Creations of Bile(’s Apprentice) Kill Team - Now done and ready for paint!

[ZeroWolf]

3 minutes ago, apologist said:

Absolutely masterful work already, and that you're still pushing the envelope on them is commendable – the additional effort is really paying off. 

I offer these suggestions purely as food for thought, as the models as-is looks great.

 

On Visionary, if you'd like to move further away from Bile's silhouette, I wonder if you'd consider using Dark Eldar haemonculus arm(s) to replace the rather brutal power claw? The narrow, skinny weapons would fit the rather insectoid frame well, and help emphasise the brutishness of the other members of the warband. It'd also allow you to add two or three of the skinny eldar forearms, offering a variety of surgical kit and distancing him further from the iconic rod of torment.

 

For the melta gunner, I think having a normal arm and a regular melta would look better, as it would reinforce the asymmetry. You could perhaps have an additional vestigial left arm helping to prop up/aim the thing.

 

Your comment about melding figures together for the gunner got me thinking the that was a cool overall theme for the warband. Skinthief, Screecher and the melta gunner show this already; but you could lean into it as Visionary's 'thing', by extending it to the others:

• For the missile launcher gunner, this could be a creepy pseudocherub spotter/loader, physically connected to the figure himself through an umbilical cord/ichor-artery.
• The Ventrilokar could riff on the idea of the puppet controlling the master, with a stunted conjoined twin whispering into the main body's head, like the Warhammer character Vilitch the Curseling. In this case, however, the twin could be a psyker – human or otherwise – that has been added to enhance the Ventrilokar's threat through psychic dominance. That would enable you to bring back the cool original head.

Looking forward to how the warband progresses.

 

 

I quite like those ideas, sort of like if they were nurgle coded (i know these aren't) one could have had a Nurgling growing out of them to help aim sort of thing

[Dr_Ruminahui]

For the melta, I think either its own arm or the current "servitor style" works well - though if you give it a space marine arm, you'll need to be careful to make it look like its "growing" out of the mutated torso (or, perhaps more properly, the torso is growing out of it) otherwise it could easily have a haphazard "stuck on".  That said, having typed that, given your modelling skills I'm sure you figured that out already.

 

One thing about the marine leg on the meltagunner, I think you need one of the ones with bent toes to show it putting weight on it because the current iteration it isn't quite clear what he is doing with it.  Sure, that's not necessarily unrealistic, but its more compelling if you can show how all the parts work together.  As well, I think the model would do well with a more heavily mutated head, because I think the model would do well with a "half way" part connecting the two parts of the model - you've got the space marine parts, and the mutant parts, but nothing really tieing the two together, which leaves it a bit disjointed.  Sure, you might be able to fix that with your paint scheme, but I feel it would be more evocative if also done through the modeling.

Edited January 22 by Dr_Ruminahui

[GuitaRasmus]

On 1/21/2025 at 1:12 AM, ZeroWolf said:

That melta guy is giving me flashbacks to games like Dead Space, brillant stuff.

 

The new head on the psyker is giving experiment vibes there, so I think it's working well

 

Thanks a lot - even though I don't play computer games at all, Dead Space keeps popping up as a comment to my work - looking at pics of the game, I can definitely see why! 

 

On 1/21/2025 at 9:42 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

The meltagunner is totally disturbing

 

Couldn't ask for a bigger praise. Thanks! 

 

On 1/21/2025 at 11:14 AM, Teetengee said:

Love the melta, and I think the biologis is really nice, because from some angles the piping will look like just bionics and a rotation will have a horror reveal.

 

Thanks a lot - although I eventually went another route. :) 

 

21 hours ago, Dr_Ruminahui said:

I really like the new meltagunner - the previous one wasn't bad (though the torso was too small and plain), but the new one is so much better and much more evocative of your central idea  (and cooler) - I really like how he's kind a ranged version of almost-spawn, conceptually, yet the models look so different.  As for heads, while I like the  look of the various tubes on the mechanius head, the hood portion doesn't really make sense (as it would just fall off unless anchored to something, which it doesn't appear to be) so I prefer the gas mask head instead.

