Squidmasters Kabal of the Eternal Night

And because I'm having an extra boring day, progress on the flyers.



It's good to finally start to get the cockpits added, which are going to require a bit of Green Stuff I think. The front I'll do my best to smooth down to retain the aerodynamics of the flyer, the rear I'm undecided as to whether to stretch it back into an engine or whether to smooth it down as well.

The life of the self-employed freelancer can sometimes leave long stretches of not much to do.

As such, Bastion:



Work has started on the upper level. On the left a few panels have been added to the main stem. These are just thin plastic bent to a curve and then carefully glued in place (super, not plastic glue, because this stuff is too thin for that). I've decided that instead of monitors and consoles getting in the way here, I'm going to add a few hanging down from the roof section, so these will be added much later.
The middle shows another of the cog decorations I used on the main platform. This one will be the min part of the roof, here with the lid of an old style GW paint pot stuck upside down to cover the hole. This will serve are the main support that will attach to the top of the central stem. The top will also be left hollow (though maybe filled in a little) so that the very top of the Bastion can be modified when and where I need it - it'll essentially be a small platform I can put anything like a gun emplacement or comm-link in whenever I need it.
Finally on the right the upper plates. These are the shorter of the spikes that will on the top section. I haven;t actually glued these in place on the roof platform yet, as I plan to paint this section first so I have access to the bits and pieces that will be in here.

Next, the last four plates, and then the pistons/wiring/assotted bits and pieces for the upper platform's mechanisms.

Another update, this time once again kicking off with some Warriors.



Usual mix of parts, this time giving us another Dark Lancer. That brings the count to FIFTY completed and painted Kabalite Warriors, which is a very nice and respectable number. Eight more nearly done and awaiting highlights, nine built but not yet undercoated.

Next an update on the flyer rebuilds. Last time I had started work on the cockpits.



Now, not much has happened, but they look different. Carving has given a better Dark Eldar feel, and the cockpits are coming along nicely. I've got a plan for the rear, just looking for the right material (as usual).

Next, an update on the Bastion.



Two left images are the top section. As with the lower section only half the outer plates have been attached already to give room for painting. You can see here some of the slight detailing inside, the slightly extended plates Plastic strips of course) and the defined slots between each currently attached plate. This is there the additional plates will just slide into place once painting is done. You can also see in the middle image a few of the beads stuck to the underside of the plates. These are to allow a few loose wires to be glued in which will wrap around the whole section (and in places drop beneath it) to add some definition and make the thing look like a working machine.
On the right, in a very small image just small enough to tease, is the complete tower. Thew upper section won't be glued into place until after painting, and half the outer plates are still missing from this image, but we're very nearly at the stage where I'm happy to undercoat and attack it with brushes.


Finally, I've decided to take part n the Haemonculi's Challenge: http://www.thedarkcity.net/t8860-the-haemonculi-s-challenge-round-1

Round One is for an "Arena Wrack", and here's my work in progress.
The original image required to enter:



And progress since then:



The description of the character said they had more than two arms wielding a Power Axe, a Power Lance AND a Venom Blade, so I decided to go strictly to this. I went with four arms as a decent effecient number, and then added one axe, one lance (spear is close enough) and one sword for the venom blade.
The legs are Dark Elf, the feet chopped off and replaced with an OLD GW Skeleton's (some of my earliest loose bitz). A few spare banners from a Khemri standard were stuck to the side to cover over some imperfections of an earlier failed build, and these are being green-stuffed together to make a nice little lower body robe.
The torso is Zombie, not Skeleton, to preserve a bit of flesh, but all four arms come from Khemri skeletons. The head is the most skeletal Zombie I could find, the lower jaw cut out and some tubing put in place. This is being green stuffed too, so it will appear to be like breathing apparatus surgical grafted into the creature.
I'll be firming him up at this level before adding further detail, which will likely include a few small bits of armour that best reflect the gladiatorial arena.

Alrighty then.



We're ready to do this thang.

