The Grand Tetragon- Evil Eye's Daemon WIP Thread

[Evil Eye]

So given that I have half a dozen different projects on the go and trying to compile all my disparate ideas into one thread was perhaps not the best plan, I thought I'd instead start some individual blogs for each project in the relevant boards. In case you hadn't guessed, this one is for my assorted Daemons.

 

I'm planning on collecting forces of all four powers of Chaos over time, though predominantly I'll be focussing my efforts on Slaanesh and Nurgle for now (though I do have minis for the other Gods in the pipeline).

 

So, let's get to the juicy stuff shall we?

 

I've already posted my Changeling and Beast of Nurgle on the forum before, so I'll just leave those links in place and instead post fresh WIPs of my Infernal Enrapturess, purchased today!

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/Enrapturessthreehead.jpg

I decided not to use her standard head and instead gave her a thoroughly Realm of Chaos inspired threesome of noggins grafted together through profane sorcery (read: glue and putty).

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/EnrapturessHarp.jpg

The poor sap holding up the harp got a change of head too, a Hellstrider head that looks like he's moaning in pain (or pleasure?).

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/Enrapturess.jpg

And the parts together so far. All other parts will be left unglued for painting (and the harp + harpist are only dryfitted ATM).

Also been working on a Fiend conversion from a metal Hive Guard (which I started loing before plastic Fiends were a twinkle in Slaanesh's eye)

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/Fiend1.jpg

Envisioned as a more crustacean take on the old Realm of Chaos era beasties with the big snappy claws and powerful limbs, rather than the more sinuous critters we have now.

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/Fiend2.jpg

The tail is very WIP but will be sculpted up like a big ol' segmented scorpion stinger.

And finally, some Plague Drone WIPs (though the models have somewhat progressed since these photos).

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/PlagueDrone1.jpg

The Drones have only the smaller wings (the larger ones being made into magnetized options for my Tyranid Warriors if I want to run them as Shrikes) and the long spindly legs have been replaced with various smaller, stumpier limbs. The result is not unlike a giant decaying bee, hilariously. This one has a gigantic stinger.

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/PlagueDrone2.jpg

A very ANGRY Plague Drone, leaping forward like a very large locust. This one has a spined sac of rank pus hanging out of his abdomen on a length of sinew.

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/PlagueDrone3.jpg

The champion, who has 7 upper limbs (Nurgle loves him it would seem!). The fly itself is extra gross, with a sort of ovipositor tentacle instead of a stinger and a pair of grabby hands for its forelimbs. And for those that know how some species of wasps lay their eggs...yeah.

I have various other things I'm working on but this was all I had photographed at the moment. Hopefully I actually update this thread!

[Ulfast]

The entruptress looks awsome. Small but nice changes, very chaotic. The rest looks good too.

[WarriorFish]

Great work, the Fiend is particularly smart - I can see why it's taking so long :P I like the Enrapturess bits, I might end up stealing some of your ideas so lots of progress pictures as you go would be great :tu:

[Evil Eye]

Thanks guys!

 

The Fiend will have a lot more GS work to disguise the obvious Tyranid heritage, so he'll take a while before he gets painted. I've actually got 5 Fiends in various stages of completion- one very old metal one I picked up at Salute, one metal version of the last non-plastic sculpt we got, two plastic conversions made from Steeds, Genestealer torsos and other bits (need to post those here) and of course this one. I want my Slaanesh Daemons in particular to be greatly varied in both sculpts and paint, full 80s style, so hopefully no two models will look the same.

 

I also built the Contorted Epitome last night, but no conversions yet. It's a really nice model as is if I'm honest and I'm not sure what I could do to "improve" it. I'm also not sure on painting it; I know I want the two Heralds to contrast each other and I'm thinking the metal of the Epitome itself as bronze, but as for the actual mirror I'm not sure. I'm tempted to use my Molotow chrome through an airbrush to make it into an actual mirror (with some clear red round the edges for a more daemonic look) but then again, I'm also tempted to try freehanding some kind of nightmarish vision onto the mirror instead (the eye of Slaanesh perhaps?).

[Evil Eye]

Update on the Floaty Mirror of Doom- Priming went spectacularly wrong and attempts to strip it damaged the surface of the "mirror". I have managed to sand the damage (and most of the "ripples" annoyingly enough) away and with the aid of various sandpapers, polishing cloth and abrasive paste have practically gotten the damn thing to a mirror-finish anyway. I've decided to try hand-priming this time, confident in the knowledge that if it goes wrong again I can sand it back again. If it goes wrong yet again I'll probably use putty and skulls to have some kind of actual 3D scene of horror emerging from the mirror.

 

I seem to be doomed with anything involving airbrushes/sprays of any kind...

