Coven of the Unmarred

Mr_Pink wrote:

@nexs - Thanks! Whatever GS skills I have were achieved through practice at messing around with models. In case you haven't seen it before, I did a series of articles to help get people started working with GS if they find it overwhelming: http://www.modernsynthesist.com/search/label/How%20To%20Sculpt

I had a bit of a look at your blog. Love your tools! I wish i had a few of those, as they would really make working with GS much easier! Nice technique tips there too!

Mr Pink - scions are the common name for the newish militarum tempestus - basically what used to be called stormtroopers/kasrkin etc.

Basically they're guard veterans with ap3 lasguns

@Squidmaster - Thank you! They were the first project I ever started in terms of a coven unit, and they are still my favourite. I'm happy to finally be getting back to making some more, and I'm actually salivating like a crazy person for the new Rat Ogre/Stormvermin that have been teased in WD leaks and their potential for conversion into either Grot or Talos-sized constructs.

@nexs - No need to wish! In this post, I highlight what the tools are and where to buy most of them (mostly ebay).

@The_Burning_Eye - Ah yes, of course. AP3 LASGUNS!? BEARDY!
I must say, though, I always loved the Kasrkin, and the really weird, pseudo-baroque Scions do nothing for me


In other news, A little while back, I took on a commission to convert a unique Talos for @benth3bear Hellraiser/Silent Hill-themed Coven.

http://www.thedarkcity.net/t10638-coven-of-infernal-suffering-graphic-imagery

It's the model I'll be working on for the next little while, though I know I'll be distracted from time to time (like this weekend when I finally figured out how to manage a covenified Venom.

Here was the concept he provided for the model:


...which is pretty messed up. I mean, I make some messed up creatures, but this one has got to be the most crazy. My real barometer was when I showed it to Lady Malys/My Norn Queen. She's ridiculously supportive and complimentary of my most crazy of creations. She is even a big fan of the Bobbit Worm close up photo that was gifted to me by Moloch and hangs above my desk. She's a fan of tentacles, Aliens, and Chestbursters.

However, when she saw this concept sketch, even she was taken aback. She has now taken to calling it "the creepy pregnant spider lady."

Anyway. It will be, pretty much, the first model I completely scratch-build/sculpt for a commission. I've done a lot of greenstuff work on models in the past, but I was always working from a GW model base. This one is coming up from scratch.

Here is my progress so far.

First up, the body of the creepy pregnant spider woman. It's only a rough shape for now, and it will be lengthened out:


However, she also needs a frame of creepy spider legs to carry her around. I started those by bending some wire to get the scale for the complete leg, then measuring the different sections out:




Next, I cut out some plasticard square rods and bits of sprue to size for each leg:


Then I started pinning and spacing:


Best of all: IT ACTUALLY WORKS:
https://youtu.be/4RTaUGy7tKg

Then all that was left was to add some claw-y bits from plasticard to the end of the limb for easy disembowelling:


Now, this is just the first of the six legs, and it's still very rough and in need of fancy-ing. For now I'm planning to get the six legs roughed out in this posable way so that I can pose them, then glue them, then worry about fancying them up.

How do folks feel about it so far?

Haha, this is true. However, i need to build my bank account back up after buying warhammer (started my 40k army not too long ago). Until then, I will power on with my GW tool and hobby knife!

Regarding the new (horrifying) piece, it's a good start. It's like a completely foul Dr Octavius.

Ive always thought this log was amazing. I like the idea of multiple types of Grots. Are you planning on having them scattered throughout the units with variety or are they going to get a different type per squad?

Your idea with those legs from sprue scraps are great. I have been working on a Chronos/Talos that I wanted spider-like myself but was struggling with how to do the legs. You came up with an awesome idea.

Hokay. So.

I haven't been making that much time for modeling of late, so in was determined to put in one solid night on it this week while taking in the Tolkien Cut of the three Hobbit films (seek it out if you haven't seen it!).

