The Abode of Ravens, a Chaos PLog

[neovo]

You've got a lot of really great work throughout this whole army, nice job

[Khaas]

Thanks Neovo,

I've been pretty busy lately, I'm waiting on bits for a ton of conversions I've got planned: 2 Chariots, 15 Chosen, Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord on Disk, 8 Dragon Ogres, 30 Marauder Horsemen (more Horse-Men than anything). And a third Hellcannon for some larger games.

That said, I've been working on my Knights of Nurgle. I've nearly got all of the mounts finished, but I decided to go ahead and paint the Champion. He just needs a shield now.









Note: I'm not quite sold on the white of the eye ball, it's the veins more than anything else. I used a detail brush, but just not fine enough. So, I'll probably redo it with a tooth pick to get the detail I want.

I've got a tournament tomorrow in Springdale AR, so I'll get to see this guy on the table...

[Khaas]

Thanks to some inspiration from Hinge my army has a new direction, so I decided to knock up a pair of Chariots. However, I'm really not that fond of the old metal Chaos chariots, they're heavy and dated looking. The TK Chariots offer one alternative, but I decided to go a different route - High Elves. Since these will be running with mostly followers of Tzeentch and Slaanesh, I think it'll fit the overall aesthetic nicely. And the price was right, the full chariot assembly is under $10 from the Warstore, I think it ended up being 10 for the Chariot + base off of eBay.

So armed with a large amount of unused mounts from my Knights (Chosen conversion, pics of that soon enough) and a big divider box full of bits, I set to work. Here's how the first chariot turned out:









The parts:
The main chassis is the High Elf Chariot as noted earlier, I've trimmed the fan like HE pieces from several key locations. I've replaced them with hooks and spikes from the 40k Chaos Possessed. I've added a screaming skull at the front of the yolk, and three Marauder shields. For the blades I used the curved Lance head from the Chaos Knight model, so far this was the only place where I needed to pin anything.

I've already got the horses ready and blocked out the stone for the base. Tonight I'll get the second Chariot squared away and start painting. So, keep your eyes here for more...

[Khaas]

I had hoped to get the first one finished today but RL happened. So, I only really managed to get started. Both chariots are assembled, though I still need to convert some riders for them (more on that later), and I got the first chariot primed.

But more importantly, I got the base and the first horse painted...







If all goes according to plan, I should have the first chariot finished by lunch time.

[Khaas]

And, since someone asked - here's a close up to give you a better idea of the marbling effect I was talking about. I wanted this sort of shifting/smokey look to the blue armor that I'll be using for all of my Tzeentch models.



These guys are going to be part of my new tournament list, which I ripped off of Hinge.

[Khaas]

Removed due to stupid...

[Khaas]

Assembling in stages, both horses are finished as well as the chariot itself. I added snow after mounting the horses, now that it's dry the chariot itself is mounted to the base and the snow for the back quarter of the base is drying as I write this. I'll be adding crew members later (I'll be doing those while I work on my unit of scratch built Chosen), for now it's on to chariot number 2.

[Khaas]

Went to see the Raven today with the wife (good flick, reminded me a bit of From Hell) and also of course to see the Batmobile in Bentonville (can't wait for the last Batman movie). After that I got to work on some models, I'm focused on the MSU list now so I figured it was time to make some Marauder Horsemen. I was originally going to go with Centaurs, but decided instead on a different conversion...

I give you - the Pleasure Seekers of Slaanesh (yes, there is fluff for these guys).




Using claws from the Daemonettes and the Seekers as mounts. The fluff I've put together has these guys as eunuchs, I used the head with the top knot, just cut it off and filed it down smooth. I've got to do some terrain work on the bases, then I'll get these guys painted. They should go pretty quickly.

As part of my Chaos Reclamation Act, I'm recycling older models (stuff I took to Shiloh mostly) and re-purposing them since my MSU list has split my horde of Marauders into two units of 24 each (1 with flails, 1 with great weapons) I decided to use some filler for each unit. What better than a pair of Juggernauts of Khorne? I made the bases out of a cavalry base and a monster base. Then of course, ample amounts of cork and fake snow. I used the first one initially in my Warriors of Khorne unit, but I'll be moving these two front row and center in each of the Marauder blocks.

I've named them Bebop and Rock Steady...






I'll be doing conversions tonight and tomorrow, then back to painting Monday.

[Khaas]

I did some more work on my tourney list last night, I'm working on my unit of Tzeentch Warriors right now. I'll have them finished this week, after I get the remaining parts I'm waiting on. I also converted a Sorcerer on foot to lead the army, painted him today.






And here's the Sorcerer with his Warrior bunker.


Enjoy!

[colonel kane trine]

how did you paint that blue armour on the chaos steed?
great log you have here and the eunoch marauder horsemen look cool!

[Khaas]

Thanks Colonel, the Blue is deceptively easy to do. I start with black primer always, then Enchanted Blue for base coat. Then, I use an ink mix of my own, it's 2 parts Blue Ink, and 1 part Badab Black with about 1 part Water (if using Nuln Black I'd use 2 parts water though). I gave it a thin coat over the entire surface, then hit it with the hair dryer. Once it was (mostly) dry, I went back with detail brush and went over it again with the same mix at random, then while it's still wet I grabbed a bit of Badab Black on my brush and added it at random, and in the recesses. I gave it a very light dry brush of Ice Blue (again at random). I used the same technique on the Sorcerer and will repeat it for the Warriors as well. At a distance, it gives you a nice looking blue, but get a little closer and you start to notice the marbelization. Basically, it gives you a different look from three inches than it does at three feet. Which to me, is appropriate for followers of the Lord of Change.