In the last proper update, I brought the Warrior count up to FIFTY.
That seemed like a good time, as requested a little while back, for a group shot:

Absolutely fantastic looking hard of the most evil SOB's to roam the shadows. Awesome stuff squid

I'm looking forward to seeing paint on both the Bastion and your home made flyers. Looking very cool also.

IT IS COMPLETE (ish) !!


Ladies and Gentlemen, the Dark Eldar Bastion.






The final build actually came as a slight surprise, as some parts were definitely a case of "build it and see", but I must say I am happy.
In the original plan, it was a tower bursting forth from a tactically deployed Webway Portal. The idea here was that a raiding force back on Commoragh could open a portal right in their enemy's lines, and from their side raise a weapons platform straight through the portal and onto the battlefield. It could do its damage a lay down support fire for the raiding force, and once the raid was over it could be lowered back through the portal which would then close, as if the tower had never been there in the first place. I think I got the look of that right, the portal in the crater base being modeled to fit my existing Webway Portal.
The idea of the tower top was that it would actually be a sphere when deployed, but this sphere would then open to reveal the weapons platform within. I'm happy with how that turned out, the upper plates forming a fairly nice palm tree look that wasn't originally planned but satisfies me anyway.
The middle of the very top has been left void for now, the space blank so that additional gun emplacements or other upgrades can fit in if wanted.

I've still got the four gunners to go, who will need something similar enough to Heavy Bolters to work as a Dark Eldar equivalent.

If I were to do it again, I think I only really want to call one design flaw, and that's the size. The tower itself is obviously a lot slimmer (though thankfully matches the height) of the standard Bastion. As a result, I'm going with the fair ruling that measurements are made to the base (the entire crater) which actually gives it a BIGGER footprint than a standard Bastion. That's my bad though, but frankly I'm happy to take the disadvantage for the sake of looking cool. Aesthetics > sensibility every time.

So there it is guys. Comments, thoughts, suggestions and criticisms are of course welcome.

Holy Heck I like that Bastion

That is awesome. Really captured the "unfolding" feeling, it's so sinister! Great job, beyond great. What are you thinking for the HB's? Perhaps shardcarbines?

I really don't know actually! I was thinking it would just be a suitable looking but original weapons that would have the stats of a Heavy Bolter.

Badass. Can't wait to see them!

So I decided to take a small break before finishing the Bastion with some gunners and get one of my other units finished off.

I think part of that is that I want to drag out the process a little. Once I finish the Bastion, I've only got a few details left on the flyers before my two major projects of the moment come to a close and I've either got to stop (nooooooo!!!) or come up with something new.
I've got to come up with a new project, and its really down to three choices:
1/ A Tantalus (though I haven't come up with a decent concept image of my version yet.....)
2/ A Revenant, or perhaps a smaller version to be a Wraithknight (but all my concept ideas so far keep looking like Metal Gear Ray with an old Raider front as a head.....)
3/ A Fortress of Redemption (the silliest option that I;d have NO room to store and probably never actually use in a game, and yet the idea I've had for how to build it is too sublime....)

So, your thoughts? What would YOU like to see me build? All thoughts and suggestions will be considered.

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Ok, so, with that in mind, the unit I finished recently - the Beastmasters.



Here are the actual Beastmasters themselves.
As is usual for my army, the idea behind them was to present them as Kabalites. This is a Kabal force, and these are Kabalite Beastmasters. The torsos therefore, and the heads, are from basic Warriors. The legs were kindly donated by Wyches (the other parts of which got spread around my Warriors squads), as were the pistols. The arms and combat weapons were supplied by Dark Elf Corsairs.
The "boards" if you can call them that are Raider rudders. Each one alone would actually have been too slim, so each "board" here is two rudders stuck together, the gap between them filled in. Each was also giving some cut-off plastic tubing to resemble thrusters (seen on either side of the top and bottom of each riding board).
On some you can see the handle freely towards the top of the back side, on others these handles are being held. I added these both as a means of joining most of the riders, but also as an obvious control mechanism, for the boards.
I think what I like most about these guys is that they closely resemble/match my vehicles "flying death tower" concept.


Next, the Khymerae. I mentioned these being finished a while ago, and might have mentioned I went completely over the deep end on these ones.....



