A brute with a name…

Hey everyone,

just a teeny tiny update today: You may remember how I recently lamented my inability to come up with a suitable justification for the totally twisted and mutated Dark Vengeance Helbrute joining up with the rather “pristine” (insofar as that word can be applied to followers of Khorne) warriors of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt.

Well, fortunately, many of you came to the rescue and offered ideas, suggestions and snippets of fluff. That input really provided me with lots of great ideas for the Helbrute’s background, so I had everything I needed to come up with a suitable piece of writing channelling the elements I liked the most. Many thanks to everyone who contributed one or several ideas to this process, especially to monkeytroll, Llamahead and DexterKong!

Here goes:

Khorlen the Lost

Ever since the Skalathrax campaign, the warriors of Khorne’s Eternal Hunt have been trying to keep the inevitable descent into madness that has claimed most of their legion at bay, instead clinging to their fierce martial pride. However, Lord Captain Lorimar’s retreat from Skalathrax earned him no small number of opponents amid the ranks of his own legion. One such enemy, Karakar the Exalted, considered Lorimar and his company cravens and hypocrites, unworthy of Khorne’s blessings and ignorant of the true nature of chaos: Karakar was furious about the Eternal Hunt looking down upon daemonhood and the gifts of the Warp, and he vowed he would educate the fourth assault company about the true meaning of chaos.

In late M39, Karakar and his warband fell upon the Fourth in a series of rapid assaults. During the initial phase of the fight, Huntmaster Khorlen, then a senior officer in the company, and his retinue were captured on the daemon world of Skabrea. Lorimar himself led an attack into the heart of the enemy stronghold, in order to rescue his battle brother and put Karakar to the sword.

When they reached the innermost sanctum of the fortress, the warriors of the fourth discovered a chilling scene: Karakar had wanted to punish the Eternal Hunt for their selfish pride, and for clinging to their long-obsolete past, so he had undertaken a sinister ritual to call the forces of the warp into the vessel provided by Huntmaster Khorlen’s body. He had paid dearly, however, as Khorlen – his body twisted and wracked with the raw powers of chaos – had broken his chains and slain everyone present in the ritual chamber. There his brothers found him, crippled and bloodied, his form twisted beyond reason, but yet imbued with a sinister resilience through the powers of the warp. And against all odds, Khorlen remained completely sane, and aware of the horrible changes that had been wrought upon him.

Lorimar and his warriors were at a loss: Had Khorlen’s mind been shattered by the ritual, it would have been easy enough to put him out of his misery. But their brother was still sane, and begged them to allow him to continue fighting. So a compromise was reached: Khorlen’s twisted remains were interred into a dreanought ironform, in an attempt to keep him combat worthy.

But the ritual had been so powerful that even the internment did not protect Khorlen against the forces of the warp: His ironform began to change and mutate, turning Khorlen into a hulking beast of steel and fleshmetal. Yet at the heart of the hellish contraption, the proud spirit of Huntmaster Khorlen still remained, untainted and unbroken.

Khorlen spends most of his days hidden deep within the great forge aboard the Aeternus Venator, his condition closely monitored by Huntmaster Deracin. Only in times of battle is he released to walk among his brothers once more, seeking a worthy death in battle as long as he is still himself...

 

Have a great weekend, everyone! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Et tu, Brute? A look at the chaos mini-release and a surprise model!

So, before those rumoured Imperial Guar…erm Astra Militarum models hit in the near future, let me just take this opportunity to talk a bit about the recent the “mini-release” for chaos players: Hopes had been high for multiple new kits (among them a Chosen/Havoc combi-kit) or a supplement dealing with the original traitor legions. The bad news is: That’s not what we got. But at least we did get some love from GW in the form of the Crimson Slaughter supplement and a new kit. So let’s take a look at these new toys, shall we?