[Khaas]

Still waiting on some stuff from eBay, most notably the Chaos Knight lot. But, I had a few bits laying around, enough to put together the first rank of my new Chosen unit. For the command group, I decided to use bits from several places. First, I'm using the Standard and Musician arms from a box of Pink Horrors I had laying around. Second, I used a head from the Tzeentch Sorcerer model (the one I painted yesterday). I also used cloaks from the Marauder sprue to cover the joints between the Knight Torsos and Warrior legs. Each Chosen also has a shoulder pad from the 40k possessed sprue. Finally a few screaming skull trophies round out the bits used...






For the remaining 8 Chosen, I'll be using mostly bits from the Knights, but I'll also be using legs from the older Warriors (I had 8 laying around, so why not?) and of course there's a lot of pinning work going on to get these guys on their bases properly. More coming soon!

[Khaas]

Okay, so apparently there was a mix up with the seller. He advertised 16 Knights in the lot that I purchased, but instead sent me Warriors (28 of them). Which I wouldn't have bought (at that price) to begin with, so I've contacted the seller and eBay about the issue and am waiting on a response. Meanwhile, I'm downloading Diablo III and painting the first rank of Chosen. I got the blue and the daemon flesh started today, tomorrow I'll finish them off. The marbeling worked well on these guys, so definitely going to continue the paint scheme on the Warriors.

[Khaas]

First Chosen is finished, the rest of the first rank should be finished later today...

[Khaas]

After what seemed like forever (seriously, I got an order from Belfast before this guy got me the package from Arizona) I finally received the Knights I purchased for conversions, sorta. See, the eBay listing had 16 Knights in the lot, with 2 half assembled, rest on sprue. What I received was actually 12 Knights and 30 Warriors. So, while I'm still annoyed that I didn't get what I ordered (I paid for Knights not Warriors after all), I'm also more than a little annoyed at the complete lack of communication from the seller and the snails pace with which I received my order. But, I'm writing it off as the guy messed up the Knights order and gave me Warriors to compensate. I just hate having to "assume" that's what happened.

Anyway, I guess I have enough guys to make a Horde of Warriors now, but more importantly I have enough to finish some things for the tourney list! Last night I worked on the remaining Chosen, I'm not a big fan of the metal versions that GW puts out so I made my own using bits from the Knights, legs from Warriors (old and new versions) and daemonic bits from the Pink Horrors and Chaos Spawn sprues. I really wanted to make the poses fairly dynamic, but not having everyone facing the same way in the same pose means trouble getting everything in a tray. That took some trial and error.

In the end, I settled on adding a filler piece on a cavalry base in the center of the unit. I don't typically do that with such small units, but using the Pink Horrors breaks up the unit a bit, adds some character. And once everything's painted it'll add a nice focal point/contrast to the unit. There's also a psychological element to this, I want this unit to be the target, they're tough as nails and while someone is trying (and failing) to kill them, they'll be ripe for flank charges from my Marauders, Warriors, Chariots, etc. Anyhow, sorry for all of the exposition - long night, and I'm excited to have the parts I need to get the army that much closer to finished.

Unit Filler


G Unit





Enjoy.

[Student]

Nice work. I especially like the dragon ogres. The green stuff work looks excellent.

[Khaas]

Today I got a huge chunk of the army primed, the second chariot, the filler for the Flail Marauders (I also bought a box of Marauders today to fill that unit out) I also got the Pleasure Seekers, Dragon Ogres, and ALL of the Chosen primed. And I just finished painting the filler for the Chosen. I'll be out of town this weekend, so I should be back painting again Monday.

[Khaas]

Okay so, a funny thing happened while I was working on my tourney list... Diablo 3 was released.

Next thing I know, it's a week later.

Anyhow, I decided to make myself get something done today. So I spent a few hours with my Marauders, I picked up another box of Marauders last week so now I've got two units of 24 each, one with Great Weapons and a Musician, the other with Flails, Musician and Standard.

I also put together some movement trays, so now both units of dogs of have their own trays, the marauder horsemen have their own, and both Marauders. Here's the Marauders...

Unit 1


Unit 2

[Khaas]

Some progress on the Chosen, I'm about halfway finished with the unit now. I have the first rank and the filler done, so 6 more Chosen to go. I may go back for a few minor touch ups and high lights (looking at the pics that's more likely than I thought). But they're pretty much done...






And I got some work in on my Battle Standard Bearer, this is still very early WIP. But it should give you a good idea of where I'm going with this guy.




I'll probably have the BSB knocked out before the weekend, and then back to the Chosen and the Chariots. Anyhow, that's it for tonight...

[Khaas]

Okay, I lied. I wanted to finish mocking up the BSB. So, I did.




Parts list for the conversion:
Knight of Chaos - Horse, Rider Shoulders, Torso, and Legs
Warrior of Chaos Head
Marauder Arms
Seeker of Slaanesh Standard
Empire Wizard Sword
Ogre Kingdoms Mornfang Spike (shoulder)
Ogre Kingdoms Thundertusk Shoulder Plate (on the standard).
Chaos Spawn Spike and Tentacle
Also used a shield and rubble piece from the GW Basing Kit

I know, it's a Slaanesh standard but I think it'll work well here once it's painted. Now, off to bed for real real, not for play play...