Khorne Warband of Wrath

[Doghouse]

Well don't be too long you've got some really nice stuff going on here. :D

 

I think the exalted champion pose works really well, it gives him a certain amount of weight which compliments the choice of weapon.

 

 

[RobWrath]

  On 1/8/2019 at 2:02 PM, Doghouse said:

 

Well don't be too long you've got some really nice stuff going on here.

 

I think the exalted champion pose works really well, it gives him a certain amount of weight which compliments the choice of weapon.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the comments!

 

I'll get back to Khorne soon enough, I only have 16 BB players to paint 'properly'. But I'm a really slow painter!

[RobWrath]

I'm back!

I've been mostly painting BB minis since my last entry on here, and I paint sloooow. 

 

 

However, I've recently got some enthusiasm back for 40k and the call of the Blood God.

I also got a promotion/pay rise and thought I'd treat myself.

 

So lets see what I bought...

 

Oh yes. It's him. Arbra'Gax is coming to the party. I've wanted a Bloodthirster since...forever...and I think the new model is just brilliant.

I found Duncan Rhodes tutorial online (thanks to KrautScientist) and have basically copied it.

 

Here is how far I've got; the picture above is with a base coat of Khorne Red, a quick coat of red contrast paint (forget the name, sorry) and a wash of Nuln oil.

 

This was after the first drybrush of Khorne Red.

 

This was after a drybrush of Wazdakka Red

 

 

And lastly, a more carefully brushed coat of Mephiston Red (the tutorial uses Evil Sunz Scarlet but I already had a pot of Mephiston and they are really quite similar.

 

I love the way it's turning out.

 

 

 

 

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Great conversions so far looking forward to seeing more work finished!!

[KrautScientist]

  On 12/17/2019 at 4:33 PM, RobWrath said:

 

Oh yes. It's him. Arbra'Gax is coming to the party. I've wanted a Bloodthirster since...forever...and I think the new model is just brilliant.

I found Duncan Rhodes tutorial online (thanks to KrautScientist) and have basically copied it.

Cheers for the shout out! :) And yes, that tutorial was a bit of a gamechanger for me, and I am happy to see how it seems to be working out rather well for yourself too! Keep up the good work, and don't skimp on the final skin highlighting step (like I did on my first Bloodthirster).

[RobWrath]

  On 12/18/2019 at 12:55 AM, KrautScientist said:

 

  On 12/17/2019 at 4:33 PM, RobWrath said:

 

Oh yes. It's him. Arbra'Gax is coming to the party. I've wanted a Bloodthirster since...forever...and I think the new model is just brilliant.

I found Duncan Rhodes tutorial online (thanks to KrautScientist) and have basically copied it.

Cheers for the shout out! And yes, that tutorial was a bit of a gamechanger for me, and I am happy to see how it seems to be working out rather well for yourself too! Keep up the good work, and don't skimp on the final skin highlighting step (like I did on my first Bloodthirster).

 

 

You might be interested to know this - your first Bloodthirster was the first time I'd seen the new model (I've recently got back into the hobby after a looooong time out) and it actually scared me! The sculpt and the paintjob was exactly like I'd always pictured a 'classic' Thirster (I'm also a fan of that Mark Gibbons artwork you've referenced on your blog).

 

Anyway, I didn't think I could do any better than basically copying what you've done (and what Mr Rhodes suggests). Without that tutorial I wouldn't have known where to start!

 

And yeah, I'll take a good amount of time to do the last skin layer - I have the colour DR suggests ready to go.

 

By the way, your Eternal Hunt project was a total inspiration for me - I've read back through your blog and think your conversions are amazing, and I particularly like the characters you create.

[RobWrath]

 

I've also started painting my Dark Apostle (who is my warlord until I put my termi Lord together).

 

As an experiment - I undercoated white and used some contrast paint (for the flesh, red armour and turquoise bits).

 

Not sold so far but this is very early stages, once it's all tided up, shaded, highlighted, etc, it might look fine.

 

I did quite a lot of converting on this one; legs, torso, right shoulder, arm, wrist, hand, weapon, head and whole left arm and shoulder pad are all from different base models.

[RobWrath]

I had an idea in my head for the base of the Bloodthirster - I wanted it to look like it was standing on (or appearing out of) a mini volcano with black basaltic sort of rock and lava flows.

 

I've looked up a couple of tutorials on lava bases online, but as what I wanted to do was a bit different to anything I saw, I thought I'd build a mock up first.

