Doghouse's WIPs

[Doghouse]

Ah gotcha. 

 

Started the first pass on the grey, I think I need to apply some glazes to the larger areas to smooth them out a bit and blend the edges. So far it's going ok and I am enjoying it quite a bit. I may add a couple of Predators and Rhinos later.

 

[Doghouse]

So I am currently going to add some Heresy Space Wolves infantry so that I can use the tanks in Heresy as well as 4th edition. I need to redo the armour on the Praetor because he's completely the wrong shade to the tanks. I want to use this stippling method over the brown undercoat.

 

The Rapiers needed something older in terms of armour mark which I think is more fitting for the Rout so I went with the MK III. The original crew models are currently being reworked into a Veteran squad because Imperial pattern armour is my favourite.

 

This guy was great fun to make but the control panel is a pain in the proverbial because of it's thin arm. I also need to straighten out the targeter. I have enough for 8 rapiers but will probably just do the four.

 

 

Sticking with the non elongated body for these but I have four boxes of these assault troops that I will be painting up. I did my best with the face but not really up to my usual standard but I enjoyed making him. The plan will probably be armoured column supported by jump troops which is a very different style of play than I am used to.

 

 

Then lastly more progress on the Land Raider. The idea I am going for is that the 4th edition army will be more stylised with the Heresy lot being just standardish models. I am hoping to churn these guys out as opposed to the fourth edition guys as I have a particular feel and theme for them.

 

 

 

[Doghouse]

Getting back to the 40k stuff, this is basis of the Ad Mech Magos using the Myridon Destructor as the base.

 

Awful kit to make... 

 

Spent ages searching over four sprues to build a leg that ends up being obscured by robes...

 

Massively complicated models only to end up with two sets of three monopose figures with head swaps  is becoming an unfortunate trend in Heresy.

 

 

 

 

Anyways now that is the complaining out of the way back to the models. Although only a toughness 3 model as an Inquisitor Lord stand in the Magos will be one of the biggest infantry models in the force. He does have a 3+ save and 3 wounds though so it sort of justifies the bulk.

I'll power him up a little with the addition of a retinue which gives him various bonuses.

 

 

 

 

[Doghouse]

The claw on this guy was a complete nightmare...

 

6 piece fiddly bit that could have been two parts.

 

Ok, deep breath...

 

I need to convert him up a bit now and add weapons but I do like the overall feel of the model so far.

 

[MoriyaSchism]

1 hour ago, Doghouse said:

Getting back to the 40k stuff, this is basis of the Ad Mech Magos using the Myridon Destructor as the base.

 

Awful kit to make... 

 

Spent ages searching over four sprues to build a leg that ends up being obscured by robes...

 

Massively complicated models only to end up with two sets of three monopose figures with head swaps  is becoming an unfortunate trend in Heresy.

 

It's brutal. I was super disappointed by the plastic Myrmidons, parts of their bodies look like Adeptus Titanicus miniatures. I hate the Tech-Thralls the most, I don't know what to do with the other 10 I have left from the Battlegroup box. The Thallax Cohort (if you ignore the wonky Plasma Fusil) and other Automata are great kits, but they are more vehicle-like than infantry.  

I think you can make it work. The heads they have are good, but only one of the bodies looks good, naturally it's the one without the AT Titan legs. 

[Doghouse]

Yeah, I think I finally got the hang of the kit but really is a massive chore. I'm dreading the tech thralls as I have heard stories about them 

 

The Mecadendrites and the servos skulls on these are so thin, the servo skull is no way staying in place with that hair thing connector.

 

Got the basic build done for him now fortunately, I'm going to use the Daemonhunter rules for him because they can take Terminator armour which means I can give him a 2+ save and give him a powerfist to represent the large claw.

[MoriyaSchism]

36 minutes ago, Doghouse said:

Yeah, I think I finally got the hang of the kit but really is a massive chore. I'm dreading the tech thralls as I have heard stories about them 

 

The Mecadendrites and the servos skulls on these are so thin, the servo skull is no way staying in place with that hair thing connector.

 

Got the basic build done for him now fortunately, I'm going to use the Daemonhunter rules for him because they can take Terminator armour which means I can give him a 2+ save and give him a powerfist to represent the large claw.

Tech-thralls have fewer parts, but some of them are really fiddly and if you don't attach their belt accessories they'll have a hole on their side or back. Not sure why they made the boxes and hoses fit like that. I had more fun destroying them for Nurgle than trying to build them as is. 

This one is my least favourite of the bunch. Oh yeah, the neck joints on them are specific for each model. They have cables on the backs of their heads and if you don't use the right neck joint on the right body the cables won't connect to the body. 

