Squidmasters Kabal of the Eternal Night

A quick addition.

A little bit of planning into the Tantalus build now, and I've started figuring out how to build the main hull.

What I'm going to do first is build a basic wire/tube/whatever framework to work around, as per this image:



So I'll construct this in the right size as a frame first, and then lay plasticard/styrene panels over the top of that. I've still got a fair bit after the flyer builds leftover, and some of it is thin enough that it can be bent or just bowed to give some decent surfaces that resemble the current Raiders (and actual Tantalus.
The port and starboard lengths along the hull will likely be bowed inwards, as will their inner counterparts, to resemble the prow parts of the Forgeworld Tantalus, and will likely have either a rounded or grated bottom similar to on a Falcon Grave-tank. Either way the undercarriage will be a stronger material to give support to the whole structure.

The idea behind making a framework first is both to give a good idea of size and shape, but also for access. By making a framework I can get inside the armour panels and apply more textured areas, exposed areas of machinery, and it gives me access to the space beneath the passenger platform/dais to build the prisoner cage I planned in the early designs.

The search for the appropriate material for the framework has begun, as it need to be very strong and sturdy, but also easy enough to work with.

Comments, suggestions et al always appreciated.

Looks interesting. Looking forward to seeing more of your progress on this. I admire your skill with using plasticard to create cool things

To start today, I've got a rush-build from my bits box.

I've been using the same army list for a little while now, and knowing I'm facing generic Ultramarines this coming Thursday I decided to put together what I'm calling my "stupid" list.
Basically I'm putting together an army list of all the things I have that I simply don't. This is partly for them to see some action, but also for me to try a few new units I haven;t necessarily given much of a chance to and see how they fare. This is likely to include my Wracks and Grotesques, and maybe dust off the ol' Tali (Taloses? Whatever) and give the Voidravens a rest.

To lead this army then, I decided to take a "silly" HQ choice over my usual special characters or fully tooled up Archon. This time, its going to be the Gunslinging Archon with a pair of Blast Pistols.

And for that I need a new model.



I'm calling this one the first of a few builds for "Lesser Archons", what is the old Codex would have been Dracons. Inspired somewhat by a line in Path of the Archon that reveals Kabals seem to have multiple Archons (with one in charge) I'm thematically calling this guy a lesser relative, maybe a son, to my usual badass Archon. As such he's build young and atheletic, using Wych legs on a Kabalite Warrior's body.
The arms are Corsair with custom made pistols, and the cloak is from Chaos Marauders.
The head is a Wych with a little bit of work done. Can you spot where?
I've intentionally done some work around the mouth to turn up the corners of the lips, to make the head's usual open mouth look happier - more like the guy is enjoying himself as the youth would. I think it came out pretty good, hoping you can see it too.


Anyway, in other news I'm having a few doubts on my Tantalus design. The basic concept I'm still; happy with, but I'm concerned the framework I laid out in my previous post would lead to a far to straight-line vehicle and not be as curvy as its cousin Raiders, Ravagers, even the original Forgeworld Tantalus.
Might have to reconsider the framework, or try to work around it to make it better.

Oh yeah, and work started painting these guys:

Here's a special little update.

It's the penultimate stage of the Flyers build!



That's the bases nearly done, and I think its decent, elegant solution to the problem I found myself in (not having built in a place for a Flyer stand to go!)
I'll just do the tops of the bases properly to match the rest of the army and then the Flyers are completely done. They're already painted as well (as you get a hint at in the final picture above), so once these bases are completely done I'll have pictures of the finished products up for all to enjoy!

It is with great joy that I say that the Flyers are FINISHED!

Behold in their majesty, my three Dark Eldar Flyers, built completely from scratch!




Now, there is the argument - when compared to the GW originals - that these guys are a little blander than their spikier, curvier cousins. Most of the answer to that is in the materials available to me, but most is also in the design. I wanted to go to a simpler, earlier design that would be based more on the prefall jets that would have been available. There comes a moment where you've got to ask: "Right, either someone in Commoragh one day said 'Let's put spikes on everything', or the Craftworlds got together one day and agreed to get rid of the spikes."
Somewhere someone decided to deviate from the prefall Eldar aesthetic, so these guys are designed based on a simple aesthetic on less spiky, with the mild hints of the spikes that would come later in the Dark Eldar's social evolution.
Either that, or I just couldn't be arsed to add a load of spikes that I KNOW would have broken off during transport at some point.

