Just a quick update on the Chaplain conversion I recently did for my own Grey Knights. I decided to scrap the backpack and make a new one (thanks to those on the forums who called me out on the cop-out on the original).
I gotta admit I’ve never been a big fan of the plastic Space Marine bikes. Not sure what it is about them, maybe they’re too “blocky” or something they’ve just never appealed. Now I’m not saying this to blow my own trumpet but I’m genuinely surprised by how much I like this bike conversion I’ve been working on. When I started it I had no real idea or plan on how to do it, just a pile of assorted SM and Ork bike bits. It’s come together very nicely so far (note the rider is temporarily tacked together, but he’ll probably end up with the sword), I may add 2 or 3 to my own collection much later on.
Just a quick update on the second Red Scorpion captain I’ve been working on. I’m not certain about the scorpion sculpted onto the jump pack, maybe it’ll look better painted up. I have two more captains in progress which should be ready for pics pretty soon.
Spent quite a long time painting up my Inquisitor. He’s not varnished yet because I’m thinking of painting some kind of pattern around the edges of his cloak/coat. I’ve always had a thing for NMM gold, and whilst this ain’t perfect, it’s also not too shabby.
I think the hellpistol need a little more work as it doesn’t quite look as golden as his artificer armour, but other than that I’m really happy with his final look. Although I really like the idea of pure Grey Knight forces, I just can’t bear to leave such characterful models out of my army. I’m already thinking about giving this character (who I’ve yet to name) an alternative model (ie: in Terminator armour) using the Hector Rex mini but equipped with psycannon and null rod.
I’ve made a start on my Vindicare Assassin and whilst searching the net for a decent paint scheme for inspiration I found this awesome piece of artwork. I really want to make a Eversor conversion now, one that doesn’t look like he’s trying to take a crap. In fact considering most of the Assassins are a similar points value I may just opt to have one of each, but they will of course all have to be converted.
Only other thing I’ve been thinking of to do with Inquisitors is whether to use the Witch Hunters codex to induct one. The WH seem to have better psychic powers than the daemonhunters, but the DHs bring Mystics to the battlefield. Something to think about while I work on the Grey Knights. I’ve redone the backpack for the Chaplain so it’s not a bodge-job anymore, and started work on 5 Grey Knights in power armour. Will post some pics later today.
Hi all. It’s been a while. The last week has been a major pain, trying to clear out about 20 years worth of junk from my home (I’m a terrible horder), and so I’ve not had a chance to get much done. On top of that I ran out of greenstuff today and my latest order of the stuff seems to have gotten lost in the post (aaarrggh!!!). I’ve got a bit of an update here, but until I can get some fresh GS I’m gonna be flexing my paintbrush for a change.
First up today, SIlicone Putty!
I’ve mentioned this a few times over the last few months so I figured I’d give an example. As I’m working on a Grey Knights army, I decided to make a mold of a special purity seal for them. In some of the GK artwork they can be seen with really long flowing purity seals, which I think not only look really cool but are especially useful for hiding less than perfect sculpting.
So here I sculpted a long flowing seal onto a piece of plasticard.
The silicone putty comes in two parts, both of which are of, well a putty consistency (obviously).
Take two small equal sized amounts. They are very easily mixed just using fingertips and takes probably no more than 20-30 seconds. It’s not exactly messy, but you’ll want to wash your hands afterwards.
It hardens very quickly, so as soon as it’s mixed into one colour, press it onto whatever it is you are molding, being careful to sort of spread it over the piece so as not to capture air bubbles.
Give it a minute to set, and pull it off. It captures details very nicely (you can see my fingerprints on the putty in the photo above). Whilst normally on larger objects the mold has some flexibility, on small pieces like this there really is none. It’s very easy to cut and will break if you use too much force, but the beauty of this material is that Greenstuff will not stick to it at all, so there’s no need for any kind of release agent.
When making the cast a soft mix is highly recommended (ie: at least twice as much yellow as blue) and you’ll need to press it into the mold with a wet tool, otherwise it’ll stick to the tool and be pulled right out of the mold.
I’ll be using this particular mold to add flowing purity seals to all my Grey Knights, which will certainly add a sense of movement to a fairly static pose that most will have.
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Actual Scale bike.
This is the bike for an Actual Scale Salamanders character (will count as Khan). The rider is currently in bits, but the main structure of the bike is built as you can see. The exhausts might be a little bit flared. The whole thing is about half as long again as a regular bike, hence the need for a custom base. The front of the bike is a little rough but I’ll be sculpting a large imperial eagle on it as soon as I can get some more GS. The plastics are a combination of Ork and Space Marine bikes and I think the exhausts may have come from a Baneblade (I’m not too sure).