Yes, in place of dogs for my Kymerae, I've gone with spinny discs of death.
And in all honesty, if i could have found a way to have spin on little motors built into their stands, I would have.
Coming up with my Khymerae, I originally wanted to build something that suited their function - to be a shield wall for the rest of the squad. That's what their invulnerable save is for. So I started out thinking about a little Dark Eldar version of a shield drone. I started thinking about a small unit at the heart of a small flying base (the base representing a circular force-field being generated), but more and more it started to seem too "Spiky-Tau", and that wasn't what I was happy with.
So I started thinking again.....missiles/ Some kind of sacrificial spiky drone thing?
And that led me to full-on spiky death disc. They spin, they cut into enemies who come close, and their constant motion makes them effective shield units. That's the idea anyway.
So for the build, the main body came from washers. Each has a 1.2cm diameter washer stuck to a 1.6cm diameter on top and bottom (the smaller being the outer one). Between each was stuck a beam, the hole drilled out so that on the bottom it would be wide enough for a flying base stand.
Some integrity was added with green stuff around the inner parts to hold everything steady, and then the gap between the upper and lower washers were filled in with the spikes. These were again christmas decorations - small christmas trees cut down the middle to make jagged strips that could be bent around the curved surface here.
Finally the tops were covered over with a plug, like those used to cover screw heads, and the most were given little fins on the back with thick plasticard (a couple don't because they broke off and I simply wasn't that bothered to replace them when they wouldn't stick back on).


What this gives me then?

A complete Beastmaster unit.



There they are. Five Beastmasters (Kabalite), Four Razorwings (robot birds instead of flocks), 10 Khymerae (spinny death discs instead of dogs) and one Clawed Fiend (an armoured Cold One).
And I am not only VERY happy with how the unit finsiehd out, but thuse far EXTREMELY happy at how useful the unit has been on the table. My last game was against Taudar, and it was these guys that gave me my victory.

Let me say that again.

Thanks to my Beastmasters, I BEAT TAUDAR.
(They didn't kill much, but took an entire flank single-handed. They didn;t actually win the flank, but held the whole side up long enough for the entirety of the rest of my army to swarm down the other flank and wipe it away. It was glorious. P.S. They had help from the Baron.)

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Ok then. So.

No more Warriors sitting mostly built. All built and painting underway.
1 Warrior finished and waiting for four more for another group shot to put here, 7 mostly done and awaiting final highlight. 9 more white areas done, still needing skin, weapons, accessories and armour to be painted.
I also have my Haemonculus Challenge entry finished, and pictures up over there, so I might paint him now and put his up here.
Most of my progress has been on my Scourge, who are actually one of my oldest and still favourite conversions in this entire army. They've been getting a new paint-job lately and will hopefully be in the next update I put up on this log. All sub-armour areas done, as well as skin, eyes and a few red areas. Awaiting armour, weapons and accessories. They're a good unit worth waiting for. Trust me.

The building table only has the three flyers on it at the moment, and I hope to get them sorted out soon as well. All they need now is to finish the cockpit canopy and add the weapons (and also figure out how to attached them to their stands.....)
I plan to add two new projects, but one of them I still haven;t worked out completely and the other I haven;t decided on.
The next thing I really want to get to work on is my Incubi. Thus far, I've always used the old models. I like them quite a lot despite the limited poses, and I think they are significantly better than the current offerings. However the issue I have there is that they're the only unit in the army I haven;t done significant work on to make them my own unique thing. A few have more interesting weapons, but the basic models are the same. i need to work out what I can do here to add some of my own flair.
The other project I need is of course mentioned at the top of this post. I need something BIG. The bastion is done and the Flyers are most of the way there, so I need something NEW and BIG. Please do let me know your ideas on the matter.

Till next time.


.

In a fit of boredom, I did a quick count of what I have "finished" (so not counting anything still in progress or looking to rebuild in some way like the Incubi - Warriors worked out in closest to tens as possible).
I'm currently sitting on 7x HQ, 4x Elites, 5x Troops, 5x Fast Attack, 6xHeavy Support, 8x Transports, 1x Fortifications, 1x Allied HQ.