Anyway. Flyers done! I might try to use all three in my next game, just to give them all an outing.

Comments or any kind always appreciated.

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In other project news, there isn't any. Not really.

I recently experiments with document binding strips (those plastic 'U' shaped things you slide paper into?) to see if they would work in holding the basic hull of thew Tantalus design at the edges of the outer hulls, but I found them both to be too large and an awkward plastic to work with (very brittle). I'm looking around for alternatives, or better ways to make the hull hold. Also still looking at adjusting the design to make it curvier and more in keeping with the Raiders design.

In other news, when I got the bases for the three flyers, the came in a pack of four. I'm looking at the spare fourth and thinking "Ooo. That's the right size for a Wraithknight!" My Eldar allies to date number.......one Avatar I built on a whim. The temptation to build a Wraithknight is great, but if I do I know at some point I'll HAVE to get around to adding other Eldar in to make a legal Allied detachment (though that might change based on 7th, depending on what changes are made to Allies.....)

With round one of the Haemonculi's Challenge now ended, (over here: http://www.thedarkcity.net/t9218-the-haemonculi-s-challenge-round-1-voting) I thought I'd give my entry a well deserved paint job.




The original work in progress:





And the finished unpianted version:




I wanted to keep things quite simple with this guy, so kept to the bare minimum both in terms of aesthetics and in terms of what I could find in my bits box.
Body and arms are of course from Tomb Kings Skeletons, which I thoiught would just give the best idea of an old, thinning out husk of flesh that has survived longer than most Wracks probably should.
The legs are from a Dark Elf, and further bits of armour are plasticard.
The brief of the comp clearly said a blade, and axe and a spear, so made sure to give him exactly that.
THe head is a Zombie, the tube at his mouth being plasticard as well. I know an early comment asked if it was a baked beans tin, but this is actually supposed to be the breathing tube (whgich you might be familiar with if you've seen my Grotesques).
He'll probably now either sit with unused models, or to put somewhere ready to be a lesser Archon or Haemonculus at some point. Based on the extra arms I could always use him as Urien Rakarth, but we'll see.

Oi! He turned out lovely! I just noticed how the backplate looks so much better when painted, really defines and shows how skilled you are with plasticard!

I hope you'll join the second round that will be coming soon.

This log has been quiet for quite some time. Booo! Booo I say!

Well, worthwhile things are still underway. My Scourge are nearly finished being repainted, which is nice considering they're some of the oldest conversions I have and something I'd quite life to share.

The Tantalus project has more or completely dtalled, mainly because I just haven;t been able to resolve some design issues I was unhappy with. The primary problem was that the design I had just seemed too straight and angular, whereas what it really needed was was some curved sides similar to the modern Raider designs. I'm working on a way to alter the basic frame, but that hinges at the moment on finding a good and sturdy material to make the frame out of.
That search goes on.

A further two projects have started to occupy my mind though, and it seems the race is on to see which gets started first. The first is a Legion of the Damned army (I saw one played at the Pompey Pillage and just fell in love with such a small elite force), and the other of course is a Revenant Titan. This one I have worked out exactly how I want to build it, and am running experiments in materials at the moment to see if it's feasible.
I'm also running experiments in army lists in 7th edition to how many of the people I regularly play with are open to the idea of that sort of thing.....

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To actually put some images up, I dug something out of the failed projects bin for you. Behold, whatever the hell this thing is:



Now, this I started building without any real notion of what it would be.
The primary inspiration came for The Avengers, and the large floating rocks Thanos and crew hang around in. It's sort of a repurposed chunk of rock, steps carved into it and an engine mounted underneath to turn it into a weapons platform.
I think the ideas was that either a throne of weapons platform would occupy the central position, or possibly a control station, and crew with handheld weapons would stand around the steps.
An early plan for this was to have a few smaller satellites connected to it as well, each the same sort of design and adding to its size and firepower. I think at one point I consdiered making it a large ridiculous rock-platform network and then trying to mount it on the tallest base I could find, then use it as a flyer of some sort (Voidraven? Maybe a bigger, funkier Eldar flyer)?

