want the whole piece to end up quite oppressive, so I was keen to channel this famous piece of architecture as much as anything boroque and ecclesiastical. It's added to the wall at an angle, so there's a space at the top- as I want the base to be a bit run down and decrepit (although carefully maintained in parts), I'll add some sort of bird's nest up there later on.

You can also see, by the door, the initial elements of my stalagmite/organ pipe formations. They are way simpler than the Grenadan vaulting which inspired them, but I hope that the complexity will come from numbers rather than the individual 'pipes'. There will be loads more, and they will extend out into the staircase in parts too- it's going to be an amazingly time-consuming job to stick them on but I'm convinced the overall effect will be great.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Cool.

[Gato Gâteau]

This is gorgeous work, and very inspiring.

Can't wait for more!

[DragonHunter88]

I would just like to say how cool all of these conversions are! The spire guard is probably my favourite though. He just looks so...menacing I guess.

Edited December 11, 2017 by DragonHunter88

[FlamingDeth]

When it’s done I foresee that being a super rad base of operations.

[Filkarion]

I am speechless

 

I have learned a lot today, maybe one day I will finally start a project of mine that is similar in "inspirations" and atmosphere 

 

Thank you so much, keep up!

[Blindhamster]

really interesting stuff you have going on here, I really like how you've captured the feel of the 41st millenium.

 

Your converting and painting skills are very good :)

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this!

[EdT]

Thanks all.

A few things to show today. Firstly, I made some progress on the spire base. I've continued adding pipes and some other details to the area around the door, and started the process of making feeling a little more 'lived in' with purity seals and so on. When it's attached to the base proper, I'll be doing a lot more.



I also did the bit job of adding the walls on. This involved two sheets of plasticards, a lot of glue and quite a few rubber bands! It looks ok in the photo but it's rather wonky in real life- I may have to do some remedial cutting and reshaping, if not take one of the sheets off and redo it. Still, when the back wall went on it began to look rather more finished then previously...

I have one other bit of progress to show; some creepy homonculus (homoncula?) hand maiden to act as train bearers for Vellocet in her Spire incarnation. They look a bit rough in the photo but they are tiny- made from 15mm medieval monks with heads from the cherubs on the Devastator kit, they come up to the waist of a 28mm model.



So that's where we are- more soon! I've been putting some paint on the Mohocks too, so hopefully there will be something to show there.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The homunculi (plural) look impressive, as does your progress on the spire.

[EdT]

Thanks! Hopefully my last post plus this one should give a real sense of where I'm going with this base.

So this morning was a lovely sunny one, and as a result I got my paints out to do some experimenting. I think previously i've mentioned how I want the Underhive base and the Spire base to be drawn together through the use of the same colour scheme- in the case of the underhive base it's rust and peeling teal paint, and to me the posh equivalent of that is copper and some form of semi-precious blue-green stone.

I figured I should try out the method I suspected would get me there, so I took some plasticard and made a four-panelled section, giving me two squares to try out slightly different methods for both the copper and the stone. Here's what I ended up with...



I'm pleased with how they turned out, especially the slightly oxidised copper- I didn't want to go down the slightly hackneyed verdigris route, although I will add a little here and there on the final model. This, plus the rust on the underhive base, have really made me appreciate the joy of stippling!

There's still a long way to go before I can actually add this effect to the model, but it's nice to know that I have a recipe to do so when I get there.

[Naryn]

What a phenomenally inspirational thread. I look forward to every update.

[ephrael]

The door looks really good and I like the test panels you did. Are you planning on adding some kind of guards or automated sentry weapons to the door section?

[Scribe]

Wow, gotta say. This is 40K to me.

[EdT]

...so it's been a while since I posted here! Sorry. Life's been busy and while I have made progress with this project, I haven't really had anything sufficiently interesting to post in one go about. There will be more soon- the spire base has progressed in a series of ways and there's even a little paint on part of it- but for the time being, I have a new model for Lord Catallus' retinue to show you.

 

This is Magister Ignaz Schabel, itinerant chiurgeon and personal physician to Lord Catallus since the attempt on his life. Schabel came with hugely impressive credentials, but sufficiently detailed verification of them would prove that they are false and the real Schnabel died several years previously. Whether this is a fact known by House Catallus or not remains unclear; what is indisputable is that under his care, Lord Catallus has made a significant recovery and has a much better quality of life than before. His exact tratment is a closely guarded secret, however.

 

 

As you can see I went for the plague doctor look, which I think is wonderfully grimdark. The route to get there was pretty torturous; I went through about three iterations, none of which I liked, and only hit on the combination of parts relatively late on. Then it took me forever to hit on a way to do that hat that satisfied me. But I got there in the end!

 

I also gave him a little cherubic assistant who carries his doctor's bag.

 

More soon hopefully.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Schabel looks impressive, but his backstory makes me wonder if he's an agent of the Ruinous Powers (Chaos).