[Doghouse]

Ouch, well thanks for the heads up,  

 

It's a shame they are so shambling or I'd use them for guard conversions.

 

Think I am finally happy with the over all feel of this guy now. Like I say using the daemonhunters codex allowed me to give an Inquisitor Lord Terminator armour which explains away the bulk of the model.

 

I've added a makeshift combi-melta as his weapon and need to clean it up and add a decent ammo drum. Decided to go full Doc Oc with the Mecadendrites and may still add some more as this guy coming towards you covered in metal snakes whipping around him would be pretty creepy.

 

I was going to order the kill team admech servitors set but really don't want to spend anymore money so will probably convert the tech thralls I have.

 

For those who may not know the Collegiate Extremis basically acts as the Adeptus Mechanicus policing itself. It is less like normal law enforcement and more like a mixture of internal affairs, secret police, religious judiciary, and the Inquisition all wrapped together in typical Mechanicus fashion.

 

Unlike the Astynomia, which deals with ordinary security and public order on Forge Worlds the Collegiate Extremis handles the dangerous stuff. They investigate tech heresy, forbidden experimentation, corrupted machine cults, illegal AI research, xenotech, and anything else that violates the sacred doctrines of the Cult Mechanicus. 

 

The beauty of these guys for my project is comparison to the Inquisition is pretty accurate,. They are there to preserve orthodoxy and stop dangerous ideas from spreading through the Forge Worlds. 

 

It is probably the post Heresy successor to the Prefecture Magisterium from the days of the Horus Heresy. Both groups existed to maintain order within the Mechanicus and hunt down hereteks and doctrinal deviants. The Collegiate Extremis just feels like the darker, more paranoid version that emerged after the galaxy fell apart.

 

Procurator Elys Varrox is the name I have settled on for this guy.

 

[Doghouse]

One last bit of fun for tonight, made this profile card for him.

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 10:00 PM by Doghouse

[Doghouse]

I've started work on the Thralls, I'm going for ten. They have tiny hoses attached to the head but I am leaving those off, I am going for a retinue of ten Warriors which have carapace and hotshot lasguns which give the Inquisitor +1 WS, a Multimelta servitor and an Acolyte that can take a wound for the Inquisitor. Nice big characterful looking unit.

 

The other thing I am considering is if it is really worth all the hard work of extending the marines. Proportionally they are cleaner but I really don't fancy converting 20+ so may just use regular HH marines to keep it simple.

[MoriyaSchism]

13 hours ago, Doghouse said:

I love how this model looks. The concept behind it is really cool too. If I was building that gun I'd probably add some sort of gun camera or the little optic dot most bolters have to it. I did that to the Death Guard bolters I've reused on my miniatures. 

[Doghouse]

Thanks mate 

 

I still need to bulk out the combi-melta a bit, just added a drum I need to clean up but on the whole like you say it needs some lens and stuff. The thrall looks tiny which actually works really well from a scaling point of view as it makes the Astartes look a lot bigger.

 

 

Decided I am just going to crack on with unaltered marines. I like the extended look but to be honest it will just slow me down so I may come back to that some other time.

 

I'm going to do Harald Deathwolf's Great Company because I like the markings, however, they are quite big on thunder wolves which is something I won't be doing as I am not a fan and I don't think they were a thing in 3rd/4th. The mohawk guy will be the 'Wolf Lord' but will just be a senior battle leader rather than Harald.

 

3rd ed Grey Hunters couldn't take heavy weapons like regular Tactical Squads of nondivergent Chapters so have two assault weapons instead. I'm not going to min max where possible and just chuck in what special weapons I can find.

 

I'm using whatever spare models and bits to make these but it will mostly be MKII/MKIII Astartes because it's a much more gothic look.

 

 

 

As I want to have a force that looks like a Crusade I was toying with the idea of including a second Inquisitor represented by a Sister Superior and have a retinue of Warriors or Acolytes represented by Repentia models so I could sneak some sisters into the army. I have the priests kill team so will probably chuck one in with the stormtroopers as well.

 

I also have a nice little Acolyte proxy coming which I will show once he arrives.

 

For those that may not know you can take Ordo Hereticus or Ordo Malleus Inquisitors as allies for an Imperial force in 4th edition but there are conditions where you cannot include guard, sisters or Grey Knights if you army contains allied marines. Then there are conditions where you can ally sisters and astartes if the main force is the Ordo Hereticus but then you lose the ability to take space marine Heavy Support slots.

 

So I am doing main force as Space Marines then adding an allied Malleus detachment so I can take Terminator armour for the 'Inquisitor' proxy.

 

It's all a bit confusing to be honest. 

 

I have really missed all this so much to be honest, far much more creative juices flowing than with modern corporate-hammer cut and paste. This is peak level 40k hobby time to me.