 

So here is where I've got to.

 

 

So in the finished version, the Thirster will be stood on the top of the 'crater'.

 

Thoughts, comments?

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Looks good, but I think you need to work some oranges and yellows into the lava - something like the painter did here: https://prometianpainting.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/finished-models-ectoplasma-rapiers/ (not my work) as the straight red doesn't really make one think its supposed to be lava.

[RobWrath]

Oh yeah, for sure. Lava very much WIP at this stage.

[RobWrath]

Some Bloodthirster updates - first I finished the WIP lava base. Thoughts? I think it looks cool personally. Ties in nicely with the flames underneath the Bloodthirster's hooves.

 

So I finished off the skin - all drybrushing and the final highlights with Wild Rider Red - I may go back and add some more highlights later but happy with how it looked right now.

Then I had the arduous task (ongoing) to black out the wings, straps, etc. And I can't decide what to do with the wings - leave them plain black (as KrautScientist did to a great effect) or try something else

 

I might use one wing 'panel' as an experiment and see what kind of look I can get by drybrushing a 'fade' from black through red to fleshy for the very tips/edges.

 

Then I gave myself a treat and did the face.

 

Some touching up to do - maybe make the eyes a bit more bright yellow, and also maybe do another wash coat for the teeth - they look a bit too white right now!

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Your lava looks great, as does the big boy's face - at least in the photo, they don't look overly white.  As for the wings, I think the effect you are doing is too subtle for the photo, so I can't really say if it worked or not.

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

[RobWrath]

  On 1/9/2020 at 10:15 PM, Dr_Ruminahui said:

Your lava looks great, as does the big boy's face - at least in the photo, they don't look overly white.  As for the wings, I think the effect you are doing is too subtle for the photo, so I can't really say if it worked or not.

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

 

Thanks for the comments!

 

I haven't done anything on the wings yet - they are just plain black right now.

 

I will report back when I've tried something!

 

I still have a lot of re-blacking of wings and straps to do. Yawn.

[RobWrath]

Minor update on the Bloodthister. More of it has been re-blacked and I undercoated the armour panels and tried out my new brass colour. 

 

 

I like it so far - I think with some washes it will darken down nicely but it adds a bit of brightness to the model.

I think I'm probably going to include the chest plate and thigh plates for sure, and I am currently undecided on the vambraces.

 

Pros - it adds some colour to those areas (predominantly the whip arm)

Cons - they are quite bulky and might unbalance a bit.

 

If you've been following my WIP thread closely (laughs) you'll remember a blu-tacked together Terminator Lord which was my 2nd ever post on the thread.

That was Morgar'ak the Damned, the Lord of my warband. I found some spare moments over the weekend to have a go at hacking his legs up. 

 

Here is where we are now.

 

I really wanted to get him in a pose climbing some steps like that, so I hacked off his right leg at the hip, cut that again at the knee, and reglued the hip on repositioned.

 

On the plus side, I've managed to get the pose exactly right. A slight issue now is there is a gap between the knee and the upper leg of the model which I've got to fill somehow.

 

I guess my options are to find a peice that will cover it and make up for the leg length, or, to fill it with green stuff and try to resculpt to match. We'll see.

 

The picture doesn't show but the right hip are shows a lot of signs of the hatchet job, but I think I might use some extra chains and bitz just to cover that.

 

I'm also working on the position of his arms; his left hand is a Lightning Claw and will be in a 'reaching out and beckoning' sort of pose, with his palm up, and his right is a huge and brutal-looking chainfist, which will be dangling more casually down towards the steps.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Looking good so far!! The bloodthirster is really coming along, looking forward to see it complete!

[KrautScientist]

The Bloodthirster is coming along really well! Keep it up! :)

[RobWrath]

Thanks for the kind comments guys, and for the encouragement. I really need it!

 

I had half an hour this morning so I re-blacked all the horns around the Thirster's face, and once I'd done it I had a thought;

 

Would it look more striking AND more fitting with my warband colour scheme to paint all those horns bone-white?

The more I think about it the more I think I should. And I guess if it looks terrible I can easily repaint black.

[RobWrath]

So, further to the last post I've made a start with the horns. I'm convinced enough at this stage to go around and paint all the horn bits the same colour; although I still want to layer up the colours on what I've done - more bone, more shading and a final highlight.