The rules in the new supplement seem to be reasonably solid, at least that’s what I hear on the forums.  People also laud the production values of the book, and I have to say that the art does seem quite inspired and is almost motivation enough for me to go and pick it up, just for the heck of it:

At the same time, you’ve got to wonder: There has been quite a bit of nerd rage regarding the fact that the latest chaos supplement doesn’t deal with any of the major traitor legions, but rather focuses on a fairly new warband that had only been introduced into the background with the release of Dark Vengeance. Several commenters pointed out that this was likely done in an attempt to give newcomers to the hobby a “clean slate” warband that wasn’t so heavily bogged down in all of the background lore — but while this seems like a sensible explanation at first glance, I’m not sure I buy it: Warhammer 40k has always been about the 10,000 years worth of background lore, after all. And what better way to get people into the hobby up to their noses than to motivate them to read up on all the stuff that has happened to “their” legion over the last ten millennia?

Whatever the reason, it seems obvious that GW’s reluctance to publish legion specific rules is actually not an oversight but a conscious decision, at least for now: It feels like they are just not prepared to open that can of worms just yet, which is a bit of a shame, of course. I’ll still keep my fingers crossed for the legions to get a fitting treatment in the future, and I can only hope that this is all some kind of a bigger plan (and a bigger design plan, at that, not just some business tomfoolery).

Such considerations notwithstanding, there were two really positive aspects to come out of this mini-release: One is the fact that the studio CSM army seems to have  been switched from Black Legion to Crimson Slaughter, with images of models in the latter warband’s colours now also adorning all of the new boxes. And boy is it a gorgeous colour scheme! I’ll let slide the fact that the Crimson Slaughter has successfully managed to steal what should by rights be the official World Eaters colours: Red and bronze/gold always look great together, and turquoise is just the perfect spot colour for that particular combo (*cough* not that some of us hadn’t already realised that *cough*).

The other positive thing about this release is the new, multipart Helbrute kit. Let’s take a closer look:

For all these past years, ever since the early 2000s really, chaos players have been clamouring for a new Dreadnought kit. Then Dark Vengeance came around, introducing us to the concept of the Helbrute, an Astartes Dreadnought warped and corrupted by the ruinous powers into something halfway between a daemon and a machine. Now, with the release of the multipart Helbrute, we have come full circle: The kit we had been waiting for so long is finally available. And quite a kit it is!

Before we take a closer look, though, let’s get the main problem out of the way first: In order to enjoy this kit, you have to be comfortable with the idea of the stock chaos Dread being much more warped and mutated – more “fleshy”, as it were – than before. If you don’t like that overall approach, well, you’re out of luck — this model just won’t be for you.

Here’s the thing, though: I myself am not a huge fan of overly mutated models. There are very few mutations appearing across my World Eaters army (both for aesthetic preference and fluff reasons). Still, both the Dark Vengeance Helbrute and the new multipart model have managed to win me over, because they just look amazing! They are evil and chaotic, exuding malice and horror in equal measure, so how could I not love them? What’s more, put them to a “regular” Dreadnought, and you’ll see that, in spite of all their mutations, they closely match the proportions and design of a standard Dreadnought underneath all of that fleshmetal: You can almost imagine how these creatures (d)evolved into the monstrosities they are now, and that is just great visual storytelling, period.

And even if you hate that look and approach with a passion, there are many alternative options: All of the loyalist Dreadnoughts are quite easy to convert into suitably chaotic models (as I myself have proven. Twice.). There are also the – still amazing – Forgeworld Chaos Dreads, if you prefer a more conservative design approach. So what I am saying here is that the new kit basically only adds more options instead of taking them away: Everyone can still get the Dreadn…erm Helbrute they like.

As for the kit itself, what strikes me as the best part is the amount of customisability: You get all of the available weapon options plus a huge amount of bitz to make the Helbrute look like an individual or represent his allegiance to a specific chaos legion or warband. It goes without saying that the weapon options follow the mutated look of the main body. In some cases, they are still fairly conservative (the Autocannon or Lascannon would be good examples). Some other weapons are a bit more out there:

They even managed to make the power scourge, possibly the most awkward looking equipment option on the old metal model, look legitimately cool:

Personally speaking, the rocket launcher is just a bit much, though: I love the model and all, but the idea of fired rockets leaving fleshy sockets like pulled teeth is just taking the body horror angle a bit too far for my liking, thank you very much:

A personal favourite of mine would be the option of arming the Helbrute with twin power fists, because there’s nothing saying brutal, insane killing machine than those huge fists:

Even beyond the different weapons, I really love the additional options for customisation: You get a whopping six heads and three horned crests for the sarcophagus, for instance. Sure, this guy is more expensive than the loyalist dread, but he is also quite a bit more exciting from a visual standpoint, plus you basically get all the weapons option in one place instead of them being spaced out over several kit.

