The Dirge - Subterranean Death Guard and Lost & The Damned

[Master Umbra]

Aaah, now I see. Even tho I don't mind the model, I appreciate what it represents, as it opens some new ideas for conversions. I do like the fly hair on top of his frame, and the fact that he has those additional arms tho! What I don't really like about these models are the faces, tbh. But then again, I am into spooky bois, which are completely different. Anyway, I am glad to see you are not putting this aside completely, and look forward to see what you do next!

[acrowsperch]

@Umbra I'll never put this aside, I don't think, since this joint force is meant to be a permanent project. Eventually I'd like to include Dark Mechanicum and have a full 100 plague marines with artillery support etc.

 

Anyway, no painting updates this week, I've been having to deal with stuff and I decided it'd be better to just have fun, and building is probably the most fun I have. The Blightlords are finished! I decided to keep the fly guy, I did some minor conversions with the heads, with the champion having a Deathshroud head-- I feel like headswaps, even with space marines, do so much for the conversion. I, personally, don't like bare heads that much, because it feels like the only people that would have their heads bare would be true champions, and most rank and file would just keep their helms on (not to mention most plague marines can't take them off anymore). As I'm writing this I've noticed some moldlines that escaped me, so I'll have to go clean those up.

 

 

 

And I got some reinforcements for my last big purchase of the year, as I am getting laid off early November, and graduate school applications are calling. I was going to do some more heavy conversions, like moving the Putrifier pistol to be pointing away, but I decided since I'm at least going to get 2 more Blightspawn and Putrifiers that I might as well wait. However, I hated the Tallyman head, so I swapped it out.

 

 

Finally, I rescued some Renegade Mortar Teams from eBay. There's some extra glue in some places, and misaligned arms. I'll have to rebase them and either replace the arms with some bits, or carefully cut them off and reposition them. But they were a good find!

 

Hopefully I'll have time to paint next week, I want to get a test model done for the plague marines, as my scheme is changing slightly, and hopefully I'll finish my Renegade Ogryn.

 

Thanks for looking, criticism and comments are always appreciated.

 

-acp

 

 

[Master Umbra]

You really fixed that Fly Guy! Conversions are looking great!

Edit: highlight for me is the guy with the bell wings! Is that actually intended for this model, or did you come up with this idea? I am not that familiar with the DG range.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Master Umbra

[acrowsperch]

@Umbra, thanks! I think the head helped a lot, and swapping the arm/pauldron. The bells are intended, theyre plague vials, the model is called a Biologus Putrifier

 

Super quick fun update, not a lot of headway made painting but I made a plague surgeon! Pretty happy with the head swap, and the narthecium swap from a DW Terminator. I still have a tiny bit of work to do for it.

[Master Umbra]

Looking quite cool already! What are your next plans for him ? I must say that I would play a bit with the head angle turning it to either side. I think that the pose would look more natural with that slight change. You can even see this with your own body if you try to mimmick the current pose and then turn your head left and right. That said, I restate that the guy is already looking quite nice as he is ^^. Looking forward to what you do next!

[acrowsperch]

@Umbra I changed the head a bit, I'm not sure if I have more plans for him, I might swap our the gun arm still.

 

Anyways, I need some advice. I painted this marine:

 

However, I did a basecoat of Rakarth Flesh (brownish/tan flesh tone) and used Pallid Wych Flesh for the main color. I know painting white over black is a terrible idea, but I really like how much darker it makes the model. I still can't figure out why my white paint is so thick, which keeps messing up how I look at the model. I still like the scheme-- ignoring green entirely and going for a grime-encrusted white + bronze trim, but I find it really difficult to critique the model myself with how thick the paint is.

 

So two questions: How can I make sure the paint is thinner, or is it too thin and going into the recesses too easily? I'm using a wet palette.

And how does the scheme look *so far*

 

Thanks,

acp

[Master Umbra]

Hey!

