State of the Hunt, week 43/2020: Blood on the tracks

Hey everyone, I have been sitting on this next update for quite a while, but it has been an “eventful” couple of weeks, so you’re only getting some new content now. It’s also nothing special, really — just a few more kitbashes I have been working on recently. But anyway, here goes:

On the one hand, I am currently still working on a couple of additional kitbashed World Eaters, bringing what was originally planned as “The Hateful Eight” to something that would be more correctly dubbed “The Hateful Sixteen-ish” — but I already suspected this might happen, so yeah… 😉

First up, here’s one of the models I shared with you during a previous World Eaters-related post a couple of weeks ago:

I only messed around with his pose a bit (as his arms and head have not been properly glued in yet) and added some some gear to his belt:

But messing around with the model again gave me an appetite for kitbashing yet another World Eater. And when I ended up looking at some of the unbuilt Blood Warriors from the 1st edition Age of Sigmar starter box on my pile of shame – these gentlemen here…

…I came up with an idea for the model in the in the top left spot and created this jolly chap:

Believe it or not, what actually kicked off this entire conversion was my observation that the little round vent from an old CSM backpack would neatly fit into the middle of that breastplate 😉

I really love the brutish, overgrown look of this guy — it’s also why I gave him that almost neanderthalian bare head from the Blood Warriors kit (minus the “Abaddon-lite” topknot, that is). Oh, and he’s wielding a proper chainaxe, too — in fact, the head of his axe is a venerable bit from a really old plastic CC weapons sprue, even predating the plastic berzerkers — hard to believe, I know 😉

Here are both models in a comparison shot:

An interesting conversion note for these two models is that they also serve as examples of two approaches to converting Blood Warrior legs into CSM legs: In both cases, the Blood Warrior lower legs were carefully removed from just above the knee down, then to be replaced with Astartes greaves: The first model uses plastic Mk. III legs that, while completely appropriate from a design standpoint, are maybe just a fraction too small and slender. They still work reasonably well if you don’t scrutinise the model too closely, but in an ideal world they’d just be a bit bigger.

Meanwhile, the new guy uses greaves from the new vanilla CSM kit, and they really do perfectly match those Blood Warrior parts — at the same time, they make a conversion that was already hilariously wasteful even moreso 😉

In other news, something completely unexpected happened to me while I was working on those kitbashes: I suddenly found myself setting aside hobby time to work on a freaking RHINO!

In my defense, it was all a reaction to seeing Apologist’s incredible Blood Angels Rhino that actually almost works as a character in its own right. And discovering that brilliantly realised model made me think of something I had wanted to try for quite a while. So I took one of the Rhinos I own (I put those together cleanly and meticulously, but without much flair, years ago, mainly because Rhinos were something you needed for a World Eaters army, but not something I was all that interested in). Anyway, here’s what the model looked like when I started:

It doesn’t show up in the picture above, but everyone who has already worked on a Rhino model will be aware that there’s a tantalisingly huge bit of empty space where the driver’s compartment of the APC should be. And if you have been following my blog for a while, you may remember that I’ve developed a bit of a thing for adding cockpits to models.

Now adding a fully realised driver’s compartment to a Rhino is something I had been thinking of every now and then, but it was Apologist’s attention to detail that finally took me over the edge, so I started to look for reference material that would help me.

This article over on Spikey Bits gave me a good idea about where to start. Even more important was Captain MAGpie’s conversion of a Command Rhino. And there were some “official” illustrations that proved to be an invaluable resource:

A Predator poster that came with an old issue of White Dwarf (in the early aughts, if I remember correctly). If you take a closer look, you’ll be able to make out some specifics regarding the cockpit/driver’s compartment:

And there are the schematics for a Damocles command Rhino — from a Forgeworld publication, I believe?!

So here’s an early mockup of the driver’s compartment:

The driver actually uses a torso from the new CSM kit as well as a head from the Havoc kit — the latter seems like a brilliant fit for a Rhino driver, what with all the cabling and bionic eye. And I did want to bring the model in line with the new CSM models.