Also, whether or not you like the basic look, you’ve got to admit that there’s a nice bit of visual consistency between the different daemon engine kits: There are little touches that tie them all together and make them look like parts of the same overall faction. Nice!

In comparison with the DV Helbrute, GW seem to have taken the hobbyists’ feedback onboard: The two main points of contention about that model were the somewhat uninspired back (less detailed than would have been preferrable, probably due to production conditions for a snap fit model?!) and the strangely organic feet: By comparison, the new Helbrute has some additional armour plating on his back, recalling the design of both loyalist Dreadnoughts and the FW chaos Dreads. The feet have been also been redesigned, now looking far more like standard Dreanought feet.

 

So, are there any problems with the model? For one, I think that the pose could have been a bit less static, but that’s always a problem with a multipart kit that has to balance awesomness and flexibility. Still, if you want this guy to be more dynamic, you’ll have to put in a bit of work (and when you do, the rather organic nature of the model when compared to standard Dreads means some GS sculpting may be in order).

The biggest problem seems to be that, at least for those into the background of the setting, the new Helbrute may not be a good fit for some of the traitor legions: Sure, he should work like a charm for at least four of the three “cult legions” (Emperor’s Children, Death Guard and, of course, World Eaters) as well as for two of the undivided legions (Black Legion and Word Bearers). But after that, it might get a little iffy: While I could see the Night Lords using a mutated Helbrute like this as a terror weapon (as well as an instrument of torture for one of their own), I think the model doesn’t work quite that well for, say, the Iron Warriors: I think you’d be better of converting an Ironclad Dreadnought (or go with the FW option). In the case of the Thousand Sons, the mutated look matches Tzeentch’s penchant for twisting and warping his followers, but clashes somewhat with the legion’s background. And I think the model just doesn’t work for the Alpha Legion, at least not when you keep the most recent fluff in mind. But then again, there are alternatives for those cases (see above).

A small, if insubstantial, disappointment is the fact that, unlike the heads in the Venerable Dreadnought kit, the leftover Helbrute heads will not work on regular Chaos Space Marines, as is evident from this photo, kindly provided by fellow hobbyist Daemonclaw:

They might arguably work in Terminator armour, but only with a fair bit of cutting. Just imagine if we were to get a helmet like the one on the left for our Khorne berzerkers one day…

Then there’s the whole dataslates business: The new Helbrute dataslate supposedly adds some quite viable ways to use the new model — or, indeed multiple models. But, as has been the case for prior dataslate releases, it’s the downloadable content discussion over again. And while I do see digital publications as a viable avenue of income for GW, I still don’t see why they could not have put these rules into the same issue of WD featuring the new model: Wouldn’t that be precisely the kind of content that would make people pick up the mag, after all?

And there’s one final problem: Maybe it’s just due to a couple of crude comments over at Throne of Skulls, but don’t you agree that there’s one particular element about the new Helbrute’s design that seems a little…suggestive?

I mean, look, maybe it’s just me, but…don’t those dangling eyes look a bit like, you know,…

…

…ah, never mind 😉

It’s a great model, though, fair and square: Great job, GW!

 

So, I also promised you a surprise model in the title, so let’s make good on that promise: After longingly looking at pictures of the new Helbrute kit in WD Weekly, I surprised myself by not running out to buy the kit right away, but rather grabbing that unpainted DV Helbrute I still had sitting on my desk and finally starting to paint that instead — and it’s about time, too, seeing how it’s been quite a while…

While the model remains an amazing piece, I can safely say now that it’s certainly not a lot of fun to paint: It took what felt like ages, but then the model finally started to come together, and it’s mostly finished at last. Take a look:

As you can see, in another case of fairly atypical behaviour, I left the model mostly unconverted, but then I really like the model a lot as is. I just got rid of the stubby melta arm — the one truly bad piece of design on an otherwise amazing sculpt, if you ask me.