Sadly, I am still and noob and I haven't painted white ever. I found this in Mezgike's channel:

 

https://youtu.be/lRmgxsEuEYk?t=79

 

Basically, he's doing a similar thing: using a brown as a base. However, in this video he is actually using an airbrush plus chipping medium (which I don't know what is) in between. However, in case you don't have an airbrush, you can apparently get the same effect via spray cans, as seen in the comment section (took me a while to find this):

 

Question:

 

Could I achieve similar results without an airbrush? I'd love to get one but I don't currently have the funds for it.

 

As a related additional, do you have any advice for an entry-level airbrush? I was looking at stuff like Sotar 20/20 but it's ludicrously expensive, and has way more options and firing modes than I'd need.

 

 

Answer:

Mezgike

 

I normally don’t use an airbrush. I only use them for laying a base colour, mine is actually a cheap piece of garbage. You will be able to use this technique by using spray cans instead of an airbrush. You can also use hairspray instead of chipping medium. It works the same. I’ve used Schwarzkopf hairspray in the past. The reason i needed to use an airbrush, or spray can if you like, is that you can’t use a brush to paint over the chipping medium or hairspray. The brush mixes the hairspray layer with your paint and the effect won’t work properly. So to summarise. Spray your base/rust colour with a can. Spray hairspray with a can. Spray your first layer of armour colour over the hairspray, to seal it and from now on you can use a brush. Otherwise you can use a cheap airbrush as long as you only use it for laying down base colours like I do. I don’t use mine for blending because it will just make a mess! Hope that helps

 

 

TBH I still don't know why is he using chipping medium / hairspray, but the end effect is quite cool. Of course, then you need to paint like him, which is the difficult part. Anyway, I am sure that there are easier methods out there. Wish you luck!

[acrowsperch]

@Umbral, as you'll see in the photos below, I figured out how to use some foam from a blister pack and some brown paint to do some rough chipping-- for bigger models I'll have to be more deliberate with it though..

 

Long time no post! In the almost month I've been gone only one model has been finished; I ended up in a video game tournament with a team of 10 and have been focusing on that, which is cool. So, I didn't have a lot of time, or motivation, to paint or build. I ended up re-reading some of my Horus Heresy series and got excited about the project again, which resulted in this plague marine being finished (I think?). The only thing I can't figure out is the eye lens, since-- theyre either underground or in their cruiser (which in my imagination has become essentially subterranean)-- I don't see a lot of light being reflected, so I'm not sure how to finish it. Still very happy with my first marine in two years, and I'm excited to paint more.

 

 

Meanwhile, I've almost turned 26, which is a big deal considering I've had a lot of mental stuff happen so 26 is a big deal. Because of that, I did this:

 

 

Which, while excessive, is exciting: I now have 3 leman russ for my traitor guard, and 3 crawlers for my deathguard... basilisks and troop transport are next.. I started working on a leman russ to test out some conversions, as I want them to look worn, but also more chaotic. I imagine that while the Death Guard are more introverted/introspective (as of the book Lords of Silence) they won't care as much about trophies, whereas the traitor guard are eager to prove themselves in the eyes of their trans-human overlords.

 

 

And I've started to build my Leviathan Dreadnought, which I have wanted for a very long time. Since it's my first "big" Forgeworld model, I'm a little hesitant on heavily converting it. I think I will use my hand drill to make some wear and tear, but otherwise I'm not sure. I don't want to cover it in GS, but the head seems a little... uncorrupted? I'm considering omitting the head entirely, since a dreadnought with no head charging at you in the dark seems absolutely terrifying. Any suggestions? Really looking for help on this one.

 

 

And finally, I dug up an old conversion I never finished, a Mortarion based on the Nightbringer. I'm not sure if I'll cut the GS off and use it, but I might to make a Daemon Prince of Nurgle, since I think that the more elevated you are in Nurgle's eyes, the more skeletal you become-- like the final stages of plague corruption: first the bloating, then the emaciation. Something like.... a crow lord.

 

 

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll have time to paint more in the future.

 

Thanks for looking, all comments and criticisms are appreciated.

acp

 

 

 

 

[space wolf]

ooooh, that conversion should be interesting.  I want to see where you take it!

