Kabal of the Living Shadow

A while back, I decided to start working on project based on the Kabal of the Wraithkind - most notably the "daemon courting" Archon. I've now returned to the project and thought I'd start a blog for it.



The idea will be to have an army that incorporates a lot of Mandrake and daemonic elements, with many of the latter represented via Harlequins (their innate 4++ saves seemed most appropriate for daemons).

One of the first units I've started working on is Skyweavers, which will be represented by Mandrakes or twisted Kabalites, riding atop Screamers. I ended up making two prototypes:

Idea #1:

Spoiler:

The first idea was that of a harnessed Screamer, pulling a hellion board almost like a chariot. One of the reasons I considered this was that it represented the 2 models who'd usually be riding a Skyweaver, and allowed one to carry a Glaive and the other a Haywire gun.

However, whilst I like aspects of this one, it's very awkward to transport and seems very likely to break apart. Also, I'm not keen on the design I used for the riders and I think it probably would have worked better with just one.


Idea #2:

Spoiler:

This one got rid of the skyboard and instead has a more Mandrake-like figure riding the Screamer itself.

I'm not quite as keen on just having the Haywire Cannon emerging from the Screamer's mouth. However, I think I prefer this one overall. I think the more Mandrake-like guy is more in-theme and the lack of attached Skyboard should make it a lot easier to transport safely.


Finally, I had a go at making a Shadowseer:

Spoiler:

It's still a WIP as I want to make some adjustments - most notably redoing the left arm (the attachment is currently really ugly and doesn't look right), and also changing the head (this one is too human for my tastes).


I've been working on some other HQs so hopefully I'll have pictures of those before long.

I've modelled four more HQs:





Troupe Master:




Death Jester:




Archon #1:




(Probably) Archon #2:







The Troupe Master was one of my first ones (along with the Shadowseer in the post above), when I was still experimenting with these Sylvaneth parts. I think it's okay but kinda basic.

I'm a lot happier with the Death Jester. I like his pose and I managed to get a bit more creative with the gun, head and such.

Not sure how I feel about the first Archon. I normally use my secondary Archon very aggressively, so I thought I'd try and make a model that emphasised that. However, whilst I liked the weapon initially (and thought it was the best fit for his pose), I've started to cool on it. I was trying to avoid an ordinary sword (to differentiate him from both the Troupe Master and second Archon). There were a couple of hook-shaped Sylvaneth weapons, and I think one of those would have been a nice callback to the hook used by the Mandrake Nightfiend. I've already sprayed him so I might paint him and see how he looks then, but don't be surprised if he's got a different arm when next you see him.  

Archon #2 was a happy accident. I was initially going for something more traditional for my Warlord; with a Huskblade in his right hand and a Blast Pistol in his left. However, I happened to notice that I had a claw-arm which was a near-perfect fit for his pose and body (I don't think I even needed any Green Stuff - all I had to do was remove the arm's round joint). Anyway, I'm aiming to paint it to give the impression of it being made of shadow-magic (or whatever it is Mandrakes use). I say he'll probably be an Archon because I just came across another Archon that I'd completely forgotten about:

Spoiler:

Since I'm unlikely to need more than 2 Archons, I might end up using him for something else. I'll see how it goes.


Anyway, that's all for now.

Almost finished painting one of the Archons:









As you can see, I went for the same colour scheme as the Shadowseer (though I actually used a different technique for his claw-arm).


For the second Archon I'm trying out a different colour scheme, using red as the main colour for the weapons and runes, rather than the blue/purple I used above. No pictures yet, I'm afraid, but I'd say he's about 2/3 done.

I've also finished doing the back of the Death Jester's head (which was still a bit of a mess), so I should be able to spray him and start working on him.

I really like the blue you've done on the sword, it makes it look like its some sort of gem-carving.

Sarcron wrote:

I really like the blue you've done on the sword, it makes it look like its some sort of gem-carving.

Thank you.

I started with black and then drybrushed purple, dark-blue, blue, ice-blue and then finally white. But as the colours got lighter I'd keep them closer and closer to the edge and tip of the blade (to try and form a gradient). Then I added a blue glaze and finally Soulstone Blue (which is what makes it all shiny).

The one thing I need to keep in mind is that I shouldn't be too stingy with the lighter colours. I used this technique a few times in the past but that was before the glaze and Soulstone Blue existed. I like the end result of using them but I always forget how much they darken the colours.

Messed around with the Shadowseer's left shoulder joint and also painted up a new head for him:









The new shoulder joint still isn't perfect but I'm a lot happier with it compared with the previous one (I'm still slightly on the fence with regard to where precisely to transition from flesh to blue magic).

I might also tweak the painting on his mouth a bit. I briefly tried it as being very blue:

Spoiler:

Might try adding some blood to it instead.


Here he is with the Archon for comparison:






Second Archon is still very much WIP but this should at lest give you an idea of the colour scheme:




EDIT: Almost forgot - the Shadowseer's head is currently being held on with blu-tac. This is because I'm not totally sure whether the horns/antlers on his head are over the top. So I'm intending to paint up a similar head but without the antlers and see which I like best.