[Evil Eye]

Update: Started painting one of the attendants for the Epitome. She's going to be painted with dark skin and light clothing, whilst the other one will have lighter skin but dark clothing (and with a white undercoat instead of black). The clothing is a little chalky at the moment but I'm sure a glaze can remedy that. (WIP obviously)

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/MirrorAttendant1WIP.jpg

 

I also nabbed the Masque recently and will be priming her along with some Brimstone Horrors soon.

Regarding the Contorted Epitome, I have a bit of a dilemma. I still need to reprime it (having repaired the damage, albeit reducing the ripples in the sculpt to nothing in the process, ironically enough making it more mirror-like in the process), but I'm not sure how to paint the mirror itself. I have a few ideas-

1: Airbrush Molotow Chrome onto the mirror, giving it a literal mirror-finish- perhaps airbrushing some Deathshroud around the edges for added spooky weirdness. Would look spectacular but could go badly wrong, and would need absolute perfect smoothness in the primer.

2: Use a colour-shift paint (I'm thinking GSW Psychotic Illusions) to make a sort of surreal "window into the Warp" effect. Would probably be easier, but obviously less mirror-like, though this being a Daemonic artifact I don't suppose it really matters that much.

3: Paint something freehand onto it (screaming faces, the eye of Slaanesh etc). Avoids airbrushing woes entirely, sans the primer of course, but also would take quite a while and depending on my skill could come out less than impressive.

 

Thoughts?

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I like all those ideas - you might want to try the mirror finish first and if it doesn't work, you can likely transition or repaint it into one of your other ideas.

[Panzer]

I'm going to use my Molotow Liquid Chrome marker for my mirrors as well once I got around buying the models.

I've seen some other great ideas in a Facebook group as well already. Everything ranging from different kinds of freehanding, using clear resin and also a print (I assume) of the trapped Slaanesh artwork from AoS.

Edited May 24, 2019 by sfPanzer

[Evil Eye]

One surprisingly successful airbrushing session later and I have results!

 

Most of what I did was just white priming, nothing too spectacular. However, there are two things I think are worth posting...

 

The first is something I've done for the 10 Brimstone Horrors I have- nothing overly fancy or special, but something I'm inordinately proud of- reverse zenithal highlighting. I hit the tips of the flames with some airbrushed black primer, which has given them a good basis for a "smoldering" look. Just need to decide what colour they'll be to fit in with the muted, monochrome look I'm going for with my Tzeentch Daemons...

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/BrimstoneHorrorPrime.jpg

(Note that they're all primed the same way but I wasn't going to show them all because, well, you know what they look like)

 

More interestingly, however, is the Epitome, which I successfully primed (hooray!) and hit the mirror section with a health dose of Molotow. And ye gods it worked nicely...

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/ContortedEpitomeChro.jpg

The picture doesn't show it well but you can actually see yourself in it, sort of. I'm amazed at how well this works. Not sure what colour to paint the non-mirror bits though (including the mirror framing that got caught by the chrome- not a problem as I can just paint over it). I was thinking dark bronze, but my mother (who finds this sort of thing endlessly interesting) thinks that black with edge highlighting would look good. Any ideas there?

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Those all look great - I'm happy your new techniques worked out so well.

 

As for the mirror, what colour are its attendant heralds going to be?  I would chose something that goes with yet contrasts with them.  BTW, the chrome looks quite nice on the frame (just needs to be darker), so a dark metallic like the bronze you suggest could be stunning.  If you want to work some black in, maybe the tentacles?

Edited May 25, 2019 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Evil Eye]

Thanks! One of the Heralds is currently being painted (I posted her in the previous update)- she's going to be largely a sort of dark aubergine-ish purple with sea green as a spot colour and pale blue cloth. The other one is going to be pale sea green predominantly with some pink as a spot color and a very dark colour for the clothes (she's been primed white instead of black).

And yeah, I am thinking perhaps doing just the mirror frame in bronze whilst doing the tentacles a different colour (highlighted and glossed black for a sort of "lacquered" look).

[Dr_Ruminahui]

That sounds like it would work - I look forward to seeing the result.

[Panzer]

The sprayed chome looks sick. Care to pass me a link? I've got only the marker from molotow and it's not nearly as smooth unfortunately.

[Evil Eye]

What you want is one of the refill tubes- squirt it in with a bit of Mr. Hobby's levelling thinner and it airbrushes beautifully at about 10-15 PSI.

 

...And something obviously got on mine before it had finished drying because it's all fogged up (which it doesn't normally FWIW). I swear this model is cursed. Fortunately, it actually brushes really smooth with the afforementioned levelling thinner and a synthetic brush. Let's try that again shall we?

[WarriorFish]

That does look pretty great, the model will explode more than pop when done! :P

[Evil Eye]

So update: After a late night of much sanding, selective stripping and swearing I think I've managed to restore a mirrory shine to the Epitome. I'm not going to touch it for the rest of the day as if there's the slightest possibility it hasn't cured yet I don't think I could face yet another "reset". Still, it possibly looks better than before so hopefully it'll still be really good when it's done.

 

I hate this model so damn much.

