Re-inventing Fear

[-][-Danek-][-]

Well Brothers,after working on nothing but my Deathwatch for two years I have found myself as late rather burnt out on all the black and silver.Not to mention I miss gaming on a regular basis(and not getting knocked for using an "unfluffy" army. ;) ).

 

To be honest,I felt like a break from my Deathwatch was in order.With that in mind I decided that all the Horus Heresy talk was a sign that I should return to my roots.

 

 

The Nightlords.

 

 

I have a army of them already,and enjoyed a rather decent win/loss ratio with them.Unfortunately,every time I look at those bat helms I cringe.Everytime I see that my Commander Knightmare ended up a statured DP I shudder,for not only is it unfluffy,but NOT what I intended for him.

 

With that in mind,I decided to start them ALL OVER.

 

After reading the IA article on them several times,I took pen to paper and created aesthetic guidelines I would follow this time.

 

-Knightmare would remain a Commander.

 

-Mutations would be absolutely minimal.

 

-Trophies will be plentiful,as will other "fear-inducing" concepts,most notably on the assault oriented squads,Knightmare and my Chosen.

 

-No Bat Helms!Pre-Heresy/Heresy era helmets are a the order of the day.That means few horns and more modified Chaos helmets and Beakies,most with "Terror Markings".

 

-More helmetless marines.I've grown rather fond of throwing at least two in each squad.A leftover quirk from my Deathwatch project.

 

 

 

With that said,I'd like to now show my Bretheren here the first of my rank and file troops. ^_^

 

(Please note that I just got this camera tonight,and I'm still learning how to produce the best pictures with it)

 

This first lad is a fine example of how the Beakie helmets will be utilized,complete with Terror Markings...

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Danek1354/The%20Knightmare%20Project/Nightlord13.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Danek1354/The%20Knightmare%20Project/Nightlord12.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Danek1354/The%20Knightmare%20Project/Nightlord1.jpg

 

The highlights in the Terror Markings are now softer than they are in these pics. :blush:

 

 

The next marine is a helmetless Plasma gun weilder.I was initially at a loss on how to do the faces during the Concept phase of the project.The Raven Guard and the Nightlords are both described as being very pale/white with black eyes,and I definately wanted my Nightlords to look more unique.As a result,I created a mixture I call "Nostromo Flesh",consisting of Codex Gray and Skull White at a 15/85% mixture to use for highlights.

 

My epiphany in regards to the eyes goes primarily to my cat.

The Raven Guard have black eyes due to a mutation in there Geneseed.The Nightlords on the other hand have black eyes because they are entirely pupil,hence the night vision.

While petting my cat one evening,I noticed how her eyes shined in exposure to light.Somewhere I heard it's because of a protective lense behind the pupil.

 

Did I mention I was watching Pitch Black at the time? ;)

 

The result was eyes done in Boltgun Metal to represent that "Eye Shine" that opponents would likely see on the dark battlefield.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Danek1354/The%20Knightmare%20Project/Nightlord21.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Danek1354/The%20Knightmare%20Project/Nightlord22.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Danek1354/The%20Knightmare%20Project/Nightlord23.jpg

 

I'll be adding more pics as I chug along,including the insanely extensive conversion that will be Knightmare. ;)

 

Comments,Critisisms and ideas are very welcome.

 

 

-Danek

 

Aka;Lord Knightmare

[Herkram]

Stop it! You're making me want to play Night Lords now! ;)

 

Seriously though, I think you've rescued them from the horrors of Games Workshop, very nicely done.

[Iron-Daemon Forge]

Now that how Night Lord should look like, instead of those bat wing heads.

 

Great work & I like the kind of dead style flesh on the Plasma gunner

 

IP

[++Brazen--Eagles++]

As always Danek.... im amazed and consequently in love with ur models.

 

Now that you mention it, my Night Lords are looking a bit shabby at the moment... hmmm looks like i might have to give them a dust off. Damn... more work to do.

