Court photo shoot and Troggoth Progress

Does my mech look big in this? 

At the risk of completely eating up the collective good will of people who appreciate my Imperial Knight force, I wanted to show some pictures I took of my completed Knights of Corbenic for the Titan Owner's Club.

Regular visitors to my blog will have seen these knights before, but I thought it would be nice to see them all collected together now that the knight part of the project has drawn to a close.  'The knight part?' I hear you say... Well, even though I've completed the knights and their scion pilots, I still have the household auxiliaries left to finish off and have added a few pictures at the end to give you an idea of what's still to come!

I've posted each knight on its own and with its scion pilot plus a couple of extra images - enjoy!

The Fisher King

Cerastus Knight Lancer - The Fisher King

Piloted by Count Octillus Hiralden

Reef Thresher

Cerastus Knight Lancer - Reef Thresher

Piloted by Countess Caelia Hiralden

Deepdive

Questoris Knight Mageara - Deepdive

Piloted by 'Mad' Baron Pellinore

Conga Blue

Questoris Knight Preceptor - Conga Blue

 Piloted by Hastur Mordent

Barracuda Squall

Dominus Knight Valiant - Barracuda Squall 

Piloted by Sir Parcival Ahabius

Shock Manta

Questoris Knight Paladin - Shock Manta

Piloted by Veles Meridian

Quake Hydra

Acastus Knight Asterius -  Quake Hydra

Piloted by Sir Marcus 'Thunderfist' Harnen

Tide Breaker & Shellback 

Armiger Warglaive - Tidebreaker

Piloted by Ivraine Hiralden

Armiger Warglaive - Shellback

Piloted by Patrocles Hiralden

Mudskipper & Trench Runner

Armiger Helverin - Mudskipper

Piloted by Sir Jayce Arron

Armiger Helverin - Trench-Runner

Piloted by Derrin Pike

Heraldry

The heraldic symbol of the knights of Corbenic is a trident wielding octopoid above a mechanicus cog and shield.  The colours of the Court are green, white, turquoise and gold.

A gathering of Scions

Now that they're all complete, I decided it was about time to photograph my Knight Scions together outside of their cockpits with their trusty Sacristan Techpriest Nautolex

Household Auxiliaries (Work in Progress)

My Knight household is supported by a specialised force of Adeptus Mechanicus troops; the core of this force being the Skitarii Aquis.  My blog has previously featured their Skorpius transport, The Blowfish and a Scout Sentinel walker, Snapper.  Today I wanted to show the rest of the force which I've already built and base coated.

Two small squads of Skitarii, four Kastellan Robots, two Datasmiths and a single Ogryn heavy!  

Skitarii Aquis squad Minnix

Skitarii Aquis squad Brink

Kastellan Robot squadron Alpha led by Datasmith Linerris

Kastellan Robot squadron Beta led by Datasmith Vermitax

Scuba Ogryn Hammerhead

It's a motley crew, but each unit has a lot of character, just like their Household masters!  Expect more pictures once they are completed in the near future... 

Dankhold Troggoth Colossus

Since my last post, I have been working away on my Dankhold Colossus and his Troggoth King rider.  They both still need a lot of work, but I'm pleased with how they're looking so far!

This picture was taken after I'd worked out the main forms including muscle groups and skin folds

I smoothed out the skin so I'd have a nice clean surface to detail after his first firing 

This picture was taken after the first firing - The ankles, knees and toes needed some repairing after being removed from the wooden base so that I could reach the underbelly.  The breakages were anticipated as I had (foolishly?) embedded the wire frame a bit too well into the base!

In this picture you can see that I have tried out some detailing on the first hand - I was quite pleased with the pores and veins.  I also started trying out the crystal geode spines on the back

The crystals were fired in advance and only placed temporarily so I could see how they would look and helped me estimate the gap I would need for the rider

Behold the Dankhold Trogg King!  He is slightly larger than a normal Trogg Boss and I played around a little with his features to make him look a little more intelligent than a normal Dankhold Troggoth

The next stage will be to complete the second leg, add arms, feet and details such as fungal growths 

And finally!

As a thankyou to a friend, I sculpted and cast a Legio Metalica Emblem - as well as sending him a couple of unpainted copies, I also cast one with an embedded pin, painted up and attached it to a purity seal!