There’s also a lot of emergency gear stashed in the driver’s  compartment — such as some extra CC weapons (in case the driver gets to join in on the action), some extra promethium and some spare pieces of tank track to allow for field repairs:

With the basic shapes blocked in, I next made some tweak to the driver and the area surrounding him:

And here’s what the whole ensemble looks like with the front armour in place — getting this all to fit together smoothly was more work than I thought!

Several people online suggested adding some kind of basket or platform below the turret hatch on the left part of the driver’s compartment. And while I didn’t manage to throw together an entire basket, I think this might be a pretty good compromise:

As you can see, there’s now a little metal platform directly underneath the hatch. It hasn’t been glued to the Rhino’s roof yet, though, and on second thought, might work even better if turned around by 90 degrees:

From a utilitarian standpoint, this whole conversion is completely pointless, obviously. But it has been a lot of fun to delve into exploring an area like this that doesn’t normally get shown, and come up with a believable setup for it. I imagine I’ll be working on this for quite a bit, and of course I’ll also be thinking about some additional decoration for the rest of the Rhino, in order to turn it into more of a character, so to speak.

So yeah, that’s it for today’s update. It goes without saying that I would love to hear any suggestions and feedback you might have.

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

State of the Hunt, week 37/2020: Slow and steady…

I keep chugging along, messing with World Eaters models, but as it turns out, several little things can make for a rather sizeable post when combined, so let’s take a look at what I am currently up to:

I. Number Nine

First up, I have managed to paint the ninth model for my “Hateful Eight” project — and you don’t need to be a maths wizard to realise that this probably marks the beginning of another squad of eight 😉

While my original plan was to focus on the two heavy weapon-wielding legionaries next,…

…another model actually managed to jump the queue. Take a look:

Another older conversion, this one, originally converted all the way back in 2014. The model may be a bit rough around the edges, and also slightly shorter than some of the other squad members, but having waited so long on my pile of shame, the poor guy definitely deserved his day in the limelight.

The blunt, brutal look of the helmet was a visual touch I really wanted to incorporate into this project, and the pose is obviously at the halfway mark between “Come at me, bro!” and “Are you not entertained?”, which seems like a pretty good match for a World Eater 😉

This model may, admittedly, not be the star of the show, but he still looks cool with the rest of the guys — and he’s too customised to just read as a vanilla grunt, in any case. I am weirdly fond of him, to be honest, and it definitely feels good to finally have painted this piece. Here are some more pictures:

II. World Eaters painting tutorial

Speaking of World Eaters, since several people wanted to know about the tweaked recipe I have been using for these last models, let me take this opportunity to share it with you, lest I end up putting if off even longer. I have been sitting on this for a while, so the photos are actually of a previous model, but they should still work well enough for a tutorial.

So here goes, my current and – hopefully – improved recipe for painting World Eaters in nine-and-a-half pretty easy steps:

Step 1: Undercoating

I use GW Leadbelcher spray paint to undercoat my World Eaters, which might seem a little strange to you — I’ll admit it’s a little quirk of this particular recipe, and one that probably originated in the fact that the first models I painted using this new approach, especially Argus the Brazen, had some rather large metallic areas.

I’ve stuck with the Leadbelcher undercoat, though, because it actually has a number of advantages:

• some of the parts you actually may want to be silver on the finished models, such as the chainmail or the flex fitting in the armour gaps, are usually one of the deepest layers of the sculpt. So they can be hard to reach with a brush if you want to block them in. Plus they really do end up looking more convincing if you paint the rest of the armour “on top of them”, as it were.
• the silver is a pretty bright undercoat, so it works rather well for a paintjob that’s predominantly based on different red tones. It would probably be even more useful when painting Word Bearers, because you wouldn’t even need to paint the armour trim in another colour.

When the undercoat has dried, the areas I want to stay silver on the finished model (the aforementioned parts as well as the knives, weapon blades or some of the spikes, get a healthy dose of Army Painter Dark Tone wash at this point to shade them.

