Mudskipper & Pals

Mudskipper; Armiger Class Helverin Scout

Standing ready on the Corbenician shoreline, Mudskipper scouts ahead of the court

Despite featuring on the blog months ago as a WIP, I have only recently finished painting Mudskipper, completing my originally planned 10 knights for the Court of the Fisher King.  There may or may not be truth to the rumours that Mudskipper's completion was slowed by the intrusion of an 11th member of the court...

Far nimbler than the larger knight classes, the armiger chassis is a perfect vanguard engine

Uniquely, Sir Jayce Arron's Knight armour bears heraldic serpents; awarded for his peerless skill as a duellist in the Solstice Games

All Armiger class engines in the court are required to carry a signature deep-sea anchor ensuring that they can weather the unpredictably destructive currents which cut across Corbenic's ocean floors

The arm & carapace mounted harpoon launchers provide Mudskipper with a powerful array of weaponry with which to subdue oceanic fauna of immense size

Mudskipper frequently marches alongside his Helverin counterpart Trenchrunner, forming a potent hunting pack

Although used widely across the court, the colour white is much more predominant across Mudskipper's hull, denoting it's pilot's purity of heart

Mudskipper's hull incorporates a manipulation dendrite near the face plate to assist with deep sea maintenance duties

Mudskipper's honour markings are displayed across its armour panelling

Mudskipper with his Knight Scion Pilot, Sir Jayce Arron

The Armour on the Armiger mirrors that of the pilot

Jayce Arron chooses to fight with twinned weapons when mounted and on foot

Wielding exquisite duelling blades, Jayce Arron is a formidable adversary even outside of his war suit

Sir Arron has famously never refused nor lost an honour duel

Going full Scion

As previously noted on my blog, it's always been my intention to represent the pilot for each of my knights as miniatures outside of their titanic war mounts.  I've now finished the Scions for the two remaining knights in the court. 

Hastur Mordent

Riding the brutal Conga Blue deep into the oceans, Hastur Mordent is an assertive figure in the court, passionate in his beliefs and experienced beyond measure in the intricacies of ion shielding.  Hastur is a highly respected Scion who is always ready to impart his knowledge to younger more irascible members of the court.

Hastur Mordent has single handedly dispelled the widely held belief that an ion shield can only effectively defend a knight suit from one angle.  The level of skill required to achieve multi-directional deflection was previously thought impossible without a dedicated cogitator feed 

Hastur is currently tutoring the Count's son and daughter in the use of Questoris and Cerastus battle suits

Hastur's stoically refuses to upgrade his aged interface suit, claiming it is an 'antique' rather than a lived in relic from his days as a lowly squire

Patrocles Hiralden

Patrocles is the headstrong firstborn son of Count and Countess Hiralden.

Although he rushes to the fore in his Armiger class Warglaive Shellback, he is a capable pilot, able to fight his way clear of even the most precarious situations.

Patrocles constantly competes with the other members of the court to prove his marshal prowess. His rivalry with his sister Ivraine is legendary

Like his sister, Patrocles favours the close range punch of the Warglaive pattern Armiger chassis, using chain blade and melta fire to devastating effect

Despite their competitive nature, the two siblings are often found fighting side by side to overcome foes which would otherwise prove beyond the power of a single Warglaive 

Yet another box...

I previously showed my WIP fisher king crest which I've now finished painting.  Now it's done, I've mounted it on a new box for transporting dice etc and I'm quite happy with how it turned out!

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!

Snapper and the Blowfish

Mechanical wonders abound!

The Court of the Fisher King

This week saw me finish two new units for The Court of the Fisher King; the Skorpius Dunerider Blowfish and the Sentinel walker Snapper.  The Court is really coming along nicely, with only 2 Skitarii squads, 2 more knights and the Knight Scions for 5 of the knights to go!  If I finish them in the next few weeks, I may even rewards myself with one last Knight and some Kastellan Robots before finally sealing the lid on this long-term project!

The Blowfish

It took a while to complete, but I have finished finished my Skorpius Dunerider, The Blowfish.  I am really happy with the final look of this miniature; I did make some small adjustments to the model including changing the crew and removing the long whip aerials, but in general, I didn't need to make too many changes to the kit.  The main build challenge was the base which was covered in a previous post - painting it was really enjoyable and I would highly recommend a Skorpius kit to any Mechanicus collector!

For a simple concept, this miniature took a lot of effort to complete!

The large resin base is a little excessive, but it is only meant for display, detaching from magnets within the hull when I want to remove the Dunerider

I'm really happy with the waves and spray on the finished piece - it really is skipping over the waves!

The split wake from the turbines works really well

The crew were intentionally all replaced with servitors - they won't get seasick like normal humans!

The Blowfish is painted in the same colour scheme as its Knightly companions

All of the servitor crew are armed with harpoons as is the custom with this force!

I really enjoyed painting this miniature; I really went to town with the rust and weathering! 

The rusted deck and internal hatches all showing signs of water damage

The sea base in all its glory - not the metal tipped flight stems which the hull magnets attach to

The two removable Servitors ever vigilant at their respective portholes

Grim and implacable, the Servitors exit the landing craft

Sacristan Nautolex hitches a ride

Even the Fisher King himself sometimes requires transportation!

Snapper

Snapper was built shortly after The Fisher King but has sat unpainted for almost 2 years!  I finally finished him at the same time as painting the Blowfish.  Working on them both simultaneously allowed me to get them done quickly as I painted similar sections on both miniatures at the same time.

He may be the smallest walker in this force, but he's packed full of character!

From this side, you can see the front facing tazer on the main hull and the additional railing added next to the driver's hatch

Snapper has had his traditional Sentinel missile armament replaced with a multi-shot harpoon launcher!

The rear exhaust ports have filtration caps for underwater operations

Large air tanks fuel the harpoon launcher

Snapper's hull bears multiple yellow lamp lights like his larger Knight cousins in the Court