The heraldic symbol of Legio Metalica 'The Iron Skulls'

The full seal which is about 10" long!

And for those of you who wish to recite the canticle of the Iron Brotherhood, the binary on the seal translates as follows:

Canticle of the Iron Brotherhood:

We are wrought by the furnaces of Metalica

We are born of fire, devotion and honour

We crush the enemies of mankind

We are bastions of righteous fury

We bring death, hope and obeisance

We walk for the glory of the Omnissiah

We are the Brotherhood of Iron

Quake Hydra Rising

Quake Hydra - Fist of the King

I've finally completed my Acastus Knight Asterius and I'm very pleased with how he turned out.  It was an absolute monster of a kit to build with the additional headache of water effects on the base!

He's Big, he's mean and he likes long patrols along the shoreline.

Early on I decided to show evidence of underwater beasts which the Fisher King's Knights keep in check.  The tentacles were a great way of suggesting a threat while not encroaching too much into the overall scene.  I was very pleased with the overall composition as Quake Hydra is still very much the focal point! 

The 'lasered' tentacle and guard rail make me smile every time I look at them!

The Karacnos Mortar battery compartment still opens and closes exposing its deadly payload!

Just like his 'smaller' brethren, Quake Hydra is studded with extra details like the shoulder tow cable and numerous carapace lamps for his inevitable underwater forays.

Tools and other equipment are stowed away on the back of the Knight.

I like the separation between sandy beach and industrial elements - it's a theme I have incorporated into all of the Knights in the Court of the Fisher King

From the top down, you can see the heavily weathered carapace with little details such as the directional arrows on the Karacnos compartment and additional air vent

Another common theme for my Knights along with lamps are the additional bar grips and flywheels which you tend to find on submarines and boats

Even the Karacnos compartment is heavily weathered 

I painted the mortar battery with metallic red to make them stand out from the contrasting blue/green of the hull

I have added lugs and handles which allow the Knight's pilot to climb up the right leg to enter or maintain the Knight armour.  It may seem like a trivial additional, but it's practical and adds an extra element of realism

I decided to replace the standard secondary weapons of this Knight with Armiger conversion beam cannons.  I did this because it looks awesome!

I like to add different types of grass to the shoreline to simulate an exposed and dry shoreline where only hardy plants survive

Adding a ladder which from the platform into the water is another little nod to the fact that human beings have to live on this planet and they don't all have access to Knight suits!

The transparent resin was a very nerve wracking part of the build; thankfully it all worked out perfectly!  It does however weigh a ton...

I left the cowling off the conversion beam cannons as I liked the archaic brass mechanisms too much to cover them up! 

You can just see the damp seaweed hanging from parts of the Knight.  This was made with a very fine green cotton wool which was set with transparent medium.

Prepare to be converted.  Into your constituent atoms.  Heretic.

The familiar green, blue and white striped armour design common across the court was used on Quake Hydra

Oh hello there; could you please direct me to the library?

The severed tentacle has bubbled flesh where it was 'lasered to death'

The melted guard rail shows just why you shouldn't play with conversion beams.  Fluorescent paints were used to make the rail look like it's been super-heated

Soggy and disgusting.  Must be xenos scum!

The Court grows!  Another 4 knights are coming soon...

The Knight Scion Project

I love to add depth to my projects and I decided that a good way of doing this was to actually create the pilots (Knight Scions) for each of my Knights.

So far I have only finished two, but I'm really happy with the character of each one - my aim is to make each one a unique and interesting miniature in their own right.

Marcus Harnen; pilot of Quake Hydra

Notice how his posture mimics that of his striding Knight?

He's a stocky looking fellow; the perfect look for the Scion of such a mighty relic suit 

Next to his ride, he looks weeny!

Count Octillus Hiralden; pilot of The Fisher King

Come with me to the rolling sea where the weather's calm and still...

A Knight Scion of the highest calibre

The mechadendrites mimic The Fisher King's signature tentacled cockpit - it's also no coincidence that there are 8 of them!

His white hair and beard really draw attention to his face

Based on the now retired Reaver Titan Princeps miniature from Forgeworld, he's heavily converted but still has the regal bearing which the original miniature captured so well.