Step 2: All of the red armour plates are now blocked in using GW Mephiston Red: There’s absolutely no need to be too careful at this point — just try to keep the red off the already shaded, silver areas mentioned above.

Step 3: The bronze/brass areas (mostly the armour trim) are picked out in a 60:40 mix of Vallejo Tinny Tin and Vallejo Brassy Brass.

Also, if there are any areas of bare skin or bone on the model, these are picked out using GW Rakarth Flesh. For the skin, this creates a pale, caucasian skin tone, so if you are looking for a different colour, you may need to change the recipe accordingly (for instance, I have found GW Doombull Brown to be an excellent base colour for dark skin). Experiment a bit with this! The World Eaters are described as an ethnically diverse legion in the fluff, so this is a great opportunity to experiment with a number of skin tones!

Step 4: The grey and brown parts are painted using GW Skavenblight Dinge and GW Mournfang Brown, respectively.

Step 5: The red areas are washed with GW Seraphim Sepia, and the bronze areas receive a generous wash of Army Painter Strong Tone:

Step 6: I then higlight the armour trim, using pure Vallejo Brassy Brass and, if the model needs a little extra pop, Vallejo Bright Bronze — careful with the latter, though! It is really bright. I mostly try to stick to just using Brassy Brass, unless I want some areas of the model to really catch the light.

Step 7: At this point, the red areas may require some cleanup, so I go back with the original Mephiston Red here and there. This is also a good way of laying the foundation for the coming highlights, so you may want to hit some of the ridges and elevated areas with a touch of Mephiston Red as well.

This is also the time to wash the skin and bone areas. I use GW Ogryn Flesh, which is now OOP, but I still have some left. GW Reikland Fleshshade should really work just as well. The bone areas are washed with Vallejo Strong Tone.

Step 8: Here’s the really crucial step that will make sure the red has a lot more depth: I use progressively lighter red and orange tones to paint scratches onto the armour and add some edge highlights on the most prominent areas. I start with GW Evil Sunz Scarlet (which isn’t all that noticeable in the photos below)…

…then use GW Wild Rider Red, making sure to paint a smaller higlight than the one that came before,…

…and then finally create a last, very small, higlight/scratch with GW Fire Dragon Bright. You can see the finished effect below.

Step 9: This is also the time to add the highlights to all of the silver, grey and brown areas, using lighter tones of the respective colours. I use GW Mythril Silver for the metal (now OOP as well; GW Stormhost Silver should be an excellent replacement), a mix of GW Skavenblight Dinge and white for the grey areas (GW Stormvermin Fur works as a straight-from-the-pot solution, although it has a slightly brownish tinge. GW Dawnstone also works) and a mix of GW Mournfang Brown and GW Steel Legion Drab for the brown leather. Oh, and I use some fine highlights with the original GW Rakarth Flesh to add more definition to the areas of skin, particularly the face, at this point.

And that just about covers everything, I guess. You can still add some glossy blood effect (GW Blood for the Blood God or Tamiya Clear Red) to either the weapon and/or the armour at this point, if you are that way inclined — just make sure not to go overboard! And try to create a mix of darker, more clotted blood (by mixing some brown or black wash into the blood effect) and fresh, bright red blood (by adding some pure blood effect on top or around the edges of the darker patches). A blood effect can quickly overwhelm the miniature, though — even on a follower of Khorne. So take it slowly!

And here’s a look at the finished model, painted using this recipe:

I hope you’ll find this helpful when painting your own, bloodthirsty madmen! The recipe is still a work-in-progress in that I think it could possibly be improved (still not entirely happy with the bronze part, for example), but it’s as close as I have come yet to figuring out an ideal recipe for painting World Eaters without going crazy during the process 😉

III. Next up on the chopping block…

Before we wind up this post, I do of course have another kitbash to share with you: I noticed how virtually none of my recent World Eaters conversions were wielding actual chainaxes, so I created this guy:

He still needs a bit of fine tuning and some additional gear, but I am pretty happy with the model. As you can probably see from the pictures, it’s basically another AoS Blood Warriors/plastic Mk. III/vanilla CSM hybrid.