I've about finished my second Archon (base notwithstanding):









Only thing I've noticed is that his feet seem to be darker than the rest of his body. I'm now wondering if I drybrushed the rest of his skin at some point but missed doing those.  

Oh well, I'm sure I can sort it out.


In other news, I've removed the Skyboard-rider from the first of my daemon-Skyweavers, and tweaked the model to compensate:







I quite like this chap's pose. Not so sure about his warped and elongated neck, but I couldn't get that piece out of his neck and I was afraid if I pulled too hard I'd just break something different.


Also, I've made another model in a similar vein:









This one is the opposite of the other one - having no neck to speak of. I'm hoping to add some sort of glow effect to give the impression of a detached head hovering over his neck.

Is this a bit too silly, do you think?


Anyway, I've also got a couple of other riders ready with somewhat different designs but I'll get to those in due course.

Colour me impressed! I do enjoy what you've done here, the twisted mix of things is most unique, and while of course we will have to ensure the primary gates to you subrealm are suitably warded, to prevent escapees you understand, I am certain there are those who know alternative routes in and out who would be most interested in discourse on your creations of choice. We wait with bated, and perhaps even baited, breath.

For what you're going for I wouldn't say a floating head would be too silly at all! Though possibly adding a little something into the base of the head might work just to make it less "model" if that makes sense.

PartridgeKing wrote:

Colour me impressed! I do enjoy what you've done here, the twisted mix of things is most unique

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Tbh, this project has ended up being on an extended hiatus. Partially because of the lockdown (my enthusiasm for 40k projects tends to wane when I'm not actively playing), and partially because I've been waiting to see how things look in 9th and whether I might need to tweak the direction to keep it viable.

With that in mind, it's nice to know that people are still interested in this project. I'll try to get back to it soon.

PartridgeKing wrote:

For what you're going for I wouldn't say a floating head would be too silly at all! Though possibly adding a little something into the base of the head might work just to make it less "model" if that makes sense.

I take it you mean something to round off the bottom of the head (so it doesn't look oddly flat)?

Yes, that's a good point. I'll see if I can add a little green stuff.


Cheers for the advice.

Soulless Samurai wrote:

I take it you mean something to round off the bottom of the head (so it doesn't look oddly flat).

Yes that precisely!

I can understand waning enthusiasm, my force has only picked up when my other half decided she wanted to paint and her enthusiasm has encouraged me to do more too.

But as seen by my own extended hiatus' it happens, the hobby butterfly moves on and eventually returns when the time is right. I think what you've got going on here is pretty damn awesome, and some of the parts you're using have helped me see a way to do conversions that have been percolating for far too long, so I look forward to seeing more when the mood returns!

PartridgeKing wrote:

Soulless Samurai wrote:

I take it you mean something to round off the bottom of the head (so it doesn't look oddly flat).

Yes that precisely!

You're right of course - that would make a great deal of sense.

Somehow it never actually occurred to me.

PartridgeKing wrote:

I can understand waning enthusiasm, my force has only picked up when my other half decided she wanted to paint and her enthusiasm has encouraged me to do more too.

But as seen by my own extended hiatus' it happens, the hobby butterfly moves on and eventually returns when the time is right. I think what you've got going on here is pretty damn awesome, and some of the parts you're using have helped me see a way to do conversions that have been percolating for far too long, so I look forward to seeing more when the mood returns!

Thank you very much. And yeah, hopefully my enthusiasm will return soon (it might help when I'm able to play again, as I enjoy actually using my conversions on the table), as I would like to complete this project at some point.


Oh, just in case you're interested, I came across another model for this project that I don't believe I've posted here:










As you can see, it's not actually finished yet. IIRC, it was something I started working on as an alternative Shadowseer (hence my using the same legs - which happen to be my favourite of the various Scourge ones). The reason was that while I liked the above Shadowseer model in concept, I was having enormous difficulty with the left arm joint (which was overly bulky and, frankly, a bit of a mess). Since I liked the right arm, I'd wondered whether it would be easier to convert that (as I'd at least be starting with a proper shoulder-joint to work with), rather than trying to join an arm to the asymmetrical sylvaneth torso.

I think this design worked okay (though I won't be sure till it's been painted ). However, I couldn't make up my mind on what to use for the second arm. I was torn between using the Mandrake arm and converting another of the sylvaneth claw arms. In the meantime, however, I'd managed to trim down the arm joint of the other Shadowseer and got it looking a lot better. And since that one was also mostly painted, this alternative Shadowseer never got finished.

I think I'll probably still make him at some point, whenever I feel inspired to return to this project. However, I might wait until a new codex arrives for DE/Harlequins/Ynnari, in case there's anything appropriate that I could tweak him to represent (since I'm already pretty well covered on the standard HQs for DE and Harlequins).


Anyway, I know it's not a proper update or anything. Just thought it might be of some interest, since I'm sadly lacking in more meaningful news as far as this project goes.