Without any upgrades at all, that comes to a total of 4581 points.

And that's not counting whats still be to finished.

You can manage a Kill Team game then?

Love the webway portal, think I'll steal the idea

That beast master pack is an excellent idea. I love the alternative conversions you have done for each of the models. They look really great and fit in very well with your kabalite theme. Awesome!

My thanks for the comments.

Here's a quick update on a tiny bit of work I did on the flyers.



There are only two more things to add: the weapons and some possibly spines/spoilers.

With these coming close to completion, and with Imperial Knights concerning me, I'm thinking the next big project will likely be a Revenant Titan. I'll start putting some plans together soon, if I can figure out a good look.....

How often do you get to take these beautiful models out to play squid?

These guys are looking awesome. Really like the beast conversions and ideas. I think a fortress of redemption would look great in your style of buildings.

Dragontree wrote:

How often do you get to take these beautiful models out to play squid?

Weekly usually. I play with the Pompey Pirates (formally known as Battleforce Pompey, and oh how I wish they still were). The Bastion has yet to see action because its awkward to transport securely, but the Beasts have seen a fair bit of action lately.

Nullus wrote:

These guys are looking awesome. Really like the beast conversions and ideas. I think a fortress of redemption would look great in your style of buildings.

My thinking on those lines actually would be to move to a different style and build a ship. A Fortress requires two bunker annexes, the main tower and a walkway between them which count separately. My thinking would have been a small starship, the bunker annexes being opened weapons platforms, the main tower being the bridge section, and the walkway just being a walkway.
The second idea that would have worked with the style would have been a collection of floating satellites, possibly carved into small asteroids, similar to the ones at the end of the Avengers where Thanos is sitting (all connected by floating stars).

HOWEVER the problem with the fortress is that it would be quite large, and almost impossible for me to ever transport anywhere and therefore use. I'm a fan of the idea of actually using the things I build, and this fortress just seems a tad......excessive.
That's why I was thinking of a Revenant, because it would be SLIGHTLY easier to get around if I wanted to.

Everythings on the table though. After all, I'll finish one, and then probably start the other.....

Here's some fun, a further update on the flyers.





So, that's the weapons sorted! I've decided now that the weird vent things on the lower hull (made from straws) are going to be the main missile batteries. That way I don;t have to put some ugly missiles hanging under the wings or anything, they can just come from that large missile launcher at the front.
We've finally got a couple of wing mounted weapons though (based on the idea that I use Voidravens more than Razorwings, so they're made to look like Lances).

I know I've said this before (I miscounted) but there are now only TWO things left to do and they're finished and ready for painting.
The still need their engine sections built (next on the list) and I need to work out where the bases are going! That's one aspect of the build I didn't consider beforehand, but I'm thinking of a few ideas that I think will work nicely (involving magnets).

.

Two things.

First of all, sod it! I have decided that the next BIG project will be something useable regardless of what expansions people want to play. As far as I can see on the most recent version of its rules, the Tantalus is a basic Heavy Support choice, and so I can use it regardless. A Tantalus I shall build!

Though it hasn't stopped me thinking that nice as my flyers are, a squadron of Ravens to sit alongside them might not be a bad idea.........



Anyway, number two, a sort-of new project. These guys were originally going to be something else, but I abandoned them because I didn't like where it was going.
I set out to build some Incubi, because I'm still using the basic models (the old versions) and have never gotten around to making some of my own brand. I need everything in my army to have had SOME work done to them, so I NEED to do something special for my Incubi. My early plan was to strip them down, have armoured legs and arms that are similar to the existing models but have them bare-chested to really show off their combat prowess. As I started the build though, I grew disillusioned with how it was going. They just didn't quite look good enough in my opinion - not for Incubi. And so the build was scrapped, and the works in progress went into a small box and into a cupboard while I turned to other things.

With my other larger projects winding down though, and the next one not even at the planning and resourcing stage yet, a thought crossed my mind to save these guys from the cupboard and actually make them into something useful. The thought occurred that although they might not look right for what I wanted my Incubi to be, with a bit of work they might make decent Harlequins......


