Chronicles of the Venak'Tor Nox - Night Lords WIP thread

[strongbow]

7 hours ago, Trysanna said:

Oh, absolutely. I can't count the number of times I've read the Night Lords trilogy, particularly Soul Hunter. The book might solely responsible for reigniting my interest in Chaos and the hobby in general. Betrayer is also amazing, the Angron reveal thread has multiple paragraphs of my rambling about how much I love Angron entirely because that book is one of my favourite bits of the setting ever. It especially made the World Eaters, and Chaos Marines in a broader sense, so very sympathetic to me. I adore how broken so many of them are, especially Angron. His writing nails the darkness I like in the setting, though I have a hard time articulating why. It's a lot of things, like the mood, pacing, how much time we have to sit with characters, how brutal the fights can be, and how triumphant the victories, while forever having this background radiation of greatness lost, and decay, and always being just one step from destruction. It nails the tone of this setting that is so important to me, but also makes it a bit difficult to enjoy some aspects of it.

I'll stop myself there, as I could probably talk at greater length about each of his novels and all the stuff I love about each of them.

100% with you on this. Something about his style just nails so many things. He's also great at subverting expectations in a way that still works completely in the setting, for example sympathetic Night Lords, underdog CSMs (to me they were always the Big Bad Guy until I read the NL series, and have been fascinated with the idea ever since). A World Eater with a heavy bolder. etc.

The HH stuff in general definitely made the traitor legions interesting to me in a way they never were in 40k. The stories of how they go 'bad' are so important, and have been so well done. 

 

(I've not quoted the MoM stuff because I haven't read the book, so I skipped that part of your reply. I'm sure you can understand!)

[Isengrin]

Gonna watch this space closely.

[Trysanna]

On 7/28/2022 at 5:12 PM, The Observer said:

Oh man, I just love how dramatic all of these bats are. Takes me back to the early Castlevania games and I'm a here for it.

While I haven't played any of the actual games (I should, I freaking adore the Metroid in the Metroidvania genre) a bit of inspiration for some of the flair came from the Castlevania anime. Fantastic gothic aesthetic, bickering and scheming generals, and freaking Carmilla. That and some of the music I've been listening to while working on the project has been super related to that too. Link! Like, this is basically just Castlevania by another name, and it's SO GOOD.

21 hours ago, strongbow said:

100% with you on this. Something about his style just nails so many things. He's also great at subverting expectations in a way that still works completely in the setting, for example sympathetic Night Lords, underdog CSMs (to me they were always the Big Bad Guy until I read the NL series, and have been fascinated with the idea ever since). A World Eater with a heavy bolder. etc.

The HH stuff in general definitely made the traitor legions interesting to me in a way they never were in 40k. The stories of how they go 'bad' are so important, and have been so well done. 

(I've not quoted the MoM stuff because I haven't read the book, so I skipped that part of your reply. I'm sure you can understand!)

I had a really similar experience. Chaos was always this vague threat that I hadn't seen up close, so the Night Lords trilogy was so refreshing and helped me understand them on an individual basis, as well as shaking up what my expectation of Chaos Marines was. They weren't always going to be the bringers of galactic doom, sometimes they're just down on their luck pirates that can never catch a break. And I adore what he did with the Word Bearers and World Eaters, making them so broken but understandable.
(No worries, that's what the spoiler warning was there for! Highly recommend it tho, easily a high point for the Heresy series in my books)

18 hours ago, Isengrin said:

Gonna watch this space closely.

No pressure then :P

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So it was very hot the last few days. Heat dome, mid to high 30's, etc. Good times. (Around 100 Fahrenheit for you crazy people down south) So painting has been a little slower than I would like, but I managed to get another Legionary done today, which bring us up to a whole 20% strength! I'm very proud.

More bat wings, more flayed skin, more Midnight Clad. Honestly having a blast painting them, the new sculpts are a ton of fun, and I love the poses. Also got to paint a lightning bolt onto one of the shoulder pads. which I'm pretty happy with. I feel like the Chaos Marines have enough going on visually that I don't want to the lightning to be too bold or draw too much attention,

 I'll be starting on a third Marine tomorrow, one armed with a nice Autocannon for some extra firepower.

[Isengrin]

Very nice! I agree that more than a little lightning bolt here or there isn't necessary. Legionaries are already very ornate and almost too cluttered with all the trim and other details and adding even more visual effects might be a bit much...at least that's what I'm telling myself as an excuse to not paint any lightning at all.  I also like that you deviate from the classical style of red cloth and paint it in fleshy tones instead. So, good choices, even better execution!