I also added a little “special effect” on the model’s back, using Tamiya Clear Red:

Not an ‘Eavy Metal grade paintjob, admittedly, but considering the amount of time I spent on this guy (and how long it took to finally get to the point where I wasn’t feeling like I was messing up horribly), I am really pretty happy with the outcome so far:

The face definitely remains my favourite part of the model:

So horrible and so amazing at the same time!

As of this writing, I still need to do some final touchups on the model, add some final highlights etc. But I hope you’ll agree that it’s coming together.
Here’s the new Helbrute with his future “colleagues”, Marax the Fallen and Khoron the Undying:

Of course this leaves me just one Helbrute short of that most elusive and devastating of formations: The Barbershop Helquartet of Dooom! 😉

 

In comparison with the new multipart kit, the DV Helbrute does of course lack a bit of flexibility as well as a whole lot of weapons options. Then there’s the fact of the slightly redesigned back and feet on the new model. However, at least in my opinion, the DV Helbrute isn’t necessarily the inferior model: The pose is excellent and dynamic, whereas the new model looks quite static (provided you’re not going with the two power fists). The face on the DV Helbrute is also quite excellent, and slightly better than the bare faces included with the multipart kit, at least in my opinion. And while it was designed as a single pose model, using it for rather extensive and exciting conversions is absolutely possible! For inspirations about how to truly make this model sing, look no further than the work of Daemonclaw or Biohazard — the latter’s particularly great Helbrute is a model I am truly envious of! Plus you can get the DV Helbrute for a song on ebay, which makes sure that this version remains a very viable option, especially for converters. And just imagine what one could achieve with one of the new multipart kits and a DV Helbrute: All that leftover bitz would be amazing for making two standout models at an onlslightly bigger cost.

 

So, in closing, while the lack of additional kits or any legion-specific supplement is of course a bit of a disappointment, the new Helbrute kit is amazing enough to tide me over until the true next chaos release comes rolling around. Will I get one at some point? Quite possibly so, yes. I am not exactly looking forward to painting another of these fleshy behemoths, though: The more mechanic, angular Dreadnoughts are far easier to paint and make for far more pleasant work.

Let’s not think of any further Helbrutes just yet: For now, I am really happy that I finally managed to paint one of my favourite pieces from the Dark Vengeance boxed set!

As always, I’d love to hear any feedback you might have. And, of course, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Getting started again…

Having been unbelievably lazy for a couple of weeks, I have recently undertaken a couple of steps to get back into hobby mode. As is so often the case with restarting an engine that has lain dormant for a while, the first moments aren’t pretty, with lots of sputtering and grinding. But it finally feels like I am slowly getting back into the swing of things, so today I would like to show you a number of smaller projects I am currently working on:

 

1. The Brazen Wall – revisited

First up is an Aegis Defense line for my World Eaters. I started working on this some time last summer, but then it more or less fell by the wayside. So, time to get some more work in! Here’s the aegis as it looks right now:

While I wanted the defense line to look like it clearly belonged to my army, I didn’t want to go overboard with the spiky bitz. I basically used some spikes an armour plates from the chaos vehicle sprue to spruce up the different segments. Nothing amazing, certainly. But the true achievement was to get rid of all those pesky Imperial aquilas.

To be fair, though, after I had found the right approach for doing this, it turned into an almost relaxing task. I was able to shave off all the loyal iconography in a single evening.

And while the defense line will still need some additional bitz, mostly trophies, skulls and impaled Astartes, it’s definitely getting there! Again, not the most creative and groundbreaking endeavour in the world, but just the right project to slowly ease me back into hobby mode!