Here he is, next to the icon bearer from my previous post:

And here’s what the second squad of modernised may look like:

The roster is still likely to change, of course — for instance, those Havocs technically aren’t even allowed, and even if I ignore that fact, I would probably want to put one of them in each of the squads. But hey, I am slowly hammering out what a second squad might look like, so bear with me 😉

 

And with that, we have come to the end of today’s update! It goes without saying that I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback, so drop me a comment!

And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

More 30k World Eaters — and a recipe for bloodshed

Having already teased some additional painted 30k World Eaters in my last post, I think it’s only proper to take a closer look at these models today. Some of you may remember that my first 30k test model ended up quite alright, but also that I didn’t find the process of painting white armour all that enjoyable.

Well, no more. Because I have actually manage to tweak my recipe for 30k World Eaters so as to be far less time consuming and nerve-wracking. Which made my second test model far more enjoyable to paint than the first one! So without further ado, here’s the model:

“To the prim and proper XIIIth or the bleeding heart XVIIIth, the thought of Astartes killing Astartes is anathema.
But we have been doing this for decades, night after night, in the cages and on the hot dust.
The only difference is that there is no longer any need to hold back.”

Legionary Sarn, Eigar Veteran Tactical squad, 4th assault company, XII Legion Astartes

 

Regarding the parts I chose for the model, I spliced in some CSM arms and a Khorne berzerker torso. While the finished model seems like a fairly standard marine at first glance, it retains a certain sense of brutality that works well for the World Eaters, I think. Using CSM arms on the Betrayal at Calth plastics also allows for slightly more interesting poses. And the spiked and barbed CSM weapons are an excellent fit for World Eaters weaponry, without looking too chaotic — in fact, maybe this is Sarum pattern equipment, provided by the Forgeworld of the same name that the World Eaters liberated during the latter stages of the Great Crusade…?

As for painting the model, the main change to my original recipe was to use GW Corax White spraypaint for the white undercoat instead of having to paint it all on by brush. This really cut down on the time it took me to complete the model, plus it also reduced the number of somewhat iffy areas that needed further touchups. What’s more, having an easier time with the basic paintjob gave me the liberty to experiment with some additional effects.

The first of those was the blood: It was clear of course that blood would have to enter the picture at some point, so I chose this model as a test piece for that as well, trying to create an effect that would subtly enhance the model without overpowering it. I actually used a tootbrush to flick small amounts of Tamiya Clear Red at the model, in order to create realistic patterns. Then I went back and added some more blood to select areas of the model, such as the chainblade and the knee. I think it’s fun to apply the blood in a very deliberate manner, rather than just slathering it on. That way, figuring out how the blood may actually have gotten there in the first place turns into an interesting bit of meta-narrative — did this guy knee his opponent in the face, for instance? 😉

I also added another decal to the right shoulder pad: A “XII” numeral (actually a cut-down XIII from the Betrayal at Calth decal sheet):

And I included the pauldron of a fallen Armaturan Evocatus on the model’s base, trampled underfoot during the battle, maybe?

All in all, I am really rather happy with the World Eaters recipe I have come up with! It’s fairly effective and pretty fast to pull off, especially if, like me, you don’t like having to paint multiple thin layers of a base colour but enjoy the aspects of weathering and adding “special effects” far more.

In fact, allow me to share my recipe — maybe those of you thinking about a 30k World Eaters project of their own will find this helpful.
So here’s a step by step tutorial for the white armour:

What you will need:

• GW Corax White spraypaint
• a white of your choice (I use Vallejo Dead White, but GW Ceramite White will work just the same)
• GW Lahmian Medium (!)
• a black and brown wash of your choice. I use Army Painter Strong Tone and Dark Tone, respectively, but GW Agrax Earthshade and GW Nuln Oil should also do the job.
• a suitable dark brown/dark grey/green-brown colour for the sponge weathering. I use the OOP GW Charadon Granite (which is wonderful). However, any very dark grey/black/dark brown should work similarly well.