 

As for Bile, to me the motion in the first model made more sense and looked more natural.  Don't have a problem with the improved loadout, but I think you should try to replicate the original posing, so far as that is possible.

 

For the "helmet in hand" for the missile launcher guy, I don't think it really improves anything over the rocket (both, afterall, are in my mind just something to fill the hand).  That said, its not a downgrade either.  I do feel its kind of too bad to separate that helmet holding hand from the base of the model with the dead primaris on it - in conjunction with that base, it tells the story of the model ripping the helm off the corpse, where as divorced from it it becomes simply something to hold.

 

Finally, in terms of reaching guy, I prefer the first swelled head because it better communicated the idea he was a pscycher.  That said, if it isn't possible to go back to that head, the new one is fine.

 

I agree - the new melta-gunner spawn is much more characterful and fits the theme much better. 

As for Bile, I'm not sure I agree, especially from the side view - I think this one is better, but I'll give it a shot. :) 

The missile launcher guy, I'm still kinda on the fence on - he works, sure, but it isn't really giving me that "Hell yeah!" vibe the other ones do. 

I hate to admit it, but I agree about the psyker - I'll try to fix the head with greenstuff, if it doesn't work, I'll try to find another. 

 

12 hours ago, Heraclite said:

I think the melta is fine as is on the shoulder, if you wereto give him a regular arm, it would lose some of the body horror theme you've got going on with your team

 

You may be right. :) 
 

9 hours ago, apologist said:

Absolutely masterful work already, and that you're still pushing the envelope on them is commendable – the additional effort is really paying off. 

I offer these suggestions purely as food for thought, as the models as-is looks great.

 

On Visionary, if you'd like to move further away from Bile's silhouette, I wonder if you'd consider using Dark Eldar haemonculus arm(s) to replace the rather brutal power claw? The narrow, skinny weapons would fit the rather insectoid frame well, and help emphasise the brutishness of the other members of the warband. It'd also allow you to add two or three of the skinny eldar forearms, offering a variety of surgical kit and distancing him further from the iconic rod of torment.

 

For the melta gunner, I think having a normal arm and a regular melta would look better, as it would reinforce the asymmetry. You could perhaps have an additional vestigial left arm helping to prop up/aim the thing.

 

Your comment about melding figures together for the gunner got me thinking the that was a cool overall theme for the warband. Skinthief, Screecher and the melta gunner show this already; but you could lean into it as Visionary's 'thing', by extending it to the others:

• For the missile launcher gunner, this could be a creepy pseudocherub spotter/loader, physically connected to the figure himself through an umbilical cord/ichor-artery.
• The Ventrilokar could riff on the idea of the puppet controlling the master, with a stunted conjoined twin whispering into the main body's head, like the Warhammer character Vilitch the Curseling. In this case, however, the twin could be a psyker – human or otherwise – that has been added to enhance the Ventrilokar's threat through psychic dominance. That would enable you to bring back the cool original head.

Looking forward to how the warband progresses.

 

 

 

Thanks a lot! In my painting/gaming group I'm sort of known (notorious?) for doing and redoing both paint jobs and conversions several times over. It's silly, I know, but if I get another, better idea, I CAN NOT not do it. I have to get it out of my system. I want every single model to convey my vision, however snooty it may sound. 

 

Visionary: I've already tried the DE bits, but good idea - they are MUCH too small. Bile is actually quite a bit bigger than most chaos marines, so they look totally silly on him. 

 

Meltagunner: I'll try it out. :)

Missile Launcher - I'm not sure about the "cherub" thing, but you definitely got my mind going. Thanks! 

Ventrilokar - I've already done the Curseling thing with a (yet to be publicly shown) Warp Coven Sorcerer, so I think I'll head another direction, but good idea. 

 

Thanks again! 