 

 

It's not a snowy base, by the way - I've build up the first stage of the volcanic cone with grout - reason being it dries smooth. So when I layer all purpose filler on the top to finish off the hill shape, then scrape grooves through it for lava flows, the bit I'll be painting red will be smooth. Like a lava flow.

 

That's the idea anyway.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Looks great so far!!

[RobWrath]

Morgar'ak the Damned walks!

 

 

So I remodelled his right leg, then discovered all the details I'd carefully fit together are completely hidden behind his cloak.

Humph.

 

His lightning claw was cut and rotated to give him that beckoning pose, and his other hand will be a monstrously huge chainfist. I'm nearly there with that arm.

 

Hope to have him assembled and undercoated before a game this weekend.

[RobWrath]

So I was messing around with Morg's right arm - as I mentioned he had a massive chainfist planned.

I'd spent some time building it from a standard CSM termi chainfist, but with the blades of 2 x chainswords stuck together.

 

See pic:

 

I kind of liked the shape and I'd greenstuffed it so it would have come up ok when painted - but the size was just stupid. It's about the height of a normal CSM, it would have been dragging on the floor!

 

So I gave up on that one and built a new custom fist from my spare RH Lightning Claw. It's still pretty beefy but a bit less ridiculous.

 

And now he's all assembled!

 

I managed to use him in a game on Sunday and can confirm a chainfist on a Chaos Lord is pretty good for cutting Primaris SMs into little bits.

 

I am mulling over adding some more details, embellishing his armour a bit more...but we'll see. And then it'll be time to prime and paint this beast!

[RobWrath]

I've been working on bits and bobs at home, still blocking out basic colours on the Thirster (photos to follow soon), and building some terrain to use some of my guys for Kill Team battles.
 
But in the meantime I've written the next chapter of Morgar'ak's lore. 
 
If you missed the first instalment, Morgar'ak was the only survivor (albeit injured) from a World Eater's detachment ambushed by Space Wolves. He's subsequently attacked by a disorganised Wrath warband on a looting/snacking mission, but manages to take control of them and is being taken to their ship in orbit.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Morgar’ak stood with his back to the wall of the warband’s ragged and battered Thunderhawk dropship as it heaved itself into the sky and up towards orbit. He did not dare to take his eyes from the Wrath marines that were being carried skyward with him, even as they feasted on the scavenged dead, tearing at the corpses, blood and gore covering their hands and faces. For the moment they were afraid of him and cowed into holding back their attacks, but Morgar’ak knew he could not count on it continuing for long.

 

Morgar’ak had noticed immediately that there were no captains, lords or champions with this group; this was just a raiding party, not the whole warband. Which meant the rest of the warband must be somewhere nearby, and so Morgar’ak’s next problem was dealing with the commanders. He could imagine the savagery required to hold a group of feral beasts like these Berzerkers of Wrath in thrall and drive them into combat.

Morgar’ak didn’t take his eyes off the Wrath marines until he felt the movement of the ship change, indicating it was docking with another ship, probably one of the Wrath’s main transport. Once he was aboard, he knew that he wouldn’t have much time before he was confronted and he was currently in no state to fight anyone. As the doors began to open, Morgar’ak turned suddenly to the nearest berserker, reaching out and wrapping the talons of his lightning claw around his throat.

“You,” Morgar’ak said gruffly. “Take me to the techpriests. Now.”

“No techpriests,” said the Wrath marine, motionless in Morgar’ak’s claw, voice grating and halting as if unfamiliar with speech. “All dead. Only servitors.”
“Take me to them,” Morgar’ak responded, not needing to ask what had happened to the warband’s techpriests.

 

He shoved the other marine down the Thunderhawk’s entry ramp, and followed closely behind as they entered the Wrath’s ship. His leg stabbed him with knives of pain with every step, but Morgar’ak pushed that from his mind as a minor inconvenience. He had to get his armour functioning fully again, without he felt naked and defenceless. Once all systems were back online his leg would be healed in due course. The thought of removing the armour to assess the damage didn’t even occur; he was not sure if it was even possible to take his armour off any more.

Morgar’ak didn’t really have the capacity to feel nervous any more, but nevertheless as he strode through the innards of the Wrath’s ship he was very aware he was in hostile territory. He had to bend this warband to his will and the current champions would try to kill him to prevent that. They would probably try very soon.
The interior of the shape was dark, only lit by a vague red glow that didn’t seem to be coming from lighting units. As he glanced to the wall it…rippled…shifted…and he had the vague impression for just a moment of a leering face with a gaping fanged maw…before it vanished. Morgar’ak recognised the daemonic when he saw it. The warp was very close here.