And so! Harlequins, work in progress!



Theme-wise, I don't think it's too much of a stretch for a Kabal to allow a small troupe around every now and then, or to have a small collection of Kabalite court jesters about to entertain the Highborn.

At this stage, there are still remnants of their earlier design as Incubi (the massive glaives for instance). These will be lost altogether and replaced with more Harlequin-esque weapons.
The legs are Eldar Corsairs, the bodies having long since been used on Warriors so I'm happy to finally have a use for the legs. These have so far had some small bits of thin plastic curled around them in places to more closely resemble Dark Eldar armour plates, and will likely either have more or have some green stuff to fill in holes and smooth them out.
The bodies are from Hail Caeser Celts. I chose these because they came with a decent supply of bare chests (and a good stock of other random bits I'm sure to make use of one day at a reasonable price). The heads are from these same Celts, and would have had some armour or green stuff work on them to resemble the old Incubi heads (top middle you can see I started on one of them). These will either be reworked or replaced entirely. I'm thinking of using quite theatrical mask designs, though how to accomplish them has alluded me so far without just ripping these heads off and replacing them. I'm considering slicing the faces of and transplanting them with other faces. The join will look weird, but ideally it will look like a solid mask over another face if they're big enough. Will ponder on that for a while.
Other than than, I don;t think there's a massive way to go to turn these into decent Harlequins.

I'm thinking I can build these ten as basic Harlequins to meet the units maximum size, and then I can assemble three separate models for a Troupe Master, Shadowseer and Death Jester. I'm not really thinking on how useful these are on the battlefield, just on something interesting to build.

Ok, so my next large build will be a Tantalus, which means its time to get some plans together.

Here's the early concept:



This is a very rough concept drawing obviously, but it about captures the basic essence of what this thing will look like.
There will be a central hull section at the back, the bottom part being hollow and dominated by a large cage containing a number of captives (it'll be like a moving dungeon - moving as in mobile, not as in emotional).
The top will be the main passenger platform of course, which will mainly be dominated by a dais, on top of which will be a throne. I'm thinking the biggest ship should go to the biggest bad in the Kabal, and that's the Archon, and a good Archon deserves a throne.
The dais will have two access ports on either side with a route down to the captives, and should ideally have enough space to fit the retinue. I'm considering revising this design a little, the idea just coming as I write this to add a pulpit on either side of the throne (but towards the back) where the vessel's crew/pilots can stand and operate things.
Behind the throne will be a large circular disk, which I'm planning as either a decorative thing or as a webway portal (ANOTHER ONE). There's part of me thinking a large portal at the back of this thing would look kind of cool, but I think its a case of seeing when I get to that stage of the build before I know for certain if I'm taking that route. The basic design concept for this part comes from Skeletor's barge in Masters of the Universe. His is a more decorative shield of course, but it can easily be altered.
So from the main hull, two forward prows will come out just like on the standard Tantalus, each housing one of the main weapons at the front.
Between these and coming down from the dais will be some simple steps. These idea here is basically that this is more than a large tank, this is the "rear of the army command tent" kind of thing. When all is said and done, this thing can land so that the Archon can survey his subjects as they collect their prisoners, and maybe have important figures thrown to the floor in front of him. This is a mobile throne room more than a war machine.

So that's the basic design. I've got the measurements I need now, so I'll start assembling the basic skeleton of the thing sometime soon.

Thoughts, comments, and more importantly suggestions are of course welcome as always.

Dang your stuff just keeps on getting better. I love the ambitiousness of your projects and am well impressed with the results you are achieving with plasticard and sculpting. ( your beast pack is still my favourite though )

And here's another red letter day. A lot of my projects seem to be coming to a head at the same time.....

The final touches on the flyers.



Which means, THREE FINISHED FLYERS!



That's it!

There is technically one thing left to do, but that's the bases. I've got flyer stands, but I'm waiting on the delivery of a third before I assemble them all, and because of the annoying way I'm going to have to do it I'll no doubt add to the Flyers log with details on how I'm going about that.

But the actual models are done!

Now to devote all my time to a few smaller units and the Tantalus!