 

2 hours ago, Dr_Ruminahui said:

For the melta, I think either its own arm or the current "servitor style" works well - though if you give it a space marine arm, you'll need to be careful to make it look like its "growing" out of the mutated torso (or, perhaps more properly, the torso is growing out of it) otherwise it could easily have a haphazard "stuck on".  That said, having typed that, given your modelling skills I'm sure you figured that out already.

 

One thing about the marine leg on the meltagunner, I think you need one of the ones with bent toes to show it putting weight on it because the current iteration it isn't quite clear what he is doing with it.  Sure, that's not necessarily unrealistic, but its more compelling if you can show how all the parts work together.  As well, I think the model would do well with a more heavily mutated head, because I think the model would do well with a "half way" part connecting the two parts of the model - you've got the space marine parts, and the mutant parts, but nothing really tieing the two together, which leaves it a bit disjointed.  Sure, you might be able to fix that with your paint scheme, but I feel it would be more evocative if also done through the modeling.

I know what you mean about melding the parts together, and I totally get it - although a caveat is that I WANT to make it look stuck together; it's not grown out of him, spawn-style, it's grafted together with him using surgery (like Dark Mechanicus Khimerae). However, I've tried some things so far: 

If you look closely at the pics, you'll see his left (power armour) arm is ripped and torn where it meets the body - to symbolize that it had to be "modified" to make him fit it, after the surgery/merging. His right legs join to the body is hidden by the loincloth. The head maybe needs to be more mutated, but my challenge is finding something that isn't too big and still is clearly a marine - marine heads are actually pretty big, compared to most human models, and a lot of the heads I tried looked comically large. I have a plan, regarding the current one, using sculpting to make the skin merge into the neck/jaw of the beast. 

Thanks again for the very detailed, thoughtful, and well written feedback from you and everyone else - it is REALLY appreciated, and definitely helps me up my game and making them even better. :) 

[GuitaRasmus]

I’ve spent most of tonights hobby session actually gluing things together, so they aren’t held by hope and blutack, but I got an idea for the missile launcher guys left arm; maybe a narthecium, so he can help the hardworking poor doctor gather samples? Seeing as he’s pretty much the only one that isn’t a raging monster, it seemed fitting, but please give your opinions. 
 

 

[ZeroWolf]

Can never go wrong with a drill  he does look like the sort to follow orders like that, a sort of igor type where he doesn't talk much, just stands there menacingly, threatening to either blow you to smithereens or extract teeth.

[Teetengee]

Perfect way of tying together the warband,but I'd also add some storage vials for the extracts

[GuitaRasmus]

Testing out yet another head for the psyker (the hose will get connected to the backpack vials): 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts?

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks good to me.  The cable coming out the back of his head makes me think of the new Van Saar's and their datalinks ...  

[Teetengee]

I think the silhouette looks a little goofy from some angles, but I'm guessing the backpack will improve it. My bigger concern is that the motion of the bits don't feel coherent to me yet. The spine is twisted pretty heavily, (and emphasized by the belly cabling) but it doesn't seem to match the (lack of) motion or extension in the rest of the figure. Paradoxically, perhaps, I think angling the head so the right side (model perspective) is tipped up slightly would give the whole body position more of a "trying to contain powers I wasn't intended to possess" positioning to it that would feel more coherent, even if less "natural" from a conventional sense.

 

 

I suspect there are other ways of marrying the motion of the parts as well.

[ZeroWolf]

I like it, but I can also see what the frater above me means as well. I'd agree that maybe slightly altering the position of the head would help, as long as it didn't interfere with your plan for the backpack.

[GuitaRasmus]

Thanks for the feedback! I’ve decided that none of the heads are as cool as the Aberrant head I used originally, so I bit the bullet and bought a pack of Aberrants to replace the head I destroyed. I think I managed to make him even better this time, but more on that, when I’m finished with him. 
 

I suddenly remembered that my Berzerker (Skinthief) has a bolt pistol on his datacard - that had to be portrayed, so I built him this wrist mounted contraption, linked via cables to his nervous system, so it can fire at his will. 
 