Oh, and one more piece of advice: You’ll make your life quite a bit easier if you leave the backpack and shoulder pads off and paint them separately. In fact, I even use a different undercoat for them (Chaos Black for the pauldrons and Chaos Black followed by Leadbelcher for the backpack). You can also leave off the head in order to be able to get into all the little nooks and crannies. However, all the following steps apply to both the head and body of the model.

So here we go:

Step 1: Spraypaint the entire model using GW Corax White. You get to decide how white you want your model to be during this step. For a slightly grey-ish off white, use the spraypaint sparingly. For a cleaner white, use a thicker coat of paint (or multiple passes of spraying). Make sure not to lay the colour on too thickly, though. This is what your model will look like afterwards:

Step 2: After everything has dried, check to see whether there are any areas that remain unpainted. If so, this is the moment to use some slightly diluted white to clean them up a bit. As soon as that is finished, you should give the entire model a drybrushing with the same white, in order to build up a bit of contrast on the raised parts of the armour. It goes without saying that this will be more effective if you went for a slightly thinner undercoat beforehand.

Step 3: Now’s the time to block in all the different colours that aren’t white, i.e. the metallics, skin, trophies, pieces of cloth, pouches etc. This recipe won’t focus on my colour choices for this part, although I might do a more detailed tutorial in the future. Anyway, this is what the model will look like after this step:

If you think it looks pretty terrible, you’re absolutely right. Don’t fret, as that’ll change in a minute 😉

One important thing, though: This is also the moment where you apply all the decals you want to go onto the armour, as we’ll need to weather them along with the armour to make them look realistic. So if you want to use any of those red World Eaters decals from Forgeworld, apply them now! After they are well dry, add a coat of matt varnish on top to seal them , just for hood measure.
This is also the last opportunity to clean up the white: Any errors that you don’t correct now will have to be covered up by the weathering later, so take another look at the areas that might require a bit of cleanup now!

Step 4: Here’s where it gets interesting: Mix a glaze using Lahmian Medium and your brown and black washes on your palette. No need for an exact recipe, although the Lahmian Medium should account for about 60-70% of the mixture, with the rest made up of the black and brown. You’ll also want slightly more black than brown for a World Eater, (while mixing in a lot more brown and little to no black would give you a pretty nice glaze for a Death Guard legionnaire, incidentally). Once you have mixed the colours together, quickly and generously paint them onto the white armour, and do it in one go, so as not to produce any ugly borders. The glaze will shade the armour without drying on the even surfaces in a splotchy way (as a mere wash would), while also giving the whole armour a slightly muddy and off-white quality. Here’s what the model will look like after this step:

The picture is rather misleading in that it was taken late in the evening, in less than ideal lighting. I just wanted to keep painting instead of waiting for better light, so the photo isn’t as good as it should be. The white is just as bright as the white in the following picture, if not brighter, it just doesn’t appear that way.

Step 5: We’re almost there. Now give the model some time to dry (!) before you tackle the next step. When everything is nice and dry, you put some Charadon Granite (or your alternate dark brown/dark grey) onto your palette and use a small piece of blister sponge to dip into it. Then you should sponge off most of the colour back onto the palette or onto a piece of kitchen towel. When there’s just a bit of colour left, use the sponge to carefully add weathering to the surfaces of the armour. This is not an exact science, so you need to experiment a bit. You can also build up the effect in several layers. The sponge weathering will end up looking very organic, which is great, plus it’s really useful for covering up errors and ugly areas. Just keep in mind that you will also have to use the effect on the blue parts of the armour (i.e. the shoulder pads and backpack), so they won’t stick out later by being too clean.