 

2. Death from Above

Let’s continue with something slightly more involved: I also finally found a way to make what may be my favourite model from the Dark Vengeance boxed set into a member of my World Eaters:

I always thought that the Chosen wielding lightning claws would make for an excellent jump infantry officer or lord, so I added a raptor jump pack and some clawed toes from the warp talons. It’s a rather simple conversion, of course, but one I am nevertheless rather pleased with. It also resembles GW’s own Chaos lord with jump pack (as a matter of fact, I had originally intended of using that model’s jump pack for this conversion, but abandoned the idea when it turned out to be far too unwieldy).

Oh, and I do of course realise that using a flowing cape like that directly underneath what ultimately amounts to a jet engine may not be the smartest idea in the world, but there’s always the Rule of Cool, isn’t there? Let’s just pretend it’s made from flame-retardant fabric, okay?

 

3. Hammer Time!

Building chaos lords is one of my favourite hobby activities, of course, and with the Raptor Lord out of the way, another traitor officer was quick to follow. I was beginning to feel more adventurous, too! But we’ll get to that in a minute.

First things first: Does anyone remember these guys?

Long before FW redesigned the whole Pre-Heresy stuff, there were a number of highly interesting older models put out by GW proper. One of them was the Mk I Tactical Dreadnought Armour, indeed going back to one of Jes Goodwin’s concept sketches for the later Terminators, I believe:

Image owned by Games Workshop

There was actually a model for this particular armour design as well! And as luck would have it, I even have a picture of a chaos conversion of an Mk I Termie. Take a look:

This must be one of the first wargaming related pictures I ever downloaded from the internet, back in the early 2000s, when the blogosphere was far less developed than it is today. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you who originally built and painted the model, since the blog seems to have disappeared. If anyone knows the creator, please let me know!

Anyway, these scraps of half-forgotten lore were lying around in my various inspiration folders. And then I came across an illustration by the ever-inspirational Greyall, depicting an Imperial Fists marine wearing an updated form of Mk I TDA.

Seeing that image made me realise that it might be interesting to build a model that took design cues from that rather ancient design, and another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Things really got underway when I started messing around with a couple of leftover armour plates from the Heldrake kit, because they almost look like those Mk I shoulder plates, if you only look at them long enough

So I formulated a plan for yet another chaos lord conversion: I would build a chaos lord wearing custom armour that would take inspiration from both the Mk I and Cataphractii designs. Not a straight recreation of either, but something that incorporated elements from both in order to create an armour that looked archaic and massive. And of course, my beloved plastic Terminator Lord would be at the heart of the conversion once more.

Anyway, after messing around with a pile of bitz for a while, here’s an early mockup of the model:

As you can see, it’s a fairly simple kitbash, any by no means an involved recreation of either armour pattern. But some of the elements are inspired by those seen on the Pre-Heresy armour: The shoulder pads and slightly recessed, helmeted head recall a more ornate Mk I design, while the topknot and pteruges skirt are a clear reference to the Cataphractii armour. And the decorative trim and heretical symbols clearly communicate the fact that we are dealing with a member of a traitor legion, after all.

I wanted to create a hulking character in highy archaic armour, and that much seems to have worked. And while the thunder hammer was only intended as a placeholder, I think that it really nicely complements the overall look of the model — even though it’s not really a weapon associated with followers of Khorne…

Another possibility would be to use one of the mauls from the Deathwing Knights that I have conveniently lying around:

As you can see, the model’s only tacked together for now, held together by lots of modelling putty and my prayers. But I am already rather fond of this guy, even though he’s only a rather simple kitbash and nowhere near as involved as, say, Dark Rage’s faithful – and incredibly cool – recreation of actual Mk I armour.   I can imagine this guy as one of Lorimar’s bodyguards, encased in ancient armour and ruthlessly efficient: a silent and deadly warrior crushing everything in the Lord Captain’s way…

Update: In a rather interesting development, Fellow hobbyist carnosaur93 over on B&C suggested I turn around the shoulder pads in order to make them look even more similar to the Mk 1 design. And while I didn’t believe him at first, I tried it and was amazed:

Consider my mind blown! The model actually looks 100% more like the old Mk I Termies now! It even has that slightly “alien” look to the shoulders, I don’t know how to describe it any better: The curvature of the shoulders is quite unlike anything seen on modern (traitor) Astartes models.