 

 

 

I’ve also auditioned another head for the Khimerae, thinking the cables om the head shows how he can control the beast, linked to it - however, it seems kinda strange, that the cables enter the beasts cheeks. I’m kinda leaning towards the original with the rebreather, but any input is appreciated: 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I found a way to really make my missile guy come together. I combined some of the cool elements I had, and made him into an assistent of “Not quite Bile”, who, besides collecting samples, also has to pull his weight as a heavy gunner. He now has the empty helmet of a primaris marine, the remains of which lie on his base, after harvesting some samples for his boss. Anyway, it looks really cool and grisly, I think - when painted up, the gore will really get the point across - also note the updated should with flayed flesh, to help him adhere to the rest of the guys - all of them has bare skin or fleshy parts, while he is almost all armour - that should be remedied now: 

 

 

 

Edited January 25 by GuitaRasmus

[ZeroWolf]

Yes, I love what you've done with missile guy, that's going to be suitably messy when painted up.

 

I can see where you're going with the other guy but it does seem a bit off in my opinion. I prefer the other head but there may be another way to get both effects if you wish.

[Jukkiz]

i know it´s old school and low rez reaction pic, but you´re doing amazing work over there

[GuitaRasmus]

He’s back, the head is once again the original one, and all is well in the Kill Team again. 
 

I’ve tweaked it a bit, added the tubes on his right gorget side (not sure why they weren’t modelled there), added a tube on his left arm (probably to cool the tissue from all the warp energy coming out) and a yucky syringe on a servoarm on his back pack, injecting foul chemicals to enhance his psychic powers: 

 

 

 

Edited January 26 by GuitaRasmus

[ZeroWolf]

Perfect 

[GuitaRasmus]

Thanks to everyone for the input on my WIP post - I think I’m calling the Kill Team done now. They were a pretty big undertaking, and one of my most intricate conversion projects (especially “the thing”), but I’m very happy with them and really excited to get some paint on the them. Feel free to skip the lore, but I was just so excited about the ideas for their background I got while building them, that I had to write it out. 
 

Zamael Ghaus - Fleshsmith of the Black Legion. (Creations of Bile Kill Team) 

 

 

Zamael Ghaust is a name sometimes whispered and often cursed when mentioned in the ranks of the Black Legion. 
Not much is known about Ghaust before he joined the Legion. He roamed the Eye of Terror, with a few of his assistents for many years, until he was captured by a contingent of Black Legionaries. Being an apothecary, a rare treat in the Eye, he was brought before Abaddon. Few were witness to the exchange, but Ghaust admitted to having been a gifted student of Fabius Bile and later fallen from the Primogenitors’ grace, and being forced to flee further into the Eye. A bargain was made - Ghaust’s life, a laboratory and as many subjects as he wished for, in exchange for monsters. 

 

And monsters he makes; most subjects do not come willingly, whether from disobedient Black Legionaries or Space Marines from rivalling Legions or Warbands - and understandably so. His work in his laboratories is made to a soundtrack of screams, moans and gargles of agony. For someone unlucky enough to find themselves on the workbench of Ghaust, they will emerge as much, much less human, even compared to the dwellers in the Eye. Ghaust often field tests his subjects on small but important missions, to see for himself how they fare in real battle.

 

 

 

 

Varghorak:
Varghorak, once a Berzerker of the Angrons legion, is one of the few willing subjects of Ghaust. He approached the Fleshsmith, after failing the preliminary trials of the Eightbound, wishing to become stronger, tougher and faster, so he could better serve his deity. Ghaust obliged, using an experimental concoction of muscle and bone growth compounds in extreme amounts. Varghorak is a grotesque mountain of muscle and bone, his skin stretched to and beyond it’s limits, with a strenght unheard of, even among the strongest of the Astartes. However, the chemicals used in his apothesis has taken their toll on his mind, and he is little more than a beast now - living only for the blood he can reap for Khorne. 
 

