Thursday 28 June 2018

Go-Knights!


Robots Undisguised!

As if finishing a Reaver Titan wasn’t enough, I’ve ploughed on with yet more Imperial Knights this week!

I’ve broken down my Imperial Knights into several themed factions.  The most straight forward one is my House Raven Knights which is unsurprising given that they are undeniably linked to the Legio of my Reaver Titan (and eventually my two Warhounds once they’re built and painted!); Metalica.
Metalica and House Raven have an unbroken bond dating back to before the Horus Heresy, giving a rich background for me to draw on and cross-pollinate.

So, to start with, I want to do a quick rundown of the Knights and Support units which I own and their current build status.  I do intend to try and add progress to my Blog as and when I complete a unit from the Force:

House Raven
Unit
Name
Battle Readiness
Questoris Class: Knight Errant
Arbiter
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Complete]
=!= Arbiter Ready to Walk =!=
Questoris Class: Knight Paladin
Cognis
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Questoris Class: Knight Gallant
Furien
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Questoris Class: Knight Warden
Crucius
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Questoris Class: Knight Crusader
Indomitus
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Questoris Class: Knight Preceptor
Rygan
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
Questoris Class: Knight Gallant
Furore
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
Questoris Class: Knight Castellan
Invigillus
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
Questoris Class: Knight Valiant
Ahabius
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
Questoris Class: Knight Mageara
Violatus
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
Armiger Class: Knight Warglaive
Infernus
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Armiger Class: Knight Warglaive
Sythax
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Armiger Class: Knight Helverin
Mordent
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
Armiger Class: Knight Helverin
Hastus
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
3 Armoured Sentinels
The Huntsmen
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Complete]
=!= Huntsmen  Ready to Walk =!=
3 Armoured Sentinels
The Outriders
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Baneblade Super Heavy Tank
Impregnable
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]
Sacristan Techpriest
Regulus
[Build Status: Complete]
[House Colours: Not yet applied]

The elements of the force which I’ve completed so far are the Huntsmen, 3 Lascannon equipped armoured Sentinels and Arbiter, my one finished Knight Raven Questoris suit.

The Huntsmen


Below is a picture of the Huntsmen and some shots of an objective token I made from spare parts to go along with my Knights:

Ranging ahead, these Sentinels risk it all for the honour of House Raven!

I loved the idea of smaller machines crewed by House Serfs, lowborn residents of Kolossi who are given the opportunity to emulate their masters, riding out ahead of the more heavily armed knights as a scouting force.
This is probably an extremely hazardous profession, hence them being given the honour of wearing the House colours.  One even sports the House symbol on his hull – he must have made a good impression on the battlefield!
Life as a Servo-skull radar walker must be... fun?
What better way to observe the enemy than with a scuttling radar dish?

Arbiter

Arbiter was built shortly after the original Imperial Knight kit was released.  I loved the old Epic Imperial Knights and decided that I would build Arbiter to emulate the old Epic model with a gigantic smashy fist.  On reflection, there are few goofier red robots out there than the original Epic Errant…



Only this guy springs to mind….
 
In case you’re unfamiliar with Scooter, he’s one of the Go-bots.  A shameless 80’s cartoon rip-off of Transformers produced with epic levels of laziness to sell some of the worst toys ever made…
Seriously. How did they make him look more like a mobility scooter than a vesper?!
 
A toy so tragically bad, it resorts to cheering for itself in the box:
 


There was always something a little off about Scooter in the cartoons…


To be honest, Scooter wasn’t the only Go-bot that seemed to enjoy exposing himself to children on the telly either…


Anyway!  Back on subject! Arbiter was given a scratch built power fist of epic proportions to match the scale of the original epic model– I worried that it would look ridiculous, but I think it worked out really well!  Even though he’s recently had a refit to include a carapace Autocannon array and some extra base detailing, I’ve never even considered replacing his fist with a newer Thunderstrike gauntlet – I think it makes him wonderfully unique and can easily be used to represent a relic weapon from the new Codex; The Paragon Gauntlet! J








 

Freeblades

Next up are my Freeblades which are organised into 3 distinct factions that are each centred around a single Legendary Knight.
Each one has a really strong theme as I see them as named characters, travelling the galaxy with their own select retinues...
The first up is the mysterious Faded Remnant which are centred around the legendary Knight The Spectre who you can see in the images below.

The Faded Remnant
Unit
Name
Battle Readiness
Questoris Class: Knight Paladin
The Spectre
[Build Status: Complete]
[Remnant Colours: Complete]
=!= Spectre Ready to Walk =!=
Secutarii Hoplite Squad

The Spectral Guard
[Build Status: Incomplete: processing STC plans]
Sacristan Techpriest
Mortan
[Build Status: Complete]
[Remnant Colours: Not yet applied]
2 Kastellan Robots
The Haunt
[Build Status: Complete]
[Remnant Colours: Not yet applied]

 







I’ll feature my two remaining Freeblade factions, The Banner of the Bear and The Court of the Fisher King in a future post.  I’ve already shown the Kodiak in a previous post, but he’s getting some friends to make sure that he doesn’t get lonely!  As for the Fisher King… well. He’s nearly ready to walk…

Monday 25 June 2018

Reaver Titan Prepared To Walk. Standing By...

It's been a long time coming...

I've finally finished my Reaver Titan; Ferrum Dominus.  I started work on him an embarrassingly long time ago, but he's finally finished and I'm genuinely thrilled to be able to show him off at last!

WITNESS ME!!!!

Ferrum Dominus in all his glory.
Go ahead.  Make my millennium.  Punk.
Reaver sense... danger?!
Imperial Knight Errant can literally run between his legs!

 Carapace

Iron Skulls Legio symbol made from scratch!
Painting this giant Mechanicus cog took ages, but was so worth it!
Secondary Carapace - it's a shame that this beautifully sculpted cog is normally hidden!
You do have to wonder who has the job of washing bird poo off the hull...
"...may the blessings of the Omnissiah be upon me as I scrub clean this avian faecal matter..."

Remember - always use protection...  4 Void shield's worth!



Apocalypse Missile Launcher

Yo Dawg!  Heard ya like rockets...
Super-heavy kill markings plus a tribute to the long allied House Raven


Laser Blaster Arm 

Laser blaster.  When you absolutely positively must kill every other engine on the battlefield.
Danger of electrocution and / or atomisation.
Titan class kill markings and honours



 Gatling Blaster Arm



Nothing tells your Imperial Guard allies you care like raining giant burning shells down on them!


The level of detail on this kit is staggering...
 

Lower Body

Here to protect you!!
Ooops.  Sorry.  I'll fix that...
The Aquila is a raised Styrene shape which took a long time to draw and cut out..
Reaver feet are impressively poseable with a huge number of components. This kit is not for beginners...


Is that a Titan sized groin plate or are you just pleased to see me?  Note the honour markings for robo-genital kills

Note the manufacturing stamp and reference to the Forge world of Metalica
Tools to fix up the defence line...
 

Interior Details

I spy with my little optical lens array...



Note the black and white Moderati helmets...
So many dials...
Mmmmph.  Mmm. Phmrrmph.
Push dis one boss?





 
His piano skills are better than his singing voice.

Servitors.  Controlling the weapon systems or holding up the ceiling?
Apparently IN the ceiling...

Pipes. Lots of them.
 
 

 Transport!

As he represents such a lot of time, effort and money, I decided to get old Ferrum Dominus his own transportation crate.  I spotted this metal trunk while poking around an antique store and decided it would be perfect for him! :)


Looks the part doesn't it?

Fits in standing up with only his Apoc launcher removed.  He's even invited some little friends over!