[Givemead]

You have some great stuff going on here.

I really like your marine. You’re doing much better than I am, I haven’t tried tackling painting my death guard foot troops yet. You could maybe try adding a bit more ‘dirt’ to the bottom of the armour plates, particularly for the more elite and HQ guys?

For the Leviathan I see what you mean about the head, but I think it needs some sort of ‘face’. Ideas would be a spare Helbrute head or maybe a head from the venerable dreadnought. You could even go for a single lens like the foetid bloat drone has?

[acrowsperch]

@space wolf -- I'm not sure if it will go anywhere, I might just keep it as a relic from my highschool years. I might use it though, if I can scrape off all the GS but who knows

 

@givemead I'll try adding some more grime to the lower parts of the armor for sure, thank you! And with the Leviathan, I don't have a lot of cash to drop on some heads, I think I'd rather try my hand at building one/modifying the one I currently have-- I took at a look at the helbrute heads and none really strike me as "biomechanical horror", so I'll probably either sculpt or modify my own. 

[Chazzmos]

All of this is looking great, well done!  Some really nice conversions and the painting is coming along very nicely.

 

Regarding the white/pale paint over a black undercoat, I've got a couple of thoughts.

- an airbrush is definitely the easiest way to get a smooth coat, but you could: 1) spray can black, 2) spray can off white from above, 3) paint Rakarth Flesh/Pallid Wych Flesh by hand. 4) use thinned black on trim/guns/etc.

- to cover black completely with something like Rakarth Flesh or Pallid Wych Flesh, you'd need a good 4-5 thin coats to get it covered.  You'd also need to make sure each layer is completely dry before painting on the next one.

- you could experiment with layers of drybrushing.  Something like this: 

[Urauloth]

Pallid wych flesh has very dense pigment for a layer paint, so it can be awkward to get a smooth coat of it. Rakarth flesh is ill-tempered at the best of times. They both lend themselves best to being applied very thin in a frustrating number of layers. My most sincere recommendation would be to not paint these colours over a black undercoat; they'll go over white, wraithbone or a light grey so much better, and you can regain some of the darkness you want with glazing once you've established a smooth coat of your main colour.

 

I think the green-free colour scheme looks good and suits the subterranean theme nicely. I love the idea of their ship somehow ending up underground as well - I'm reminded of the cruiser that got trapped in one of the cavernous holds of the Blackstone Fortress and became part of it.

 

Also, I love that plague surgeon. Fantastic use of components!

[acrowsperch]

Wow, it has been a really long time.

 

I painted maybe one model since I last posted, and built/worked on maybe 4-5. Everything got in the way, but I'm finally back to working on my army.

 

One thing that really helped was this new desk (and the company of Guts and Parsnips below). Before, I was working on a table made out of an old, uncut door, insulation foam, and two plastic shelving units. I finally have a dedicated space for the hobby, and it feels really great.

 

 

Now I was able to get some white primer, everywhere is sold out of it from what I can find, but I got the last can! So I ended my break by painting some of my plague marines

 

as @Urauloth said, pallid wych flesh is really, really finicky-- too thin and the pigment runs into the details and ruins them, too thick and, well, its too thick. However, with some spurts of white primer the end result of a light grey has really helped with doing two to three thin coats, which helps a lot. I've also invested in some AK Interactive enamel paints, which I think will help me achieve the grittyness I want without having to completely abandon having dark recesses.

 

Other projects that have been formulating, I've got some csm that I'm going to turn into some Night Lords with conversion parts-- not a new army, just a single squad.

I bought a Land Raider and a Rhino and I can't decide which one is going to be part of the Night Lords squad, and which one will be a part of my Death Guard army.

 

The traitor guard army continues, I just really want to get some paint on some Death Guard to keep the momentum going. Awaiting to be built for the traitor guard is a squad of tempestus equivalents with some Siege of Vraks traitor bodies, and another 20 guardsmen in the same style, and another 8 plaguebearers of the same conversion (the one at the beginning of the thread)

 

Aaaaand this guy:

 

After reading Lords of Silence two times over the pandemic, and Night Lords Omnibus twice, I decided that The Dirge needed a ship. A cavernous, subterranean, hideous ship. I chose the Repulsive Grand Cruiser mostly based on the Lords of Silence, and after reading through a bunch of different articles on the different sizes of ships and troop capactiy, I decided it best fit what I was going for in terms of both Death Guard contingents and traitorous humans.