 

[derLumpi]

Man you cranking these out is really cool. 4th edition was a blast! Will follow this closely. Keep it up  

[space wolf]

Now THAT is a proper Magos! The flesh is weak, but if you juice enough its STRONG! LOL

[batu]

The Procurator looks fantastic! What a cool force idea. 

[Doghouse]

Batu: Thanks mate. 

 

For some reason my previous post replying to derLumpi and space wolf seems to have glitched and is saying needs to be approved so here is a cut and paste reply while I patiently await a moderator I alerted to take a look.  Might have triggered some filter without knowing I guess.

 

derLumpi: Thanks mate. 
 

space wolf:  Thanks mate.

 

Always remember the Omnissiah provides, the gym merely accelerates the process!

 

I have enjoyed the idea of this guy and I think 40k should be big and imposing so the Myrmidon kit seemed perfect. I love the idea of this guy arriving in system and just tearing down Hereteks. It's a fun model and theme. I think Magos should all be different in appearance and not a standard look for them but would like to make another.

 

Having reread the 3rd ed Space Wolves Codex I have discovered it's one special weapon to a Grey Hunter unit but up to two can take plasma pistols which is probably what I was thinking of. Blood Claws can take up to 15 models but have a point less on BS and WS so that might be a fun unit to make.

[Doghouse]

Little bit of an update, just working on building Astartes at the moment. I quite like the upright pose of these bodies as it gives them a sort of indoctrinated trained pose, despite being natives of Fenris. I've always liked the idea of once inducted to the Chapter they are subjected to various forms of hypnotic conditioning and training that shapes how they act and this comes across with these guys are subconsciously moving as a uniform unit despite their barbaric reputation.

 

 

 

As you can see here I am using the new Custodes heads in place of regular Astartes heads which I think are huge. This gives the impression of scale and more importantly the heads will actually fit inside the helmets.

 

I am also toying around with making my Dracosan Armoured Transport that I have from the Solar Auxilia Battle Group set into a proxy for a Chimera. Inquisition forces can use Rhinos, Chimera and Land Raiders as transports. I decided to keep the Landraider for the Vika Fenryka despite it being tempting to make one as Imperial Army who had use of them before the Heresy. But the idea of making an admech proxy Chimera vehicle is very doable. Procurator Varrox counts as two models when in a vehicle as he is in Terminator armour equivalent and it can take twelve in total I think?

 

I think setting the army in an older time allows me a greater freedom to be a bit more whimsical when it comes to conversions and the models I include. I will probably ignore a lot of the wolfy mcwolferson stuff in favour of a more grounded Rout feeling.

 

Space Wolves were my first army waaaay back in first edition and were initially just Astartes with implanted enlarged canine teeth. 

[Doghouse]

More painting today, made a fair bit of progress but still need to add shading and some more weathering.  I'm really enjoying this. 

 

I'm going for a Ceramite look hence the chips and lack of rust which I may apply to just the exhaust. I was planning on adding Heresy decals but annoyingly I can find every Legion sheet I have except the wolves... 

 

You can't really tell from the picture but I am starting to stipple the tracks with Skavenblight Grey which is a darker more muted grey over the Mechanicus grey I am using as the base for the hull which is a warmer blueish grey.

 

It feels like it needs some yellow.

 

[batu]

Yellow would be a nice contrast!

[Doghouse]

Yeah, I think it needs something accented. Maybe the hull weapons, when I get the transfers I will have a play around. I do have a seriously cool idea for the Wolf Guard to enable me to get even more 40k concepts into the army which I am itching to get started on.

 

I also want to do a Proteus Landraider in this style but in Imperial Fists colours. I have absolutely tons of Heresy vehicles that I want to make into a Heresy armoured company. I think a Landraider with a unit of Veterans armed with Nemesis bolters might be fun.

 

I love Imperial pattern armour so leapt at the chance to make what I hope to be a ten man squad using the Rapier crew models, I am thinking maybe the pointing guy as the Praetor and his squad in the command Proteus as advanced recon. 

 

 

I am using MK6 bits with the torso and phobos pattern bolters which are my favorite to give a very early Jes Goodwin style. I seriously want to take my time on these and make them really stand out as a historical level model albeit a fictonal setting.

 

 

I see this guy as a Sharp type of character that has received numerous battlefield promotions but still mucks in with his recon team.

 

 

And lastly bit more done on the Space Wolves Raider for 4th ed. I am working on the tracks at the moment and need to tone down the copper colour I used on the lascannons. The treads of the track are ceramite like the hull so I want to avoid metallics or rust but the lascannon I could see being replacements and would be made from regular materials, I think once I start applying decals then it should come together more.