[strongbow]

On 7/30/2022 at 4:53 AM, Trysanna said:

I had a really similar experience. Chaos was always this vague threat that I hadn't seen up close, so the Night Lords trilogy was so refreshing and helped me understand them on an individual basis, as well as shaking up what my expectation of Chaos Marines was. They weren't always going to be the bringers of galactic doom, sometimes they're just down on their luck pirates that can never catch a break. And I adore what he did with the Word Bearers and World Eaters, making them so broken but understandable.

One hundred percent. I haven't read ADBs World Eater or Word Bearer HH stuff yet, but I'm really looking forward to getting there. I've read a lot of the wider World Eaters stuff and I love the tragedy of their story. After reading Know No Fear though I just hate Word Bearers, haha.

Liking the painted models, excited to see more.

[Pearson73]

Really nice work,  nailed that classic scheme.

[Majkhel]

Whoa, some really characterful conversions here, well done!

Loving the ripples on the base of the Eldar Corsair Queen - fantastic touch

Edited August 2, 2022 by Majkhel

[Trysanna]

On 7/31/2022 at 1:45 PM, Isengrin said:

Very nice! I agree that more than a little lightning bolt here or there isn't necessary. Legionaries are already very ornate and almost too cluttered with all the trim and other details and adding even more visual effects might be a bit much...at least that's what I'm telling myself as an excuse to not paint any lightning at all.  I also like that you deviate from the classical style of red cloth and paint it in fleshy tones instead. So, good choices, even better execution!

Thanks! I'll probably add some red cloth to some future units, I love painting red, but I wanted to keep the red to a minimum on anything not Khorne related. That, and flayed skin is totally in this millennium. The lack of lightning is a legitimate artistic decision and a convenient excuse! It can be both!

On 8/2/2022 at 12:11 AM, strongbow said:

One hundred percent. I haven't read ADBs World Eater or Word Bearer HH stuff yet, but I'm really looking forward to getting there. I've read a lot of the wider World Eaters stuff and I love the tragedy of their story. After reading Know No Fear though I just hate Word Bearers, haha.

Liking the painted models, excited to see more.

Oh, they're absolutely the worst, but they like 3 really good characters that I love in-spite of their status as Word Bearers. Mostly Argel-Tal, I love that heretic so much. ADB knows how to make me love sad boy space marines. I still love seeing them get dunked on though. 

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The heat finally subsided yesterday and I was able to finish the Autocannon wielding Marine. I'm happy with the result, the model (from the Shadowspear/Chaos Start Collecting set) is fantastic, I love how they've braced themselves against the bit of rubble, and the little pile of shells at the feet. I decided to only go with a single wing on the helmet, as I wanted to keep all the additional targeting equipment.

And the Legionary Squad as it stands at the moment. 3/10. Coming along nicely, I think!

[Trysanna]

Another couple of hours and two paint sessiosn later, another Legionary joins the squad! Nothing too fancy for this one, they're just a simple Bolter Marine, but I'm very happy with how they've each been turning out. Painting them one at a time after basecoats and washes feels so much better than tackling all 10 at once.

Next up for painting is a Legionary armed with a Plasma Gun. Hoping to get them finished over the weekend and finally test of my method of painting a neon pink, inspired by the Chaos Plasma Guns of Space Marine. After that I'll be halfway through the squad! Exciting times, only took me about a decade to actually get half a squad finished. Let's hope that isn't the case for every squad.

[Trysanna]

Almost managed to finish the Plasma Gunner last night, but I decided to take my time with painting the Plasma coils, First time tackling this sort of neon pink look, really happy with the result. Loosely inspired by the weapons wielded by the Chaos Marines in Space Marine, it makes me want to do a whole Plasma armed unit. I'll definitely be working more of it into the army.

And the squad at the halfway point! I'm incredibly happy with how they're coming together, especially the converted helmets. I'll be taking a quick break from them shortly to work on a Blood Angel, but I hope to have the rest of the squad finished soon.

[Kaiju Soze]

It's not like Chosen can't still weild an ungoldly amount of plasma weaponry, some of it just has to be pistols these days.  Just sayin'.

These look amazing so far.

[Isengrin]

Excellent progress! The two colors I prefer the most for NL plasma weapons are pink and orange, they just work so well with dark blue armor. Seeing a whole plasma squad from you would be a treat. Btw, which neon did you use?

[frankendoodle65]

These are without a doubt some of the best nightlords I've ever seen, absolutely brilliant conversion and painting work. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the characters painted up. 

Any plans for some friends for the Son of Horus from the first post?