Anyway, I added multiple layers of spomge weathering until I was happy. And here’s the mostly finished model:

As you can see, the shoulder pad and backpack are already back in place. You can do this as soon as you no longer need access to every part of the armour. I also added a selective edge highlight to some raised parts of the armour, such as the helmet’s faceplate, the elbows, the armour plate covering the model’s stomach etc. Oh, and I brushed some Steel Legion Drab over the model’s feet and greaves, in order to create a visual connection with the base. Of course you’ll have to adjust this part, depending on the colour scheme you have chosen for your basing.

As for the blood, like I said above, I use Tamiya Clear Red (although I keep hearing good things about GW Blood for the Blood God as well, and it may be easier to source), flicking it at the armour with the help of a toothbrush and then adding some of the paint to select areas. When touching up the gore, you should mix in some brown and/or black wash, so you’ll get slightly different hues and saturations that will make the blood look more believable.

Oh, and let me speak about the blue parts as well: When I painted my first 30k World Eater, I didn’t have any suitable blue, so I just used Vallejo Magic Blue with a drop of black, mostly as a stopgap solution. However, I really like the colour that resulted from this, so I’ve decided to keep the recipe for the rest of my models.

Anyway, so much for the tutorial. Aftersome final touchups and a completed base, here’s what the model looks like now:

“You think we take our opponents’ skulls to mock them, Evocatus? Hah, quite the opposite!
Even in death, your eyes will be allowed to glimpse the battlefield once more — what greater honour could be bestowed upon a true warrior?”

Legionary Molax of the Triarii, XII Legion Astartes. Seconded to the 4th assault company following the Battle of Armatura.

Regarding the conversion itself, I wanted to experiment with a more gladiatorial look, which I believe turned out pretty convincing. I also spliced in some actual Khorne Berzerker parts to create the kind of “mongrel” plate that should have been a pretty regular occurence in the XII legion, considering its rather heads-on approach to warfare and the amount of losses taken during the outbreak of the Heresy and the subsequent Shadow War.

And here are all three test models I have painted so far:

One thing you can see in the picture is how the ratio between the black and brown washes will slightly influence the colour of the armour: If you look closely, you’ll see that Molax is slightly more brownish than the other two. This is because I used slightly more brown wash when mixing the glaze for his armour. The other two models use less brown and more black, leading to a somewhat colder look.

Another thing that’s evident in the picture is how the models are quite a bit less uniform than the stock Betrayal of Calth tactical Marines. I really wanted my World Eaters to have a slightly more ragtag appearance, as this just seems appropriate for the legion. As I keep adding new models, I think some of them will look quite different, with the spectrum ranging from fairly standard Mk IV Marines to guys in far less standardised gear, yet I hope to include some visual touches that pull it all together, creating a feeling of visual coherency while also allowing for quite a bit of variation at the same time.

Speaking of which, here are the two 30k models I am currently working on:

The model on the right further explores the Triarii archetype, while the guy on the left is a pretty standard plasma gunner. Like I said, these may seem rather different when compared like this, but I do think they’ll work together rather nicely in the finished squad. And there’s always the option of spinning off the Triarii into their own squad somewhere along the way, of course.

In this particular case, the main challenge was to make the guy with the plasma gun look suitably massive and menacing and not like “that boring model with the gun”. I think I was fairly successful with that, though.

And there’s also another model that I am fairly excited about. This guy:

The model was originally built as an officer for my 40k World Eaters, but it seems as though he might make an even better officer for my small 30k project, even if he’s a bit more openly Khornate than the other guys so far — personally, I think that all bets were really off for the World Eaters after Armatura and Nuceria, so I imagine some Khornate elements will have begun to sneak into the legion by then — after all, they were definitely present shortly after the Heresy, according to Khârn: Eater of Worlds.

 

Anyway so much for the status of my little 30k project. Again, don’t expect this to grow into a fully-fledged Horus Heresy army any time soon! That being said, this project is a great way of exploring an earlier incarnation of my 40k World Eaters and of using ideas that I’ve always found cool but couldn’t make work on the 40k setting. So it’s definitely a win/win situation for now 😉

I would love to hear any feedback you might have! And as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!