I have yet to decide which version I actually like better, but the changed one really looks more like the older armour pattern. And it also has a certain “je ne sais quoi”…food for thought, definitely!

 

Anyway, these are my first small hobby projects for this year! And of course, I am always happy to hear any feedback you might have! In any case, it’s  good to be back in the game, especially considering all the crazy rumours about new CSM kits to be released soon-ish.

Now if I can only find my misplaced painting modjo, everything will turn out fine…

Anyway, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Assorted Chaos

While I am itching to paint some of the models I have recently converted, the high temperatures all around have rendered painting all but impossible for the last week or so. Fortunately enough, the temperature has dropped a bit, and it looks like I can finally get to work at the weekend. Huzza!

Until then, let me show you some odds and ends, as well as some ongoing conversion projects for my World Eaters. While I have had to content myself mainly with some kitbashing for the last few days, I still have some new models to show for it 😉

 

1. A new toy for the Undying

First up, a small project I somehow forgot to show you earlier. You may remember one of my Chaos Dreadnoughts/Helbrutes, Khoron the Undying, with all his various toys. Alas, the poor chap was still missing a Multimelta to round out his equipment choices. So I finally sat down to solve that problem and cobbled together a suitable weapon from a Venerable Dreadnought’s arm, a Sisters of Battle Multimelta and a Khorne icon:

Since I didn’t have any more armour plates to cover up the loyalist engravings on the arm, the icon was cut to size and blended in with a little GS to make the arm look suitably chaotic. The Multimelta may just be a tad too small, but I still rather like the overall result:

This means I am only short a rocket launcher arm before I’ll own a full set of equipment options for my Helbrutes, and I already have an idea…

 

2. The Sons of Cron

The second thing I want to show you today are some more models for my Chosen, the Sons of Cron. I already posted my attempt at converting some of the Dark Vengeance Chosen for my World Eaters some time ago, and the fact that these models are so amazingly detailed meant that I had to touch up some of the Chosen I had already built from “regular” CSM and berzerker parts:

The guy on the right is a good example for that. Some Raptor parts and additional trophies were added to him to bring his look more in line with that of the ultra-detailed Dark Vengeance model on the left.

These two guys were also touched up, with the Chosen on the left receiving a new right arm, shield and some trophies, while a highly detailed set of Khornate “bunny ears” (from the WFB Skullcrushers) and a severed head were added to the gentlemen on the right. A recurring visual motif for my Chosen is that they are channelling both the legion’s gladiatorial origins as well as the 4th assault company’s role as a hunting party, so there are several visual cues to both ideas (the bare arms, the slightly gladiatorial equipment and the amount of trophies, for one). I am really pretty happy with these guys, because they now hold up quite a bit better when seen next to the Dark Vengeance Chosen.

And finally, a possible champion (or even Chaos Lord), converted from on of the bolter wielding Chosen from Dark Vengeance. You already know this guy:

When Dark Vengeance was originally released, I feared that it would bepretty much impossible to make my Chosen fit the look of the highly detailed pieces from the box. And while they may not be a perfect approximation of the Dark Vengeance models’ level of detail, I am stil rather happy with how the squad has turned out so far. They look rather nice together, I think:

As a matter of fact, there are even more where these came from. So I guess I will have to do a more detailed post on the Sons of Cron at some point…

 

3. The Teeth of Khorne

Another ongoing project of mine is the construction of a squad of Khornate Havocs. There used to be a time where not every member of the World Eaters was described as a raving lunatic completely addicted to combat at close quarters. There were also the “Teeth of Khorne”, the legion’s dedicated long range support troops. And since the 4th assault company tries its best to function as an at least slightly varied force, it was clear to me that building a dedicated squad of World Eaters wielding big guns could be a fun conversion project.