 

 

 

++ Eagle Out ++

 

p.s i couldnt agree more about the bat wings. And with ur skill, who needs 'em... Cant wait to see Knightmare

[Alpha PTP]

I personaly do not mind the bat helms at all, I like using their wings to put on the back of my marines on one side to kind be like the version of Cloud from Kingdom Hearts. :3

 

I really do like the skull on the helm, with all the fluff on how they are lurkers in the dark and how much fear they actualy do cause, I think the helm fits.

 

I really cannot wait to see this army finished. I hope it is as promising at your Deathwatch.

 

 

Alpha

[-][-Danek-][-]

I'm experiancing a rush of creativity that I haven't felt since I began the Deathwatch project,and I'm enjoying every second of it.

 

For those curious about Knightmare,the inspiration for how he will look can be found here...

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Dan...ightmare_01.jpg

 

He will be the only one with helmet wings,but more like this...

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Dan.../Knightmare.jpg

 

I'm ordering the parts tommorrow.He'll be mounted on a 40MM FW scenic base.

[Damo1701]

-][-Danek-][-, How do you do it????

 

Your projects are excellent, and your paint jobs flawless.

 

You can turn a dark angels player to night lords with shots like that.

 

I think -][-Danek-][- you desere some Kudos, so here they are, KUDOS to -][-Danek-][-

[++Brazen--Eagles++]

WOW damn... Knighmare is gonna look saweet.

 

Please keep working... DONT STOP. work through the entire night (could be day for u... i dunno) if u have to, i just cant wait to see him finished... and the rest of the army of course.

 

 

++ Eagle Out ++

[Daeothar]

Awesome work on the helmet Danek! very much like the 1st incarnation of the Legion of the Damned. ;)

 

I agree with you on the helmetwings, although I do think they can look good in certain situations (and with suitable alterations mind you). I've always liked the Night Lords' MO and your theme will certainly carry that over...

 

Can't wait to see Knightmare (what a cool name that is too btw)...

[1000marines]

Yes I wanna see knightmare too, but I hope you'll get him to the right marine height though, seen Soul Calibur's knightmare is a bit..... short. (*snicker* 5'6", I'm taller ;))

 

And I do love those lightning effects on that baby

[benno_wallace]

I really like these models, they have an individual flavour without loosing the nightlord theme. My only idea is to make a mix of boltgun metal and liche purple and use that as a pupil. I say purple cause it is an eerie colour when done correctly and as an eye colour it is very menacing looking

[Goldo_Funk]

Avesome. Absolutly avesome ! Lightnings are beautiful, the skull is amazingly beautiful. The only thing that bugs me is the plasma loading room, as to change from the all-blued marine, i'll would have done it green. Look very great, i assure you.

Now, i'm waiting for pics of Nightmare... but are you going to give him those immenses horns ?

[mesmile]

Great work, far better then the regular Nightlords. Looking forward to seeing more of

[bruenor]

They look superb, loving the whole look.

Looking forward to seeing nightmare too.

[-][-Danek-][-]

Avesome. Absolutly avesome ! Lightnings are beautiful, the skull is amazingly beautiful. The only thing that bugs me is the plasma loading room, as to change from the all-blued marine, i'll would have done it green. Look very great, i assure you.

Now, i'm waiting for pics of Nightmare... but are you going to give him those immenses horns ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You know,I agree with that comment about the Plasma Gun chamber.I did think about doing it another color,but for some reason I relate plasma to a light blue. ;)

 

And I think that I'll pass on the horns in regards to Knightmare.His helmet will be bordering on "too busy" as is. :blush:

 

Besides,I reckon the mutated hand will be all the spiky he needs. ;)

 

@benno_wallace:I'll try that on the next un-helmeted Nightlord I have coming up and see if it pleases me.Certainly sounds like a good idea.

 

@1000marines:Rest assured brother that he will be tall and very intimidating. ;)

 

@daeothar:I agree.I'm planning on nicking Brother Nihm's idea about removing the wings from the helmet for a more streamlined Pre-Heresy style.

 

@++Brazen--Eagles++:Rest assured that I'm not stopping.Almost to an annoying degree. ^_^

Nephren-Ka and myself often chat after I get off work,and lately I've been very hard to get a hold of.lol

 

@Gregor69:Thanks man.I really appreciate that.