I really needed to get some more work done on the Silent Hill Talos commission, but all the finicky drilling and pinning of the spider legs left me wholly uninspired. It felt like annoying busy work standing between me and adding some real character to the model.

I was complaining to Brother Pink about it, and he---ever the modeling angel/devil on my shoulder posed me the following challenge:

Spoiler:

He knows well both my uninspired procrastination and my predilections for garishly-coloured J-wear.

What's more, the challenge actually worked! Behold! The first stage of the Silent Hill talos legs IS DONE!



Now we can get to the fun stuff

Hello, Free Clothing!

@Mr_Pink I probably should put some sketches together, though getting thoughts down in pictorial form has always been complex.

As for descriptions and concepts of my Agony Engines, that I can supply! Annoyingly I'm currently waiting on orders coming in so I've not been able to actually start building anything, but my far too lengthy descriptions of ideas can be found here in the Project Logs, under Agony Engines.

Likewise I agree the Talos is a wonderful model, beautiful as the model built from the box and incredibly convertable as well!

As for the Vargheist, Crypt Horror, Crypt Ghoul confusion, you are indeed correct I have been using about 4-6 of the small ghouls for each Grotesque, some mediocre photos are in my project log - now I have my camera once more I can try and get some better ones, but representatives of most of my Grotesques are present.

Also an actual question for you rather than my needless verbal perambulation. Do you rely on a hand drill for your pinning or do you have a variety of screwthreaded implements? Also I've heard such good things about the Silent Hill series and this seems like something that suits your proclivities when it comes to the truly disturbing. Whilst parts of the process are inevitably painfully dull the end result I'm sure will be worth it.... please please don't quote this at me next time I mention how much I despise painting.

Ho Dear. It has been a while, hasn't it.

Blah blah blah fell out of the hobby blah blah blah real life got a little weird in the summer blah blah blah had this commission backing me up...

You know the drill.

However, I have work to share, so I guess I should get to it.

Remember that pregnant spider lady thing I was rattling on about? The Silent Hill Homecoming Amnion Talos I was creating for one of our forum members?

Well, she's done



And with her I have finally completed my first-ever 100%-scratchbuilt model!
(Yes. I know. That tail is not scratchbuilt, but I still feel accomplished )

Despite thinking the legs would be a breeze, they needed a good deal of finicky work, and, as is par for the course with me, I probably severely undercharged for the amount of work that went into this beasty.

BUT NO MATTER. She is now complete, and that means that I can, once again, start dedicating time to my own projects  

Here are some more photos. Let me know what you all think of her:










WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
Check out my Modern Synthesist blog entry for more images, in an organized sort of way:
http://www.modernsynthesist.com/2015/09/silent-hill-amnion-talos-conversion.html

WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
If you're a completist, I've uploaded all my progress photos to this google album:
https://goo.gl/photos/ihKCwijPU4pPDh1d8

Holy hell that is one ugly gal. But perfect fit for you Pink. love the taos tail.

I want. so so bad. awesome stuff dude

Oh holy hell that is spectacular.
I thoroughly applaud both your ingenuity, skill and ability to come so close to the source material! I love it.

I look forward to it arriving at my door so I can paint it

Thanks folks! And Squidmaster, thank you for saying she's close to the source material. I am often my toughest critic, so I have eyes only for the places where she deviates from the source.

Benth3bear, I'm really excited to see her painted. I'm such a slow/disinterested painter, and, as far as I know, my last client never did paint the wracks and Grots I made for him, so it will be good to see something painted!

oh trust me, this jumps straight to the front of the line in my painting queue when it arrives

Hey now mr. Pink I haven't painted them because I don't want to ruin them. Lots of planning and testing before I put paint on a model like that.

ACK! NO! Koshi! That wasn't intended for you! I meant my original Grots and wracks that I posted to start this thread. They were a big commission for someone from Warpshadow, but, as far as I know, he's never painted them.

That being said, I'd love to see your raid items painted as well

Ha ha ha its OK man. Thought not. No harm done.