I took quite a bit of inspiration from the legendary Wayde Pryce’s Khorne Havocs when conceptualising these models. And since these are a fun experiment for now, first and foremost, I am trying to build them mainly from leftovers. Here’s my first test model with a kitbashed Autocannon:

I originally wanted to go for the usual, double-barrelled look for the weapon, but I liked the gatling look slightly better in the end, and I love the idea of these guys relentlessly advancing, their weapons spewing a relentless hail of fire. The model is nowhere near finished, of course, but I think I may be on to something here…

Here’s the Havoc with a buddy, using the (rather clunky) metal Autocannon arms from the Havoc conversion set:

Like I said, I am mainly building these guys for fun right now, so let’s see where this is going. One thing became clear to me, though: Introducing the “Teeth of Khorne” as yet another arm of the 4th assault company also offers me the chance to build yet another Huntmaster as Master of the Teeth. Yay! 😉

 

4. The Wall of Brass

I picked up a used Aegis Defense Line from cousin Andy quite a while ago, and seeing how these fortifications can become rather useful in the game, I began to convert the parts to make them fit the overall look of my army. So far, I have been mostly experimenting with a couple of bitz and have built some “proof of concept” pieces, yet I believe I may be on the right track:

Some of the armour plates from the chaos vehicle kits are a perfect fit for the Aegis Defense Line. All the aquilas will have to be shaved off (which is quite a bit of work) or covered with bitz, though. The Hydra Flak Cannon was in a pretty sorry state when I got the kit, so I mainly contented myself with cleaning it up and adding a spiky bit here and there (as well as a brass icon of Khorne at the base of the weapon).

For the rest of the pieces, I have begun to add some details and trophies:

Well, I think we can all agree that this thing “NEEDS MOAR SKULLZ!” 😉

I also experimented with adding a Space Marine torso, impaled on the front of the wall.

Getting the fortification completely sorted out will be quite a bit more work, but it’s a fun little kitbashing project that can keep me occupied when other activities are not an option.

 

So, while the weather has prevented me from tackling some of the bigger painting projects, I have been far from idle, as you can see. And with the temperatures returning to normal now, expect to see some rather interesting pieces soon-ish.

Until then, let me know what you think! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Inquisitor Titus Alvar, Ordo Xenos

I already mentioned in my latest Desktop Roundup post that I had continued working on my model for Inquisitor Alvar, of the Ordo Xenos. And after spending quite some time to make this model look just the way I wanted it, I can finally show you the finished model today.

But before I do that, let’s take a look at the model’s evolution:
Everything started with my desire to convert the trenchcoat wearing cultist champion from Dark Vengeance into an Inquisitor — as a matter of fact, my original plan was to build a second version of Inquisitor Antrecht.

So that’s what I tried to do when Biohazard was kind enough to let me have his DV cultist champ. But it didn’t work as well as I had anticipated, so my plan B was to transform the model into an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, seeing how this was the one major Ordo I had not yet built a member of.

This was the original mockup for the model:

The most involved part of the conversion was to replace the cultist’s bare arms with uniformed arms from several Cadian kits, and it quickly became obvious that some GS work would be necessary at the seams. What’s more, the cultist’s bare and branded chest needed to be covered as well. While working on the model, I had the idea for an Inquisitor who was also a bit of a snappy dresser. That’s why I went for a “tie” when building the early version above. I also added a dwarven pistol that, while a bit on the big side, really looks like a reliable piece of equipment (especially when dealing with those vile Xenos…).

Alas, the different parts didn’t yet gel as well as I had hoped. Several people suggested using a different head and replacing the sword, and there was very little love for the tie I had used. I tried several heads as well as a different type of tie, and the model changed to this:

But that didn’t feel right, either: I didn’t necessarily want yet another venerable old-timer!

The turning point came when I received a fantastic head from the Celestial Hurricanum kit courtesy of my fellow hobbyist Gerner, and when DexterKong convinced me that I should give the original tie another chance. That’s when Inquisitor Alvar finally begun to take shape in earnest:

The new arms were blended into the rest of the torso using GS. Inspired by Bruticus’ Inquisitor Tsengir, I also replaced the sword with a Dark Elf sabre, resulting in a weapon  with a rather subtle Xenos look. And I started to build up a waistcoat on the character’s torso using GS.

