Realm of Chaos, the Abode of Ravens

I did some juggling with my Khorne army, I've decided to combine the two Warrior units into a single 25 man unit. I'll also be doing 2 new Tzeentch Sorcerers on Disks for the army, so basically I just need to finish the Warriors I'm adding to the unit (including my newly converted Champion), the Marauders, and the Sorcerers.

Meanwile, I decided to try out some color on my Nurgle Sorcerer for the second Chaos army, as a test model I think it was pretty revealing. Gretchen Green with Devlan Mud, followed by Badab Black in the recesses and a dry brush of Gretchen Green to finish it off.









I'm tinkering with a couple of test Warriors too for Slaanesh and Tzeentch, with Tzeentch I've going Necron Abyss with Badab Black in the recesses and a dry brush of Hawk Turquoise. I'll have some more test models up soonish. And next week I'll be back painting the remaining Khorne models.

I'm really feeling crappy lately, caught some nasty virus that's going around. To take my mind off the hurricane of nausea I decided to put some color on a mini I've had shelved for a while, I picked up this Archaon model on eBay several months ago (when I was first getting back into WH) for $5, I don't generally play with characters but the price was too good to pass up, that and I've always loved this sculpt.



I'm proud, he's coming along nicely. Hopefully I'll be over the crud and ready to paint some more next week, I should have some more toys by then anyhow.

Got some more progress on the Archaon model today, just the left arm and shield + final highlights.





This has probably been one of my favorite Chaos sculpts for a long time, dynamic pose - reminds me a lot of Napoleon honestly.

Good news, the virus I caught seems to be dying out so I should be putting a lot more together soon! I've got the parts for my remaining Warriors in the mail tomorrow, and the Khorne Champion is already primed and ready for paint.

Funny. I agree it's one of the best chaos minis. I had never put Napoleon together with this sculpt.

But as soon as you said that - yes, I see it.

Last night I picked up my first Finecast model, the Hellcannon. There were of course some problems, some bubbles (though not anywhere critical), and there was a bit of warping in the right side of the frame. Also, the left "hinge" where the door attaches in the back of the cannon is just not there. Oddly, there's no tell tale glossy area indicating a bubbling problem, so don't know. A little annoying, but nowhere near as annoying as the metal version. I put a couple of those together years ago for someone else and it was a nightmare.

Anyhow, I decided to take a crack at the thing. I was pleased with the inclusion of the base, someone had told me it was a Chariot base but this just isn't the case, there's ample room on the thing to get a little creative. So, I made a trip to the hobby shop to pick up some cork board (I needed it anyway for my display board) I've made some slots for the Chaos Dwarf crew, and so far so good. Here's some WIP pics.









NOTE: I picked up the cork at Hobby Lobby for $7, that gave me 4 sheets approx 1 square ft. They've got several different thicknesses to choose from.

A little more progress before bed, I wasn't able to correct all of the warping and I discovered that some of the pieces (the warped frame piece) was partially hollow due to air bubbles. So, it's probably about as good as it's going to get. I got everything put together, when I get up I'll prime the models and get to work painting, finishing the base, and then final assembly.









Overall, I'd say it definitely could've been better. I'm a bit disappointed in the quality for a $60 model. The more I work with the thing, the more flaws I find. I do have to say though, the cork ended up looking better than I'd expected - I'm anxious to get to work on my display board now.

More progress, more problems.



First off, I'd like to say I completely get why people hate Finecast now. What a bastard this thing is LOL. Still, I'd much rather deal with the Finecast version than the old metal any day. Normally, I use a hair dryer between coats to speed up the process, but that doesn't work here. It's a cheap dryer that doesn't do anything but hot air, hot enough to melt the resin. The good news is, that dryer was instrumental in straightening out some warping I found in the model. I also had to use some plasticard to cover some bubbled areas. It was small, but definitely noticeable.

At any rate, the thing is coming along. The dwarves should be a breeze, it's all a matter of finishing up the cannon and getting it mounted.