Either way, I lost interest when I couldn't nail down exactly what it was supposed to BE.

Modelling wise, the engine is as my Ravager, a till roll tube with four old Raider wings.
The steps and all the spikes hanging underneath are all pieces of broken CDs.
The rock is all polystyrene, given a coat of PVA glue, and then filled into with poly filler to smooth it all over.

Surely that is the Dais of Destruction?

It just needs a suitable throne for the centre and slaves bedecking the stairs and its fit for the supreme overlord Vect I'd say

In short. I like it!

First off about the flyers.

Do a barrel role!

Anyways, onto topic.

Revenant Titan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, whatever that floating rock thing is. I would love playing on a game table where all the terrain is just that of different shapes and sizes

Flying rock looks evil. It could be a Bastion or something like that. If only your opponent agree that the Thing will grant your troops LoS block  

SERAFF wrote:

Flying rock looks evil. It could be a Bastion or something like that. If only your opponent agree that the Thing will grant your troops LoS block  

In a weak moment, I thought to myself "Can I make another, a larger/taller one, and a walkway between them, and call it a Fortress of Redemption?"

A Bastion could work... Put the Quad Gun or Las Cannon or the Communication thing in that center area. And then, BASTION!

Eh.....

But I've already got a Bastion now........

I've been in a bit of a low period for projects lately, barely even able to bring myself to paint a few simple Warriors.

With that jumping around my brain, I've decided to do something about it.

In terms of general status, I've a few Warriors still to paint, a half-finished unit I was thinking were going to be Harlequins, and other n on-Dark Eldary things on the go as well (A Malifaux crew, some Terminators to try to finish my Chaos Marines, a tub of Space Marines I'm determined to turn into Legion of the Damned.....)

The Tantalus is pretty much on hold until I work out how to do it WELL. The plans I had are my best idea so far, but i didn't get to finding a good material for the basic framework. That search will go on.

In the meantime, I've got my eyes on two new projects that are actually doable.


Small-wise, I want a Sniper. An Assassins supplement has just come along, and I'm working on the intelligence that an Imperial Assassin COULD be a "Come The Apocaylspe" ally for non-Imperials. That's what tends to happen anyway.
So, I want an Assassin. He'll be Dark Eldar themed of course, and will be a Vindicare. Bits box, don't fail me now!


Second, a large project. I have theories on what to use as materials (which might take a while to source, though easily by end of year).

I'm going to build a Revenant.

BUT it will NOT be a standard walky, jumpy, normal looking one. Oh no, my thing is towers, platforms and places people can stand and have a view. As such my Revenant is going to be a platform of doom, a super-barge for the elite to watch their battles from. It will be big, and it will float.
It will also be a massive gyroscope.
My direct inspiration is from gyroscopes, but specicially the martian palace of Dr Manhatten.



Picture that, but in darker colours and really, really spiky.

Designs:



The idea is that there will be at least four rings woven into each other, modelled to appear to be spinning constantly. They will all be large, and spiky, and more than meet the size of a Titan.
At the centre of the gyroscope will be a platform for the elite, but also the central power core - a Psyker! Either a Farseer or a Space Marine Librarian will be strapped into some apparatus, being poked by various instruments by nearby Kabalites, and their energy will be powering the craft and its weapons.
Exact designs of the rings are being drawn up, and logitistic works out for how many I can fit with the "spiky" requirement.

Progress to be posted as it comes.

This seems interesting. I'm excited to see how this goes. Also... That Elf platform, I've seen it before. Isn't it huge?

Yes, I should add that I will NOT be using THAT platform.
Probably should have clarified that. I've used it in this image purely as an illistrative aid.