When the time came to paint the model, I went back to my original idea of the Inquisitor being a bit of a fashion victim and socialite. Because of that, I went for a less shadowy and secretive look, instead opting for some bold colour choices:

Alvar’s coat was painted in a rich, dark red, with dark grey lining. I realise that the reverse colour scheme would have been the more obvious choice for an Inquisitor, but I am actually rather pleased with this particluar choice. His clothes under the coat were painted in various shades of dark grey to make them look subtly expensive (and prevent the model from ending up looking too busy), and I used bronze as a colour to pick out some details.

DexterKong pointed out that the googles and bronze details gave the Inquisitor a certain steampunkish vibe, and I took that on board when building a base for the model:

The base was constructed by combining a piece of plasticard (cut from an old telephone card), a gear (from a very old alarm clock), a bit of brass grating (from the 40k basing set) and some cork chaff. I also covered the plastic card in plastic glue and kept picking at it to give it a slightly pocked, warped surface texture.

Then the whole base was spraypainted, first with GW Chaos Black, then with brown paint from the DIY superstore:

And then it was painted using my usual recipe for rusty metal: Stipple on rust with a lighter shade of brown, wash with GW Agrax Earthshade, add more rust, then add GW Boltgun metal to create the areas where the original metal is showing through. Here’s the finished base:

Inquisitor Alvar was then glued to the base, and I added some final touches to the model: Some areas were tidied up, the hem of his coat and his boots were lightly drybrushed with GW Graveyard Earth to show where grime and dirt had begun to collect, and I also added a simple gem effect to his tie. And with that, the model was finished:

Here are a couple of detail shots of the model on its base:

And a look at Alvar’s “lantern jaw of justice”:

All in all, I am fairly happy with how the model turned out: I like the aristocratic quality about him, yet his equipment and the googles on his brow show that, as a member of the Ordo Xenos, he also is an accomplished fighter and possibly quite a bit of a scientist as well. All in all, the main point of critique leveraged against the earlier iterations of the character was that he didn’t look all that much like an Inquisitor. I think the finished model puts that problem to rest: At least, he very much seems like an Inquisitor to me 😉

The last thing to do was to write a short background vignette for the character, outlining the ideas and concepts that had led to the model’s creation:

Inquisitor Titus Alvar, of the Ordo Xenos

House Alvar has been one of the more influential noble houses for centuries. As a scion of the house, Titus Alvar grew up in luxury and power, the intricacies of the Imperial courts with their waxing and waning support for one house or another a game he quickly mastered. Maybe the search for new and more immediate thrills was what made him enter that perilous region of space known as “The Veil of Impurity” time and time again, and tales of his exploration of ancient ruins, of treasures discovered and adventures survived, made him the talk of the courts he had left behind. As a matter of fact, one of his expeditions into the treacherous cluster of stars resulted in a standoff with Inquisitrix Cimbria Carscallen. Under normal circumstances, someone running afoul of the Ordo Xenos would have been executed without second thought, yet Carscallen must have seen something in Alvar that made her reconsider. And so, Titus Alvar, noble, adventurer, became an Interrogator in the Emperor’s Holy Ordos of the Inquisition and, in time, an Inquisitor in his own right.

Though the years of doing the Emperor’s work may have somewhat mellowed his once flamboyant lifestyle, Titus Alvar very much remains a socialite and a political animal. His standing as a member of an influential noble house makes him a common guest at social functions all over the sector, and the tales of his exploits have led some of his peers to suspect that he is a glory hound, first and foremost.

In truth, Titus Alvar is, above all else, a pragmatist: The trappings of nobility are as much of a useful tool to him as the artifacts he has recovered on countless expeditions or the retainers, some of them quite exotic, that comprise his warband. Meanwhile, some of Alvar’s colleagues have grown suspicious of the Inquisitor’s continued expeditions to the Veil of Impurity and some of the alliances he may have forged there…

 

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!