THE BASE
I decided to experiment with the base, the cork being the first trick (which I'm quite pleased with). The second, I decided to do the snow a bit differently than I have in the past. This is a cannon after all, and monstrous or not they tend to be deployed on the high ground. My army is being modeled as if from some mountain stronghold, so it makes sense that there would be wind blown snow drifts on the rock, to achieve this I mixed some snow and PVA glue in a bottle, I used a 2:1 ratio of snow to glue to get a thick paste.

With a brush I applied generous amount of the paste to the base, and then brushed lines out to simulate the wind blown look. This also helped me pool snow drifts in places more naturally. Afterward, I applied a dusting of the snow material on top of this. When it dried, I ended up with the base as seen above. I should also mention that I've started painting black areas below the snow with Fortress Grey to lighten it up a bit, and that also seems to help on the much thinner areas.

Enjoy!

At last, the creeping crud seems to be gone! I also finished my first Hellcannon (well, I do need to go around the base in chaos black but close enough). The thing took longer than I would've liked, even considering the ick that I've been dealing with, but I'll have the second one done much quicker. I tried to make the shoveler a little gritter/dirty - let's face it he does not have a clean job. I'm happy with the way it all turned out, though I am still a bit cheesed off about the bubbling and warping problems I had to deal with (and the bits that just weren't there!) But I digress, enjoy and as always C&C welcome.

So, with things close to wrapping up on the Khorne force I decided it was time to give the display board some attention. Using what I learned on the Hellcannon (yeah it was like the most expensive test model ever, sue me) I grabbed some cork and some glue. It's all painted now, just waiting for it to dry so I can start adding snow...

I'm using a Battle Foam X Board for those curious, I don't plan on taking it apart anymore.









I decided to make the board fairly generic, and use removable terrain pieces that will make the thing more appropriate for the army currently on display. More on those soon...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...



Not quite finished yet, but you get a better idea of where I'm going with it. I'll be digging a channel out of the cork along the center line, that should make a more natural look than the snow currently covering the seams in the attached cork pieces.

I decided to recycle my earlier tzeentch Sorcerer. I just wasn't satisfied with the way it turned out, and since I got a new pewter Sorcerer in the mail this week, I decided to mount the bird brain on the disk.





This is my level 2 Sorcerer, Soulcatcher. So, I decided to add a couple of flaming skulls to the front of the disk. He's solidly planted on the disk now, and I'll be using the clear peg to mount him to a square base, once some landscaping and painting is finished.

As for the Sorcerer Lord, well here's a sneak peak...



Not much to look at yet, I know. I'll be doing a hand sculpted disk, I'm not sure which model I'll use on top just yet. Possibly something kit bashed, I just don't know yet.

I finished my display board this morning, I ended up cutting a small channel where the seams in the cork were showing and then adding a little snow in the bottom of each. This gave a more natural look, and means that models don't look lopsided when they're placed on the board. Here's a few pics of the finished product.





Here's a closer look at the top seam, you get a better idea of how the cork turned out. And the Baking Soda/PVA Glue slurry seems to have worked beautifully. If nothing else, I'll have the freshest display board in town.



And here's a pic of the finished board with my Khorne army on top. Not a whole lot left to do to them, but I need some supplies before I finish up.

I did conversions for my command group today, here's some quick pics of the progress. I'm recycling some older crap I had laying around and making use of some bits I've had squirreled away (thanks eBay).

Exalted Hero (BSB)


Warrior


Champion


Musician


Standard Bearer


And here's a group shot of the first rank.


Conversion Overview:
+ Exalted Hero: Legs are from the Chaos Warrior model, with the torso from a Chaos Knight. The head is from a Chaos Knight, with the horns replaced by a pair from a Bloodletter of Khorne. Left hand/standard arm is from a 40k model with a Marauder shoulder plate, the icon is from a Bloodcrusher of Khorne. Right arm and shoulder from a Knight. Cloak is taken from the Chaos Lord on Manticore model, I'll be covering the joint of chains to back with green sculpted fur.

+Warrior: pretty standard but with a knight shield and a Marauder Horseman head.