OHHHHHH Okay. Thanks for the clarification XD

Ok, further designs, and confirming exactly how the look
will be.



The grey ring in the centre (with the dash through it) represents the central platform, likely a rounded bottom (with machinery exposed there, probably some engines components) and a flat platform top with the torture device and passengers.

The black areas will be the flat plane disks moving around the platform. They've been laid out in this form to confirm that such a placement would allow the rings to move freely.
The actual Revenant is apparently 12" tall, base to head (according to Forgeworld - independent confirmation would be appreciated) so the outer disk will be, at its furthest point, 12" in diameter.
The spikes seen here on the flat plane rings will be smoother and more rounded than the design above, and more in fitting with the Dark Eldar aesthetic.
These will also be layered and textured appropriately.
One idea is to cit them up and build them in sections, each one obviously attached by a clamp of some kind.

The small blue bordered areas are for the second plan of rings.
These are the rings whose flat surfaces (the bottom) face inwards and outwards rather than along the plane of movement as the other rings do.
These will mainly be quite smooth and not very spiky into to accomodate easy movement, but I'm thinking of inlaying a series of shiny things (rounded gems, that kind of thing) to resemble targetting or projecting power crystals for the energy being released from the bound psyker.

Each ring will of course be attached to the next one in and out through a clamp which allows for directional movement.

I've used many words there that make sense only in my head in relation to the designs.


At the moment, the idea of having the whole actually able to spin is amusing, but worrying, but will be investigated.
The next step is to explore options for the mounts to attach each ring to the others. If I can find the right component for this, I can procede with sorting out actual measurements.

This is interesting. I'm looking forward to it. It'll be a nice touch if it's able to spin

Well, I powered through with the smaller of the two projects.

As I said recently, I wanted a Vindicare Assassin.
Now, its quite possible that I'm working to a very wrong assumption (that they're still a viable ally, though a Come The Apocalypse one at that). Nothing is out of bounds with allies any more, so it should still be viable, and I do love the concept of having this kind of firepower targetting specific points of my opponent's army.

Anywho, moving into the build.



I started out with this metal Eldar Support Weapon crew member. He's an older model than the currently available ones, and a leftover from an attempted Eldar army many years ago.
Digging through the bits box for suitable body parts, I came across him and decided he would be a good base. I can work around the rougher areas, and I quite like the visor of his helmet, and what that would add to a sniper assassin.



I cut him right down to basics, just to what I actually wanted. Arms went, as did the little console on the right leg. it might have been an interesting thing to keep, but I wasn't happy with the arm on hip pose, so it had to go.
All I really wanted was the head and body anyway.



Smooting over begins, and the first work on the weapons. It was about here that I decided what the weapon was actually goig to look like. I needed a ridiculously awesome Eldar version of an Exitus, and tried to reason what would go really well. Then I decided on a bow, because the concept just amused me. As such a quiver for arrows was added on his left hip.
Here you can also see the cloak, from an old Vampire Count I think, and some green stuff added to smooth over rough areas.



This is how he stands at the moment, bow and all.
The quiver has been filled with a few simple arrows, and arm added with old Reaver rider hand to seem like grabbing for an arrow.
A thin strand of plasticard has been wrapped around to hold the quiver up.
The bow itself is two Dark Elf Corsair swords, connected with a small but strong piece of guiter string through a hole drilled in the hand (for extra strength and support).

There's a little more to do. A few areas still need smooting with green stuff, and I am still thinking I might add something to the helmet to bring it more into line with Dark Eldar (some spikes to the sides are planned, thoiugh I do like the current simplicity......) and of course he lacks a base. Normally I am very much against the idea of scenic bases, but as a model unlikely to ever move I might throw one in this time.

(On the scenic bases comment, what I mean is I find it silly to model something standing on a massive rock, and then accept that in battle he just seems to take the rock around with him? Does Lilith take the wreckage she stands on with her around a battlefield? Etc)

He looks great! Good to see people putting effort into making their own vindicare instead of just adding one in "because." This guy doesn't need the 12 lords of terra, he does whatever he wants!

I that guy. Looks pretty good considering the older model.