 

 

 

Vraxek: 
A former 3rd. Legion Warrior, Vraxek has joined the Black Legion centuries ago. Like his kin, he was always pursuing perfection, in Vraxeks case, perfection of form - he dreamt of a body that was made entirely for combat. Ghaust happily obliged; Ghaust had recently aquired DNA samples of the vampiric shapeshifting Xenos species known as the Lacrymole, and begun experimenting with  lacing Astartes genes with the loathsome Xenos and succeeded - over the course of a few years, Vraxek was continually treated with injections of the vile cocktail, and slowly began changing. His metamorphosis now complete, he looks like the warrior he has always been - although when thrown into the heat of combat, his battleplate cracks open, revealing his true self - a writhing mass of flesh, spiny limbs and maws filled with razorsharp teeth, charging forward while emitting blood curdling shrieks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maliax: 
An apprentice of Ghaust, he has been under his masters knife multiple times himself, giving him a hideous appearance, although it is hard to understand exactly how he has been “enhanced” - perhaps known only to Ghaust and himself. He joins Ghaust in his field tests, collecting samples of tissue, geneseed and whatever else might strike his masters fancy, but on the battlefield every warrior must pull their own weight, and thus he dons a missile launcher, giving heavy support from the backline. 
 

 

 

Xorphio:
Once a Legionary with very modest psychic abilities, Xorphio was “volunteered” to participate in Ghaust’s attempt to enhance psychic abilities - high level psykers and sorcerers being highly sought after in the Eye. 
Xorphio has endured many brain surgeries, to modify his neural network, as well as recieving constant doses of Norepinephrine, distilled from human psykers and astropaths. The result is convincing, although his appereance is rather grotesque - his brain has grown to massive size, and a third eye has sprouted on his forehead. Xorphio cares little for this, for he now displays powers that equal experience sorcerers, and can wreak havoc on any battlefield. 

 

 

 

Khimeraon:

It is unknown whether Khimeraon, a lowly legionary melta-gunner (his former name is forgotten) had displeased some lord, or just happened to be in the wrong place when inspiration struck Ghaust, but it ultimately matters not - he unwillingly became the subject of a mad experiment that involved merging an Astartes with a particularly brutish xemos specimen Ghaust had stumbled upon. The experiment was a success (at least in Ghaust’s mad viewpoint), since he had managed to link Khimeraons neural pathways to the Xenos’ body, so Khimeraon is in complete control of the twisted cojoined body - however, Khimeraon, in constant pain from the mismatch of biology, forced to endure endless chemicals pumped into his body to avoid his immune system expelling the foreign tissue, hates Ghaust more than even the corpse-emperor. He is very much aware, however, that Ghaust fears not that subjects who were unwilling participants in his experiments turn on him, since Ghaust always makes sure they have a failsafe in them; a small melta-charge surgically implanted in their brainstem, linked to Ghaust’s twin hearts.

 

 

 

 

[ZeroWolf]

Certainly an impressive team, you've done yourself proud 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Suitably terrifying and grotesque

[Teetengee]

Does not disappoint, and the lore is a fun treat too. Do you have any plans for painting?

[GuitaRasmus]

18 hours ago, ZeroWolf said:

Certainly an impressive team, you've done yourself proud 

 

Thanks a lot! :) 

 

10 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Suitably terrifying and grotesque

 

That's exactly what I was going for! ;)

 

3 hours ago, Teetengee said:

Does not disappoint, and the lore is a fun treat too. Do you have any plans for painting?

 

Thanks a lot! Glad you like the lore too. I'm planning on Black Legion, since I think it'll contrast nicely with the reddish/fleshy hues I'm planning for the skin. Lots of fleshy horror and flayed skin. I'm somewhat nervous about the black, since I've never really painted any black power armour, but I'm looking at ideas online. 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Yeah, your force and stories behind them are fantastic.  Look forward to seeing your paint scheme in progress.

 

IMHO, the must effective Black Legion paint jobs I've seen feature warm edge highlighting, usually dark blue - I find grey highlighting of black can look kind of chalky, so that would be a way of avoiding that.

Edited January 28 by Dr_Ruminahui