+ Champion: using Warrior body, Bloodletter Champion head and Knight axe. Also has a small Khorne symbol from the Blood Crusher sprue on his right leg.

+ Musician: used the Champion body (I've only gotten about 10 boxes of Warriors, so I totally don't have enough of these Champion bits laying around - I also do not understand sarcasm). Right arm however is Blood Crusher musician arm/horn with a Knight Shoulder plate to cover the joint.

+ Standard Bearer: Again, pretty straight forward, though I did do some mild shaving on the arms to achieve a more dynamic "movement". I also used another Marauder Horseman head here.

+ All bases are done with cork board, scraps left over from doing my recent Finecast Hellcannon. The skulls are from various undead, thanks Horde O Bits (eBay).

Remaining 20 are actually almost done, I've got 4 that still need to be primed, then I can base them all to match and get the movement tray together. The real speed bump is the green stuff, as I'm waiting on a shipment so I can finish my BSB.

P.S.

I'm working on a little mini guide detailing how to get more out of your plastic Warriors for the front page, expect something in the next couple of days. As always, enjoy and C&C welcome.

BSB is finished. I'm going to do a mounted version of him on a Juggernaut as well, so I thought I'd go for the Brazen Knight look on him (same color scheme I used to paint my actual Juggernauts). A lot of bits went into this guy, see the list at the bottom.









Converted using:
Legs from a Warrior of Chaos.
Torso, Head, Right Shoulder, and Right Arm from Chaos Knight.
Horns on Helm came from a Bloodletter of Khorne.
Spike on right shoulder is from an Ogre Kingdoms Mournfang Cav.
Left Arm from a 40k Chaos Space Marine (not sure if it's a Psyker or Icon Bearer).
Left Shoulder from a Marauder.
Cloak from a Marauder.
Chains on back from Chaos Lord on Manticore.
Icon/Standard is from a Bloodcrusher of Khorne.
Skulls on the base are from Tomb Kings.

Green Stuff was minimal on this, just liquid GS for some seams and to snooth out some rough spots. Basing was done with scrap cork left over from the Finecast Hellcannon I put together recently. Rest of the command unit coming soon!

A bit of an update, with the new GW paints in hand I decided I want to do a little experimenting. And frankly, I was anxious to get my Nurgle BSB painted, so I did just that...









The Humungus is finished, barring a few last minute details. I'm very happy with the way he turned out, and I'm actually really pleased with the new GW paints (I wish I could afford more right now). Really, my only complaint is that a few colors just aren't there anymore. Most notably Dheneb Stone (Rakarth Flesh is NOT the same thing). I use DS as the base for my flesh, so I'm on the hunt for a few more pots of it and Brazen Brass to finish my armies with.

Other than that, all of the paints I've tried have proven to be top notch. Any rate, questions and comments appreciated, and enjoy!

Still waiting on parts for my Sorcerer Lord, but I decided to knock out the level 2 Sorcerer since the GS work is finished. As usual, cork on the base (though I used the thicker cork this time) and I also used a square base instead of the round one that came with the model. I used an older Sorcerer model, a couple of skulls, some tentacles from the Chaos Spawn and a bit of green stuff. Think it turned out okay.

The Command Group is pretty much finished, just have to paint and attach the shield to the champion. Next couple of days I should have the remainder of the group finished, time permitting. Enjoy!

Warrior


Champion


Musician


Standard Bearer


Group Shot

Warriors are nearly finished, I slapped together some unit filler today using one of the spare Juggernauts from the Warshrine project, some cork, and a couple of bases. I just have to paint 2 more Warriors and detail the bases (they need snow) and the unit will be finished.

Front on


Top down


...and here's the unit filler.


C&C welcome, and enjoy!

Just finished placing a large order, I need to gather a ton of bits before I start working on the Nurgle army. And with all of the recent progress, I'll be finished with my Khorne guys very soon. So, what did I order?