[WarriorFish]

There's such a thing as too much work, sometimes the best thing to do is stop. Maybe it's a temperature thing? Or positioning (makes me think about glue curing and see through plastic)?

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Yeah, I hope it worked out and stayed mirror-like this time.

[Evil Eye]

Thanks for the kind words! I think it's come out alright this time- if it goes wrong again I'll probably abandon the mirror effect and either go for the colourshift paints, or alternatively break out the skulls and putty for a sort of "tormented spirits trying to escape" look. But hopefully this time it's worked.

 

I've also nearly finished the unit of Smoke Horrors (Brimstones), which literally consisted of the aforementioned priming work, a coat of Nighthaunt Gloom and some dots of very pale blue for the eyes and teeth. Now I just have to base the little critters! I'll photo them when they're done.

[Evil Eye]

The "Smoke Horrors" (Brimstones) are done!

http://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/Brimstones1.jpghttp://u.cubeupload.com/Squigsquasher/Brimstones2.jpg

As ever, sorry about the terrible photos/lighting. I need a lightbox.

 

Anyway, aside from trying not to get the basing stuff on the models themselves, these were really easy to paint. Just white primer (with black airbrushed onto the very tips of the fire), Nighthaunt Gloom all over, Baharroth Blue for the eyes and teeth, then the bases were done with Aggrellan Earth/Badland washed with Agrax Earthshade, drybrushed with Terminatus Stone and finally the glow was created with a bit of Aethermatic Blue at their feet. I kinda wanna do more, and if I develop my Tzeentch forces to be bigger I'll probably go full hog on the splitting horrors thing. These little dudes are just too much fun.

[Marshal Marchenko]

I love those brimstones. Might have to steal that idea

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Neat effect with the brimstones - very different from the usual firey colours.  Do you plan to do all your brimstones this way, or will you do different thigns to different units?

[Evil Eye]

Neat effect with the brimstones - very different from the usual firey colours.  Do you plan to do all your brimstones this way, or will you do different thigns to different units?

I'll probably do all the Brimstones this way as A: it keeps things simple and B: having too many variations in their colours would possibly work against the muted look I'm going for with my Tzeentch stuff. I've got an idea for each of my 4 Daemon "contingents"-

>Khorne: Painted after various demons from the 2016 DOOM game.

>Nurgle: Painted to be as utterly repulsive as possible whilst avoiding using too much green.

>Slaanesh: Absolute riot of colour, full 80s-style with every unit being painted differently.

>Tzeentch: The exact opposite, fairly uniform and very subdued colours, somewhat Blanche-inspired (basically to go with my Changeling who was the catalyst for the Tzeentch stuff).

 

With regards to the other Tzeentch stuff, the Blue Horrors will be painted mostly black with some blue highlights (in that classic chalky Blanchitsu style), the Pink Horrors will be off-white with pinkish-red recesses. Flamers will be done in oily sepia tones, and Screamers will be grey with a very subtle hint of lavender. If I do a Lord of Change I'm thinking he should be painted like a European Jay.

 

Thanks by the way! I was quite pleased with them for how simple they were to do.

[Evil Eye]

[injects rejuvenat serum into ancient thread]

So one house move, shed setup and, uh, global pandemic later and I thought I'd finally get back to work on my Daemons. Not much to show (I've only recently gotten the shed in a layout where I can work on them, and I've been a bit busy on my Tyranids for the most part) but what I HAVE got to show, well, I think it's worth it. I finally started working on my FW Keeper of Secrets.

 

The dreadlocks were worked into a sort of "ponytail" by attaching them to the head and then dunking just the dreadlocks in hot water, twisting them into the "braid" and eventually working them into this shape.

The sword with the kit is a bit weedy, so I'm replacing it with a scratchbuilt replacement. Obviously this is early days for it but I'm aiming for a more organic, Gigeresque look than the stock piece, in the general shape of a scimitar.

My absolute favourite conversion so far, however, is on the mouth- rather than the tongue, I gave her/him/it a skull for a ball gag, held in place with her/his/its own skin. Yikes!

I'm still thinking of other ways of differentiating it from the stock model (considering leaving either the leg or breast spikes off and replacing them with something else) but I'm not entirely sure what. Also not certain on the colour scheme- I have had an idea for giving her Yakuza-style tattoos on her back though, which would be incredibly tricky to pull off but possible and would look awesome. Any ideas?

[WarriorFish]

Good to see you back on your Daemons I think the model is quite "stand out" so even if you completely remodelled it it'd still be clear who it is so I wouldn't worry too much about this (or the squipples) Tattoos is a good idea it's something I've thought about for my KoS, though not to the detail of a Yakuza one It'd be a lot of effort, but what better model for it?

 

Do you have a colour scheme in mind for your Daemons? I linked mine to my CSM with the main colours, but it's an opportunity to do something quite different too. I went for the uncanny valley look for mine, make them need a second glance - seemed fitting to me