He was led up a short flight of steps to an open area, the ceramite of their armoured boots ringing harshly against the steel. At the top, in the middle of the room, was a plinth below a holographic projection. The image was of a snarling, daemonic face; unmistakeably that of a Bloodthirster, and as they approached the Wrath marine bowed his head low and began muttering to himself.

“Arba’Gax…Arbra’Gax,” his voice had a reverent quality and he bowed his head repeatedly. Manically. Morgar’ak bowed his head once, wary respect for the berserk rage in the Greater Daemon’s yellow eyes, then pushed the Wrath marine roughly.

“Come on,” he said. “Keep moving”.

The Wrath marine led him down, deeper and deeper into the bowels of the ship. Morgar’ak suspected a trap but he had no choice but to keep following. When dealing with other Marines of Chaos he always suspected some sort of trap or betrayal, so he kept his eyes open and his fists clenched.
The Wrath marine paused at the doorway to the dark and silent tech bay, and Morgar’ak instantly went onto high alert. But as he moved through the arched doorway the lights came on and a couple of decrepit looking Servitors straightened up as their internal servos powered up. He turned to the other marine, hesitating at the doorway.

“Go,” he said. And as he disappeared along the corridor Morgar’ak knew he did not have much time before the warband’s champions appeared to challenge the newcomer. He had to work fast.
*
Morgar’ak waited, watching impatiently as the blinking runes inside his visor showed him the progress of his armour repairs. Servitors had repaired the crack in his leg armour with a layer of new ceramite and rebooted the whole system to bring the weapons back on line.
Now, the seconds ticked away until he was no longer defenceless…

Suddenly, the doorway was filled with moving red and bone coloured power armour, and three huge figures entered, the shrieking buzz of chain weapons filling the air. Morgar’ak’s head snapped up, just as the progress rune shone a steady green. The next moment, both of his fists were suddenly sheathed in crackling, blue light as he powered up his ancient lightning claw and chainfist with a reflex.

One of the Wrath berserker-champions howled a challenge, but it was drowned out by the harsh metallic screech of the chainfist. Even as they moved to attack, Morgar’ak moved quicker. They were undoubtably skilled warriors to have risen to the top of this warband, but Morgar’ak was a veteran from the dawn of the Long War, and he did not wait for his opponent to take the advantage.

Moving forwards and then quickly to his left allowed him to lash out with his chainfist, cutting through the nearest marine’s power armour from his chest and upwards through his helmet with a scream of the teeth on the ceramite, and a spray of gore. Swivelling on his broken leg (now with no pain) with a speed that was shocking for a marine in terminator armour, he blocked a wild swing of a chainaxe with his lightning claw he thrust low with his fist, feeling it shudder as it sliced through the next berserker’s belly plate and deep into the flesh underneath. And now there was only one remaining. The dying marine jerked and writhed, Morgar’ak’s chainfist still churning his innards, before he demonstrated his inhuman strength by raising his arm high into the air, the marine still impaled on the chainfist blade. He waited, arm raised, facing down his last adversary…then he revved the chainfist and rolled his wrist, virtually cutting the marine in half and letting him crash to the floor. The last champion took a step back, lowering his weapons.

“Tell the Wrath I am here,” said Morgar’ak. “Tell them all. And tell them I am your Warlord now. The Wrath is now mine.”

Edited February 4, 2020 by RobWrath

[RobWrath]

Minor updates - got around to working on the Bloodthirster's base a bit.

 

So as you might be able to see it's a stack of smaller bases.

I applied some grout mixture over this to smooth it out into a hill (and also because grout dries smooth).

Next I bought some milliput and built up the hill around this, I wanted it to be a smooth cone with the Bloodthirster standing at the top.

 

So this pic is after I applied the milliput but after I painted on some home-made textured paint.

 

You can see I've carved 'rivers' through the hill, which will be lava flows once it's all finished.

 

The next stage was undercoating and then blocking in the lava with Khorne red.

 

[RobWrath]

Ok, so the big guy is fixed to the base.

Just need to finish the colours, shading and detailing the lava and we are really getting there...

[Tallarn Commander]

Your progress blog is wonderful!

 

Fun fluff, superb conversions, and great painting.

 

Keep up the good work.