6 Dark Elf Cold Ones
6 Ogre Bulls
8 Mournfang Cavalry Heads
8 Thundertusk Beast Shoulder Plates
Daemon Prince Armor Plate set
64 Vampire Count Zombie Heads
Skulltaker
2 Finecast Hellcannons
2 Tubes of Green Stuff, and 2 bricks of Milliput.

I just need to settle on a model for my Death Sorcerer, I'm considering the model from the Corpse Cart, since I've got several laying around. We'll see. Anyhow, expect some conversions soon...

Warriors are now finished! I'm quite happy, in particular with the filler which was a last minute addition to the unit.









I also got started on an upcoming project, here's the bases for the first of my converted Dragon Ogres.

So, I picked up a second Finecast HC on eBay for $5 shipped. For being so cheap, I honestly didn't have high hopes, but I figured if it was bad enough I could maybe get a replacement from GW or do something funky like mount the cannon itself on some Defiler legs or something. Turns out the cheap one was in better shape than the one I paid retail for, with only minor warping and about 2 bubble spots.

I decided to add a touch of daemon to the model with some Spawn bits in the back, I think it turned out pretty good. I've just got to trim the base in black and paint the Dwarf crew (using the crew I already painted from the other cannon for these pics).

As always, C&C Welcome.

I'm putting together a few of these, to start I'll be making 8. Two units complete with a champion, one equipped with Great Weapons, the other equipped with Extra Hand Weapons.

Here's the first batch already in progress...













I'm using the Dark Elf Cold Ones for this first batch, they do offer a few unique challenges over the Lizardman variety. But, I think in the end they'll turn out just fine. I finished the bases before doing anything else, for two reasons.

First, it allows me to figure out a natural way to mount the model. How I want the limbs positioned, etc. Secondly, I only received the cheap box of Dark Elf Cold One riders yesterday (another cheap eBay deal), though I've had the Ogres for a week.

The saddles, I've trimmed them down considerably, and I'm seriously considering turning them into armor plating. Which would make sense, since the Ogres can't always defend that part of their bodies. Having some armor there only seems logical.

I'm handling the GS work in stages, right now the core needs to dry before I add more detail work (scales and spikes). Once that's finished, I can reposition legs and add the final bits (heads, arms, gut plates). Get them mounted, and get painting.

I got some work in on the first one. Sorry for the poor quality pics, the lighting around my bench vise is not incredibly good for pictures, especially when taken with an iPhone.





There will of course be better pics once the GS is dry and I can handle him bare handed. Even so, he "should" be primed tomorrow and ready for paint. I ended up going with the idea to make the saddle into armor plating for his back, and extended it part way up the ogre body. He was a test, and I think he passes.

While I had the green stuff on the table I also decided to make a couple of test models for my Nurgle Warriors.



Yep, each and every one of my Warriors and Knights will have a hood, and a zombie head instead of the normal helmet. I thought it would take forever, but I slapped these two together in no time. I'm also tinkering with the idea of making a Champion with a Potato Sack (think Scarecrow from the new Batman movies).

But more on that when I decide to attack my Nurgle force in earnest...

Ok, now I'm out of ogre bits (weapons) for the moment. But, I got the second Dragon Ogre finished. And I managed to find a clamp, so I got more clear pics this time.

... Dragon Ogre #1 is now ready for the table top!

May I present, Tim-Tom. I'll be painting the rest of his unit next week (Chopper Dave and Kevin, I watch a lot of Adult Swim, sue me). In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't do my Minotaur body Ogres with these, because that would've looked silly.

Well, you've already seen the Humungus...



Now I'd like to take a moment to introduce the rest of his unit, I'm putting together some Warriors of Nurgle with HW and Shield to accompany the BSB and possibly one of my Sorcerers (probably the level 4 Death one). I'll most likely be sticking the Scroll caddy in the unit with the Halberds, since really his main job is to carry a Dispel and snipe with Buboes as early as possible.