Folks,

Just a note that tomorrow is Flesh Friday over on the ol bloggerino, and this Friday you can all expect something...fresh

SNEAK, SNEAK, SNEAK!

A while back, I posted my initial stabs at Mandrakes converted to better fit the coven, based on the idea that young cronos parasites could play the role of Mandrakes.

I've now finished the rest of the members of this squad, and I wanted to share them with the Dark City:









This also includes the completion of the Night-Haunter-emerging-from-an-actual-shadow:





I'm glad to have realized the concept of mandrakes emerging from shadows, but I'm now a little concerned that this model is WAY shorter than his compatriots :/

Here is the whole lot of them, beside their partially-painted cousin.


They look pretty rag-tag right now, but I'm hoping once I hit them with the same paint scheme (particularly if I can make some shadowy airbrushing happen), it will bring them together.

They're also DEAD SIMPLE models to bash out if you've got some pink horrors, a tentacle roller, and some spare torsoes lying around, so I'll probably make some more and encourage anyone who likes them to do likewise  

I love these things. I still love the one that ended up on my door step. Really cool. Wish I had pink horrors so I can make him some friends.
Still my favorite thing you have created Pink

koshi482 wrote:

Still my favorite thing you have created Pink

Woah! Awesome! Thanks, Koshi
This week my airbrush showed up, so the Mandrakes have become its first official victims. I'm still trying to work out the colour scheme to give the best impression of them as ethereal living shadows.


If your mandrake REALLY needs some friends, I might be able to make you a couple more Mandrakes to go along with him


Last week I shared the young adults and the little brothers in the hideous Cronos parasite family. This week I wanted to share my work on the BIG KAHUNA!



A long while back I shared my ideas on making a better Cronos that wasn't just a couple of bits swaps with the very nice Talos kit. The Cronos is a Parasite Engine, which sucks peoples souls. That kind of thing sounds really horrific to me, so I wanted to make a really horrific Cronos.

My idea was a twisted, nightmare creature that always hungers for more souls, but I still wanted it to be identifiable as having come from the Talos kit.

Here's what I came up with:



...and I couldn't be happier. He came out, pretty much, exactly as I'd hoped. The only thing he's missing is a victim whose soul he's sucking, but I figure I can add that later. I wanted to ride the momentum of having finished the model, and I know I'm notorious for drawing out projects by adding "just one more thing."





People familiar with this log might remember the Punchbowl Of Souls I was creating on the Cronos' back. The idea was that the souls captured by the beast stick around and writhe just below the surface of its flesh. Here's the final punchbowl:




I had thought to have his most recently devoured soul descending from that spinal column extending over the punchbowl, but Brother Pink suggested that might make things a little too cluttered, particularly when it came time to paint.

As I wanted this Cronos to look like an evolution of my Mandrakes, I gave him some mandrake-style, carven tattoos along the side of his torso.




They also serve the purpose of obscuring the mechanical talos sockets in those areas. In general, I tried to cover over most instances of the mechanical bits on the Talos model to give the impression this was a more organic creature.

Since he's meant to be one big soul sucker, I figured that one gaping maw was not enough, so I added another one to his chest, and then two more on the palms of his distended, grasping claws for good measure.





I couldn't be happier with the end model, and he's come out pretty much exactly as I'd hoped.



Hope you kids like him

Ok, your work here is simply stunning. I'm super jelly.

Thanks Squiddy! Of all the stuff I've made lately, this is the one thing I'm most happy about, so I'm glad it works as a Cronos for other people and doesn't look to OTT.

And don't get jelly: get even! Take this as inspiration for making your own nightmarish cronos!

Though the Cronos feels like my favourite model yet, I did come up with something yesterday while just messing around that I'm super excited about:


The cutest little Dark Eldar Jetfighter You've ever seen! This is very preliminary work on representing Coven Reavers as wrack-scale Talos. More on that soon!

I would flip the weapon pods around. You going to have a pilot on it or remote controlled?