Either way, thank you for your advice and your kind words.

This army is going to be amazing!
Love the conversions and the theme.

I have no advice to give to give just wanted to say that Im looking forward to see more

Talos wrote:

This army is going to be amazing!
Love the conversions and the theme.

I have no advice to give to give just wanted to say that Im looking forward to see more

Thank you very much.

Very minor update: I'm making an effort to reignite (and hopefully finish) this project.

I've started painting the first of the Skyweavers, but I'll wait until I've done a bit more before posting pictures.

I've just about finished modelling the character I mentioned above:







Mostly I just wanted to see what he looked like with a tail.

Do you think it suits him, or have I just made him look silly?

I was considering alternative options for his left arm, but didn't particularly like any of them. That said, I have been wondering about trying to replace the fingers of that hand with claws, similar to those of his right hand. I'm on the fence, though, as it will be very fiddly and delicate work, and I'm not sure I have a spare of that arm if I bugger it up.

Then again, I suppose I don't actually need this model at all. So if I mess up I could probably just bin the whole thing.

Any thoughts?


Also, I'll probably be doing another character model as well (I really need to find something to do with them all . . .), mostly because I stumbled on something that I'm hoping will make for a fun weapon design. But I'll leave that as a surprise for now.

Another update: I'm currently in the process of painting the first of my Skyweavers:







Whilst I've given my HQ-Mandrakes pale skin to help differentiate them, I thought I'd try painting these guys in more traditional colours. Given their weapons and mounts, I don't think there's much danger of them being mistaken for Mandrake models.  

However, I've hit upon a bit of a snag in that I'm not sure what colour to paint their clothes or weapons. For my HQs, I went with black armour/clothes, as it contrasted with their white skin. I fear that won't work quite as well with these.  

Any ideas?



In other news, I've about finished painting the HQ model I mentioned in the previous post:










I'll be brutally honest... this guy isn't actually serving any particular purpose. I just hoped painting him might rekindle my enthusiasm for this project.

That said, painting him did also serve something of a function. See, I've been a little unsure about the claws on my other Archon and Shadowseer. The idea was always meant to be that they were changing their hands through magic (or Mandrake powers, or whatever you want to call it). However, I wasn't sure my painting was really conveying that. In those, I'd gone primarily with washes to bring out the detail, but with this one I wanted to do the opposite. My aim was to make it look similar to fire - light on the inside and closer to the source (in this case, his arm).

I think I actually prefer this effect to the previous ones but I'd welcome any thoughts you guys might have.

The other aspect of this model is, of course, the tail. I think the general motion works okay, the only issue I found was that there weren't really any details to paint. I'm wondering if there's anything I could do to make it just a little less monotone. Maybe have it get a little darker towards the end?

Again, any input is welcome.


Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks to anyone still reading this.

Another HQ, ready for painting:









This one came about partially because I wasn't quite happy with a couple of my previous HQ models, and partially because I had the idea of someone wielding that smoke-flail thing, and wanted to give it a go.

Annoyingly, the initial join between the ball and chain was near enough perfect . . . and then I dropped the model. Even after several attempts, I still haven't been able to get the join anywhere near as neat as the original.

Also, he was supposed to be holding a sword in his other hand. However, in typical fashion, I continued buggering things up by dropping the handle of the sword (which I'd intended to transplant). In spite of falling barely a foot or two onto carpet, it seems to have either completely disintegrated or else rebounded into a different continent. That's why he has an axe now.

Fortunately, given the components, there wasn't actually much else left for me to ruin with this model. In spite of my ham-handedness, I don't think it turned out too badly. I at least like the pose of this one more than the first model I used these legs for (which I still need to paint, come to think of it).

Anyway, I imagine I'll post again when I've made some progress painting something.

Until then, thank you for reading.

A while without updates but I've finally got back on this project.

Started painting the HQ above:





Still a WIP as you can see but hopefully you'll at least get an idea for what I'm aiming for.

Tried a slightly different technique for the axe, compared to the other red weapon I painted.

I really like how this guy came out in terms of his pose. I was never 100% happy with the other red-weapon dude above turned out. In hindsight, I wish I'd chosen a different weapon for him. With this one, though, I think the axe suits him and I like his silly flail-censure thing (not sure if I'll be able to do it justice in painting but I guess we'll see).


Also still trying to decide on a paint scheme for my regular guys. I'm considering a mostly silver scheme along these lines:



However, I haven't yet settled on anything and am still experimenting.

Ideally, I'd like something that will allow my HQs to stand out. So at the very least, I'll probably avoid making heavy use of white or light-grey (to contrast with my white-bodied HQs).



Honestly, this is probably a bit too silvery. I was aiming more for black with metallic highlights but it ended up a bit too silver and metallic. Also not sure what other details I want to paint (and what colours to use for them).

I also intend to try just the black contrast paint as a base and see how that looks. Might just end up doing that and then focussing on bringing out some key details.


As always, thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll have another update in a more reasonable timeframe.