Armies on Parade and a Monstrous Engine of Pain

The Court on Parade

After a couple of years painting them and a few weeks creating their display board, the Court of the Fisher King were finally ready to be submitted for the 2020 Armies on Parade online competition!

Shock Manta prepares to enter the drop zone while Trench Runner leaps from his own platform

The court stalking down the shoreline to enter the icy depths

I created the staggered board so that all of my knights can be seen at once

The most challenging part of the whole build was getting the platforms to line up correctly with the base cut-outs; particularly as the water levels were also different for each of the knights!

Deep Dive and Barracuda Squall perch on a rocky outcrop where they can be easily seen above the knights on the shoreline

There's a real feeling of intent now that all of the knights are moving toward the ocean as a united force

Trench Runner is jumping into the depths from a vertical aqua deployment ramp (a knight sized diving board...)

From a more elevated position, you can better see the transition from sandy cliffs to shoreline platforms to the ocean itself 

I love this image so much! The smaller knights picking their way forward while the lancers easily traverse the cliffs up above!

It was important to me that the Fisher King took the prime spot, higher even than Reef Thresher; fitting as the most senior member of the Court, he can be seen towering above them all

Reef Thresher marches with the King on the top tier

The diminutive Mudskipper working his way down the flank

Quake Hydra towers over Mudskipper!

Sacristan Nautolex watches his mechanical charges deploying for battle 

Conga Blue leads the Court, striding out confidently into the bay

Shock Manta appears to be taking one last look at the horizon before his drop

I even managed to find a place for Snapper who is found near a cliff face entry hatch

Building the display board

In my last post, I showed a few images of the poly sculpting I was doing to get the basic structure for my display.  Here are some more images covering off the rest of the process!

The rather naked looking polystyrene shapes!

The next part of the build was to add all of the platform cut-outs and other plastic details which I made while poly sculpting.  I hot glued these in place then began the process of coating the display with external filler (on the cliffs) and plaster on the water areas

This stage was extremely messy and it was difficult not to get filler and plaster on the plastic elements!

I waited until the plaster was starting to cure before creating the wave patterns with gloved hands

After the whole display had dried (this took about 24 hours), I then went back and added additional sand and gravel before priming everything with a mix of pva and paint.  Note that I was using this mixture rather than biscuit spread which the jar suggests!

The base coat of glue and paint took a whole day to dry fully, but it was necessary to seal everything, strengthening the plaster and foam

It was then just a case of painting the rocks, sand and sea to match the army!

Once I'd finished the basic painting, I tested the knights on the display and made small colour alterations to better match them up, then blacked out all of the edges with a mix of thick black acrylic paint and pva.  Again, this took 24 hours to dry, but it levelled and protected the edges nicely for handling

A torture engine like no other!

I realised a couple of weeks ago that with all of the knights and titans on my blog, I have completely neglected to produce anything even vaguely resembling a giant monster for some time and that I needed to remedy this by finishing some of my kaiju backlog!

 

As a result, I finally completed my Drukhari Wrack Knight with a lick of paint!  I'm so pleased with how this monster turned out; he's so unique while fitting perfectly into the coven.

My Wrack Knight in all his gory glory!

Not as bulky as a regular Wraithknight, he is still an imposing presence!

The bladed sails jutting from his back project a shadow field over this mighty monstrosity

Just like his smaller kin, this Haemonculous' creation is studded with dark technology

Double jointed legs give this construct a much more alien feel

As with all servant of the Haemonculi, the creature's face is hidden behind a Wrack mask

The huge trophy rack on this beast's spine displays victims from a wide variety of species...

A twin disintegrator cannon makes for a devastating secondary weapons array

While disintegration is scary, the thought of being killed by a titanic husk glaive is terrifying! 

What Wrack is complete without an exposed spine and hunch back?

Like regular Wracks, the Knight wears his torturer's apron with pride.  The hooks at his back are used to hang trophies during battle

Where the Hex are the rest of them?

As I've not shown them on the blog recently, I thought I'd also take a few group shots of the Coven so far - enjoy!

The Hex in all their dark majesty

Last but not least...

I decided it was time to dust off the Tantalus and start painting...

Barracuda Squall joins the King's Court

A new steed joins the fray

Barracuda Squall is the 9th Knight to join the Court of the Fisher King and the first Dominus chassis that I've painted.

Dominus Knight Valiant Barracuda Squall

I built this miniature over a year ago, but was never happy with the left arm electro-goad I had modelled him with. I left him boxed up for months while I pondered an alternative until I finally settled on the idea of creating a huge wrecking ball on a retractable chain for his replacement weapon.

The wrecking ball was made from a hard plastic ball with huge spikes from 40k building pillars pinned in place

I made this image with a little digital trickery to see how he'd look with his wrecking ball retracted.  The answer is... brutal!

The top cannon was converted to fire large explosive harpoons

The wrecking ball 'receiver' was made to resemble a deep sea creature's mouth, multi-directional and hook toothed

I was very pleased with the green and white stripes with skull and cog markings - they took a while to do, but look great!

I love adding tiny power / warning decals around the reactor and power nodes

Just like his fellow knights, Barracuda Squall is heavily weathered and dotted with kill markings

The carapace missiles were converted to be torpedoes which Barracuda Squall would be able to launch while hunting in the ocean depths 

Barracuda Squall's old, weathered chain-beard

The gathered might of the court - Mudskipper is the only notable absence!  He is undergoing the rights of colour and will be joining his fellow Knights soon...

New Scions

I've created a unique Knight Scion pilot for each member of The Court of the Fisher King - I've already shown 5 in previous posts, but it's time to introduce 2 more!

Sir Parcival Ahabius

Sir Parcival, the pilot of Barracuda Squall, is a thick set giant of a man. Possessed of a stoic, brooding personality, Parcival follows the edicts of his lord without question. Though he rarely speaks, when his opinion is given, Parcival's words are highly valued by the Knight's council who appreciate the wisdom he has gained over a century of loyal service.

Sir Parcival's body glove is coloured to match his beloved knight armour

Unlike other Scions of the court who delegate the maintenance of their warsuits to the capable hands of Sacristan Nautolex, Parcival frequently performs the rights of maintenance on his faithful steed, much to the chagrin of the wiley Mechanicus adept...

Quietly performing his duties to the kingdom of Corbenic, Sir Parcival is seen as one of the most reliable members of the court

Countess Caelia Hiralden

Caelia Hiralden is the pilot of the Cerastus Knight Reef Thresher - she proudly rides to battle alongside her husband Octillus Hiralden, their dual knight lancers filling their foe's hearts with dread as they crash into enemy lines.

Countess Caelia, seen here reaching for her sidearm, is renowned for her accuracy, holding the record for best marksman in the arc rifle contest at the annual Corbenic Solstice Tournament

The Countess where's a beautifully detailed cloak with a fur shrug; attire befitting one with such elevated status in the court

A final little flourish

And finally, I thought I'd give you a quick sneak peek of the coat of arms I've sculpted for the Court - I'll be casting it up in resin and will post some images of the final piece along with Mudskipper in the near future!