Anyhow, I decided to knock up a test model for the unit to help me pick out colors and whatnot. So far, I'm happy with most of it. I'm just not entirely sold on the face, I might try Rakarth Flesh for the skin instead, see how that works. Otherwise, I think it works. The head is actually a Vampire Counts Zombie head (I've got about 60 of them for my Nurgle force) and I'm sculpting the hoods of both the Warriors and Knights with green stuff. The rotten holes were made with a pin vise, I used a larger bit and just stopped at varying depths (without going all the way through). All in all, I think it works. Let me know what you think.

So, I redid the test model. As you can see the hood is gone, a good idea on paper, but in practice annoying. I ended up using the same flesh tone that I used on my BSB, Dhened Stone with Badab Black, with a touch of Bleached Bone for the teeth, and Red Gore for the eye.



Here's a quick pic of the Command group already in progress. I'll be using the scratch built sorcerer I put together a while back, instead of skulls (like I used on my Khorne units) I decided on tentacles, spikes, and eyes for the bases. Mostly those bits are coming from the Spawn sprue, but some are made with GS too.

The standard is from the Vampire Counts Skeleton box, and makes a great Wailing Banner. I'm also using the horn end from the same box at the end of the Chaos Warrior horn, I really want each of my units to feel "individual". So, the front rank is getting a lot of attention.



Enjoy, C&C welcome!

So, continuing my theme of more spike, slimey, tentacle(y?), I decided to put the Death Sorcerer on a new base, and add a few bits to the BSB base. I also finished up the unit Champion. Here's how the first three look, only need to trim the bases in black at this point...



Here's some detail shots of the Champion....






That'll be it for tonight, got a long early day ahead of me at work. But more coming soon...

So, I've been doing some recycling lately. I've got a few models laying around from when I first got back into the hobby, and the painting was okay - but not up to my standard. I painted that entire army in under three weeks, so it was rushed, in places it was sloppy, and not what I wanted to represent me on the table.

But throwing them out is completely out of the question, they're perfectly good models they just need a little TLC. So, time to recycle. And since I'm working on the forces of Nurgle right now anyway, what better time to go green?

I didn't get a before shot, but these were the Knight that I took with me to the GT I attended earlier this year in Arkansas, first step in any restoration process was tearing things down. I removed the mounts from their bases, and the riders from their mounts. I also removed the arms and heads from each of the riders (more on that in a second).



With the riders removed, I grabbed some spare bases and started blocking out how I wanted the mounts positioned, I decided on a slight V formation, with that done and the places marked I added some cork and began the process of creating some rocky terrain at the front of each base. As you can see, I used two kinds of cork here, and I used some super glue + baking soda as quick filler to even out the transition between the different pieces of cork. With the mounts figured out, it was time to move to the riders. And here's the first one...



Of course, he's not glued on yet. I'll be painting riders separately from their mounts. The shoulders are from the 40k Possessed sprue, I've got a lot of these and will also be using others from the sprue on my scratch built Chosen (coming soon). Of course, I'm also using the zombie heads as I did on the Warriors. I'm using a ball bearing to attach each head to each body, which seems to help connect them properly.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think...

Thanks to some inspiration from Hinge my army has a new direction, so I decided to knock up a pair of Chariots. However, I'm really not that fond of the old metal Chaos chariots, they're heavy and dated looking. The TK Chariots offer one alternative, but I decided to go a different route - High Elves. Since these will be running with mostly followers of Tzeentch and Slaanesh, I think it'll fit the overall aesthetic nicely. And the price was right, the full chariot assembly is under $10 from the Warstore, I think it ended up being 10 for the Chariot + base off of eBay.

So armed with a large amount of unused mounts from my Knights (Chosen conversion, pics of that soon enough) and a big divider box full of bits, I set to work. Here's how the first chariot turned out:










The parts:
The main chassis is the High Elf Chariot as noted earlier, I've trimmed the fan like HE pieces from several key locations. I've replaced them with hooks and spikes from the 40k Chaos Possessed. I've added a screaming skull at the front of the yolk, and three Marauder shields. For the blades I used the curved Lance head from the Chaos Knight model, so far this was the only place where I needed to pin anything.

I've already got the horses ready and blocked out the stone for the base. Tonight I'll get the second Chariot squared away and start painting. So, keep your eyes here for more...