[Chronotonic]

I think the pink works great as a different point of color there

just enough to pull the eye away from the model to ask "what" but not to overwhelming that you ignore the rest of the model

[Pearson73]

LOVE the pink plasma, it really pops.

[Trysanna]

Hello again! Jeez it's been a hot minute huh. I wasn't able to hobby for a few months, as I had to go to the hospital a number of time with my partner, I moved to a new province, and I started a new job in a new field. As you can imagine, this made life pretty hectic for a while, but I've since been able to settle in and get all set up again, and I'm happy to share a bunch of progress I've made on the Warband in that time. First up are the final four members of the Legionary Squad, which I was finally able to finish after almost a year since starting them. Hopefully nothing else in the army takes quite that long again.

 

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I'm quite pleased with the whole squad, and thrilled to have a fully completed unit. And, of course, a group shot. A lovely batch of Midnight Blue Bastards, I think.

Second Claw - The Huntsmen, led by Lady Eileen the Crow
Chaos Legionaries
Brotherhood of a dead world, Orphans of a mad Father. The Warbands truest warriors.

[Trysanna]

On 8/9/2022 at 1:03 PM, Isengrin said:

Excellent progress! The two colors I prefer the most for NL plasma weapons are pink and orange, they just work so well with dark blue armor. Seeing a whole plasma squad from you would be a treat. Btw, which neon did you use?

 

I've been obsessed with pink Plasma for Chaos since seeing it used in Space Marine. It's just so striking a looks great with the blue, like you said, The main pink was Green Stuff Worlds fluorescent rose, but I also used another neon pink that my partner has had for about a decade from a dollar store somewhere in BC, I think. It's got a touch more red in it, but honestly I think a simple white basecoat and a few layers with the GSW paint would look pretty similar. I'll try to grab the name of the mystery pink next time she paints.

 

On 8/9/2022 at 4:29 PM, frankendoodle65 said:

These are without a doubt some of the best nightlords I've ever seen, absolutely brilliant conversion and painting work. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the characters painted up. 

Any plans for some friends for the Son of Horus from the first post?

High praise coming from you! I'll try not to let it inflate my ego. I don't have plans at the moment for more Sons of Horus, I like the idea of this one lost soul hanging out with my warband, but I also really enjoyed painting him, so who knows. A small squad would be pretty cool...

 

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When GW put the classic Kahrn model on made to order, I couldn't resist. Khârn was the first character I got for my old Chaos army back when I was 15/16, he's one of my favourite characters in the Heresy Series (Betrayer is so good! Ah!), and I was excited to revisit a model from my first days as a worshipper of Khorne.

 

 

I had an absolute blast painting him. I was able to paint him from start to finish in a day, though prepping him took a bit longer. I'd forgotten just how much work metal models can be. I changed his pose a bit, changing the direction of his Plasma Pistol and opening up the pose. I'm really happy with the result, especially the fiery Plasma and eyes. Of course, I couldn't have Khârn be the only warrior of the Blood God in the army, and have been working on a squad of Khorne Berzerkers recently.

The updated Berzerkers are beautiful, they have a great sense of motion and energy to them. I'm hoping to have the squad finished either this weekend or next, but we'll see how that goes. I dread all the trim. And speaking of Dreads...

This was a gift from a friend before my move, and something I've wanted to get my hands on since first laying eyes upon them back in my 3rd edition codex. I'll be tackling them after the Berzerkers are finished, and I think they're going to look very sharp in midnight clad.

[Grotsmasha]

Great to see you back with this PLOG

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work!  

 

It does sound like you've had a hectic time - hope everything has worked out OK for you  

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Good to see you back - your Night Lords' squad turned out very nicely, and I like the work you've put into your berzerkers.

 

For any models that you haven't started yet, if you think you can get it done in the next month or so, you should enter it as a vow in the 2023 Call to Arms painting event.  Chaos can use all the help it can get.

[Trysanna]

Happy to say that I made a bit of progress over August. I managed to finish the Khorne Berzerkers and Dreadnought. At this point, I have a little collection I'm quite happy with. Quite a few years in the making, but still, something I'm rather proud of.

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The Khorne Berzerkers. While I won't share the whole squad one by one, I'm especially pleased with both the Icon Bearer and Berzerker Champion, so they get closeups.

 

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And the Chaos Dreadnought. A brick of a model, but one I really enjoyed painting. I'd wanted one for years, ever since seeing them in my 3.5 Chaos Codex, and I'm thrilled to finally have such a classic in the army. A nice change of pace too, considering its age and the hand sculpted nature of the older kits.