I was rather sad I had to wait this long to post them,but I lost my old camera in a divorce-like breakup. ;)

 

Okay guys.Finished another trooper.His base is drying as we speak.Expect some pics of him in the afternoon.

 

I will (hopefully) be able to head down to my local game store Saturday evening to pick up some more boxes.I'm planning on posting some WIP pics of my Chosen within a few days.

[flyinghippo]

Maybe it's just me but the plasma gunner head looks a little big. Yeah I didn't notice the plasma gun colour at first but now that you mention it I would paint it a different colour. Maybe not green though...

[Cash3w]

*Bows down*

 

That beakey owns my soul.

[Hyperion]

Now THAT'S what Night Lords should be like! Ubercool.

 

I really like the shiny eyes (now why didn't I think of that!).

 

As far as the plasma goes, I associate it with white with a hint of pale purple - because as something gets hotter it starts glowing red and then moves up the light spectrum (red - orange - yellow). Once enough of the spectrum is generated then the light appears white, but gains a bluish tinge with increasing heat, so an extremely hot object would glow white with a purple tinge (then it would glow UV which is invisible).

[bullpup]

I woulg go for a red colour on the plasma chamber, like DOW chaos guys. Good jod though, I never liked the look of night lors but yous look really cool. Keep up the good work.

[Jansuh]

;)

 

Man, awesome! I REALLY like the skull-pattern on that beakie!

[frankendoodle65]

For those curious about Knightmare,the inspiration for how he will look can be found here...

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Dan...ightmare_01.jpg

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

how very interesting... in the game soulcaliber 2, nightmare's hand is completely differant... in this picture, it looks almost like a power claw with horns... in the game it's just a large hand with 2 small spikes coming off...

 

anyway, your painting is top-notch, i love it, you've destroyed my hatred of the nightlords (well, look what GW did to them...), keep us updated with the rest of your guys.

 

Yes I wanna see knightmare too, but I hope you'll get him to the right marine height though, seen Soul Calibur's knightmare is a bit..... short. (*snicker* 5'6", I'm taller )

it's funny, it says he's short there, but on teh game, he's the tallest character!!!

[Havock]

just don't make the clawth

[-][-Danek-][-]

@Havock:I'm actually PLANNING to make the claw that big. :P

An armature will be used and pinned to the body for stability.

 

@frankendoodle65:Nightmare is mutating constantly during the series.He looks radically different in Soul Calibur 3.

My Knightmare will lean towards the Aesthetics of Nightmare from SC 2 though.

[Tubal]

While petting my cat one evening,I noticed how her eyes shined in exposure to light.Somewhere I heard it's because of a protective lense behind the pupil.

It's because of a reflective layer behind the retina, giving the light a second chance to be picked up by the light-sensitive rods and cones :)

Would be pretty easy to do, compared to an extra heart...

 

I actually like the helmet wings, though an entire squad of them just looks silly. One box of NL marines scattered throughout an entire army as champions and lords would look pretty good I think.

I think the "Nostromo Flesh" could use a glaze of brown to help it look even remotely alive ;)

One thing that I like is when people rewrite their old fluff to fit with a new direction they want the army to take. You could keep the fluff where he becomes a daemon prince (or rather possessed by a daemon as it turns out, who forced his marines to wear bunny ears for long centuries ;)) and write about how he cast out the daemon and leads his warband to new victories or something, I'll leave the details to you. I mean if you have fluff, why throw it away? :P

[ZAChos]

Id also suggest going with a slight purple/red tint to the eyes. This is a natural thing, caused by the light reflecting off the retina, but in normal people it isnt noticed because they have an iris to stop as much light getting in. The iris also tints the light reflected out of the eye, which gives the iris its colour. Anyway, without the iris the eye would reflect more of the light off the back wall, and therefore retina of the eye, making them glow red, very much like the red eye effect shown in cameras.

 

Also, think very carefully before giving knightmare a hand that big. It will look silly. In my opinion dont go any bigger than the hand on the chaos mutation sprue, otherwise it wont look scary, and just cartoony.