Durendin’s about 99% done. It’ll be a while before I paint him because of other work, but it’s nice to see him realized. I had a lot of trouble finalizing his pose, but eventually settled on a crozius resting at his side rather than the usual held aloft pose common to all Chaplains. It helps give an impression of weight to his mighty hammer, but also allows the fitting of the shoulder pad to look far less awkward. Although this model has 9 pins holding him together, there are elements that are definitely fragile (the iron halo for example) but there’s not much I can do to improve that. Guess I better not drop him.
So I figured I’d actually make this Chaplain the named character featured in Ben Counter’s Grey Knight novels. Why not eh?
I finished filling in the terminator legs to make them appear like power armour (sorry forgot to photograph back of the model), and greenstuff the torso to be a bit more in line with the rest of my marine conversions. I’m not entirely happy with the abdomen shape, so there’ll be some conveniently placed purity seals when it’s finished I’m sure. Still need to add a belt buckle and cables, and I think I may end up sculpting a bigger chest eagle over the existing one, despite plans to keep the torso’s original details. Oh well.
The large book has been scavenged from the familiar in a previous post (typical – spend time converting and then go chop it up!). Once the torso is finished, I’ll add a heavy duty strap or chain over his shoulder.
I opted to go Crozius/Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield set up. I could count the weapon as a standard Nemesis Force Weapon or Thunder Hammer, without causing any confusion.
The Crozius/Hammer has been made a bit more compact by shortening the hammer heads and adding a smaller handle. The forearm is taken from the Hector Rex mini, just so it matches the arm holding the storm shield. I really like how this weapon has turned out. Took a lot of tinkering with to get it right but it got there in the end. It did in fact start out as the Thunder Hammer on the Preacher Josef model but has been chopped up and whittled down till only the center part between the hammer heads is left… and I could easily have used plasticard to build that bit 
I think they’ll some issues getting the shoulder pads to fit but I’ll leave that till last.
Hey all,
So I finished a number of projects recently and have managed to clear a bit of space on my desk for some fresh stuff.
I’ve just started piecing together 2 Actual Scale Salamanders characters that will count as Kantor and Khan. The challenge of an Actual Scale bike is proving challenging, but I’m starting to make progress with it (pics incoming).
I figured I would try and have a few different projects on the go at once, so I can keep switching over whenever I need a break. My second currently running project is a set of 3 more Red Scorpions captains. These will be regular scale (for a change) and painted.
I also decided I wanted to do some work on my own collection, else I’ll never have any Space Marines of my own. I’ve been quite keen to make a Grey Knights Chaplain for quite some time, and whilst there are a hundred other models I want to work on, this is the one that’s peaked my interest right now. I was also highly inspired by this amazing image.
I’m sure some of you would argue against the existence within the fluff of GK Chaplains, but I rather like the idea, if nothing else just for aesthetic reasons – Chaplains always look cool, but a Grey Knight Chaplain should be something really special.
I started this with a few ideas in mind. When finished it will fit approximately the description of the Chaplain mentioned in Ben Counter’s Grey Knights book, ie: all black power armour and a gun metal skull helm. I also had this idea of him carrying a thunder hammer that looks similar to a crozius arcanum. I’ve made a largely scratch built double headed TH, but I’m not entirely sure I’m satisfied with it yet.
You can probably see where the parts have come from. The legs are from the Grey Knight Terminator Brother Captain, and the torso/head is from one of the standard Chaplain models. Normally I would make the torso from plastic and green stuff to give it extra depth and position the head properly, but in this case I felt it look good as is. I’m not decided yet on his final pose or weapons. You can see a selection of possibles here (swords, thunder hammer (crozius), stormbolter and storm shield). Any thoughts?
I do know I want him to have a large book (in photo), either on a chain, or held in his hand, as imagine one of his roles in the chapter is to record the names of the Imperium’s greatest unsung heroes.
In games terms, he will “count as” one of the Grey Knight Squad’s Justicar.
I’ve been sitting on this model for far too long. I had intended to paint him, but just haven’t gotten round to it. Enough people have shown an interest in purchasing him, so here he is.
Edit: SOLD
Just a few minor conversions for my Inquisitors henchmen. The Eldar Ranger will be a “counts as” Acolyte in the Inquisitor’s retinue. I always liked the thought of an Eldar advisor working for an Inquisitor (especially an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor).
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