 

Thanks for reading, and sorry I've been away for so long.

 

 

[acrowsperch]

So I've been procrastinating painting as usual. Pallid Wych Flesh is one of the chalkiest white paints I've ever worked with, and if I wasn't working in my bedroom I'd break out my oils and just mix paint like I did in school. I got some flow improver and put some ball bearings in and shake the pot a lot and it's gotten better, still an aggravating paint to work with. I'm trying to look around for some super thin white primer like gw's, but none of the stores have any. In the future I'll have to just prime white and try to wash down the crevices carefully.

 

But I am painting. And that's a start. I got some AK Interactive stuff to play with when it comes to weathering the models, am excited about that. Just have to get through this awful white paint layer first.

 

I've also almost finished building this:

 

I imagine some of my Lost and the Damned found this relic abandoned in the ship and began working on it to restore it/pilfer it. The kit is okay, strangely almost no mold release agent that I could find as I scrubbed it, which was nice. I like the look of it way more than the full-plastic basilisk, definitely will be fun to weather.

[acrowsperch]

First streaking grime test is done, just some extra weathering to do. Finally figured out the scheme and issues with the paint, super excited to continue with the rest of the boys.

I didn't like how bright the gold turned out, so I'll be using a darker bronze in the rest of the scheme. The lighting has messed up some of the colors, but it's relatively accurate. Thoughts on the paint?

 

 

Also started a small side project of Night Lords. I've wanted to do this ever since reading the omnibus, and finally have the space to have two projects at once (or three if you count my LatD as separate from the Death Guard). Still some details to do, sculpting flesh scraps and adding trophies etc. 

 

thanks for looking,

acp

[acrowsperch]

Finally based these ebay mortar teams. Had to cut them off the previous base and scrape the excess superglue off, and got a xacto blade in the thumb for my efforts. But, I'm really happy with how these are turning out.

 

 

Creating cover with the basing I'm using has posed challenging in a creative mindset; There can't be any half-buried debris if you're on industrial grating. Eventually I'm going to start using some dirt or effects paint to create the illusion of the ground creeping through the grating.

 

Painting is slow and steady. I finally got the white paint to be a good consistency. In the future I'm just going to prime white and drybrush the off-white I want before detailing. Doing 3-4 coats per model is heinous, and while I enjoy actually painting I also really want to get through some infantry so I have more space on my desk/less guilt about spending my time on conversions.

 

thanks for looking,

acp

 

 

[Smoke Frog]

Great stuff! You have put together some amazing conversions, great use of Necromunda bits too. 

 

I also like that you gave your Death Guard a ship.

[acrowsperch]

Great stuff! You have put together some amazing conversions, great use of Necromunda bits too. 

 

I also like that you gave your Death Guard a ship.

 

Thank you! Yeah after reading Lords of Silence the world building potential of something as massive as a ship was irresistible, especially when working with something like subterranean death guard-- I imagine the interior of the ship being nearly as lightless as that of a Night Lords ship, and as humid and hostile as that of a Death Guard ship.

 

Learning time: I finished a full squad of plague marines. I like the darker trim, but I need to do some kind of wash for a patina on it. Either the oxide tech paint from GW or a greenish wash before I use my enamels. Enamel wise, I used it way too thick and let it dry a bit too much for the thickness, so the color is a little darker than what I wanted: a little too "bone" and less "underground worm".

 

Overall, very happy with them. I have to wait for less humid weather to rattle-can re-prime some stuff white so I don't spend 10-15 hours doing basecoats so in the mean time it's back to converting my renegades and painting some heretics for the Lost and the Damned force.

 

 

thanks for looking, any criticism and critique is welcomed. (sorry for the lighting, no space for a light box)

 

acp