 

 

 

 

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I went with the Plasma Cannon for the ranged weapon arm, mostly so I could add another splash of hot pink to the army, and I really like how it pops. I currently have a Sorcerer, Noise Marine and 2 Venomcrawlers on my desk, so expect those sometime soon. I post updates far more frequently to my Instagram tho, so you can always follow me there. And one last model I'll be working on soon, which was far more a pain to get ahold of than I anticipated. (Canadian streaming laws are a nightmare right now, so getting GW to actually let me have this was a whole thing.)

 

Edited January 26 by Trysanna

[Grotsmasha]

8 minutes ago, Trysanna said:

 

 

 

I miss how much character the old metal dreads had, very cool

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work. It's nice to see some classic models, and the plasma coil effect on the dreadnought is really nice!  

[Trysanna]

On 9/3/2023 at 2:43 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Nice work. It's nice to see some classic models, and the plasma coil effect on the dreadnought is really nice!  

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of how they turned out, and I'm still in love with how the neon pink and midnight blue look together.

 

On 9/2/2023 at 3:24 PM, Grotsmasha said:

 

 

I miss how much character the old metal dreads had, very cool

Me too. I don't mind the Helbrute, but there was just something special about the Chaos Dread that I adore. Still terrified of dropping them tho

 

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I've been busy working on a couple models for the warband, though I haven't made as much progress as I'd like. I suffered a seizure and concussion towards the end of September and am still recovering from persistent brain fog and fatigue, which hasn't been great. Thankfully, I've been able to slowly plug away at a few things, when my brain allows me to focus for a little.

 

First up, the Chaos Sorcerer I'd built a hot minute ago.

 

 

I'm really happy with how they turned out, especially the pink Warp flames and the NMM trim on the cape. NMM is something I've been trying to practice when I get the chance, and while it's not perfect, it's not bad either. Before painting, I altered the angle of the staff, which I like a lot more. It gives them a more commanding posture, which I like.

 

Next up is another model I built at the start of this project, the Noise Marine.

 

 

 

I'm not usually a Slaanesh fan, Khorne has always been more my style, but I absolutely adore the style and this model has, and the eccentric vibe they give off. Painting proved to be a bit of a challenge. Getting the pink to be nice and smooth took a lot of effort, and the leopard print took multiple sessions as I found it difficult to focus on freehanding such small details for more than a few minutes. Overall though, I'm very happy with the end result, especially the vibrant cyan hair. Shoutout to @Fabalah for helping with the colour scheme choice. I was so stuck on how to paint the guitar and what to do with so much blank armour panels.

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While not a part of my Night Lords collection, I also want to share a couple other projects I've been working on.

 

The first of these is a 90's Marine. I'm sure everyone is aware of the 90's Marine challenge that went on a month or two ago, and while I wasn't able to finish this little guy in time, I still had a nostalgia fuelled blast painting them. I started my hobby journey back in 3rd edition, and got a handful of these Marines from a paint set I think. I don't have any of them anymore, they got lost during a move or something, but I fondly remember the sculpt. I decided to paint them up as my first and continued favourite Marine Chapter, complete with bright yellow trim and outrageous green base. It's still a fantastic sculpt, and sits proudly beneath my monitor. 

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Dominion Zephon

I find it hard to talk about this character. I read through Master of Mankind and fell in love with the Blood Angel. Reading his story made me think of my best friend, who I lost in 2017 to cancer. I love the way Zephon didn't give in to nihilism, or give up when technology couldn't restore his ability to fight or create music. It was cathartic and touching to watch him, after nearly the whole book, finally stand and take the fight to the forces tearing his world apart.

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Lastly is a little Orktober project in the form of a small Bad Moon mob. A Warboss, squad of Boyz, and Goff Rocker (not pictured). I've never actually painted up any Orks before, and I love the themed months for various armies (Nomvember, March for Macragge, etc) so this was a great excuse to paint up a small collection of the newly updated sculpts, which are just fantastic. It also gave me the opportunity to paint a decent amount of yellow for the first time, and jeez, it's not nearly the hassle it used to be! I also took the chance to add some poor Crimson Fists to the bases of the Nob and Warboss, which make for some great storytelling and a fun chance to do some conversion work. (And put Marines in their place!)

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There's more photos of each project on my Instagram and in some Albums here on the BnC. Thanks for looking!

Edited October 25, 2023 by Trysanna

[Firedrake Cordova]

Really nice work - they all came out great.  Always fun to see old models, too  

 

As you say, there's something about the aesthetics of the Noise Marine ... it's very much harkening to an era of "glam rock" with the crest and pose.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems - hope things get better soon  

Edited October 25, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova