Delving into the Archives

Seek and though shalt find some old stuff

I was searching for some pictures on my external drive the other day and rediscovered some pictures from about 5 years ago.

I thought I'd share these as I'm still quite fond of the concept behind each of the groups - I put together several groups of miniatures for a gladiatorial style 40k weekend called the Blood games.

Each team presented a different challenge and increased in difficulty as the player teams upgraded with cards that they could buy from the 'shop' after each battle.

It was a big undertaking as I ended up building and painting all 16 sets of adversaries on my own so that it was a big surprise for the players; not knowing what they were facing was key to the success of the Blood Games as they had to bet on who would win or lose their battles.  They could then use the coins they won during battles or in betting to either bet on the next round of battles or buy upgrades from the shop.

At some point, I may well convert the rules and teams into 8th edition and run the event again as it was a lot of fun!

All of the teams had a theme and all 8 players would fight as and against each of the arena teams with their own champion.

In order to make things a challenge, the teams were organised into 3 tiers.  Tier 1 was grinding chaff - killing them all within the time limit was a real challenge for more elite layer teams.

Tier 2 was a different kettle of fish.  Tricksy and tougher enemies made defeating the arena far more difficult.  The two teams below were both from tier 2...

Drukhari Archon's Court

At first glance, these guys didn't look too challenging for a player team to overcome.  But that's because, there was a sting in the tail.  As soon as the Archon was killed, he would curse the galaxy with his dying breath and submit to the rage of Khaine, becoming a living idol of destruction - an Avatar of Blood...



I love a good Archon's court.  They really are so full of flavour...



The armour of the team is painted in the same dark bronze with a deep red spot colour to tie them all together

Again, the Avatar of Blood mirrored the colours of the Archon, including his white mask which really draws the eye...

I love this miniature so much - I'm really glad it can now be used in an awakened state in a Daughters of Khaine army.

I carved away a Drukhari face to make the Archon's helm and filled the gaps with putty.  I love the blank white helm - it just adds to the feeling that he's a dispassionate monster...

Again, red was used as a spot colour on the Archon's pistol to make it look 'bloody' and tie in with the inner cloak

Never ask an Archon to skinny dip with you...



The detail in the Lahmian miniature is exquisite - it's a real painter's delight!

I had a spare head after constructing the first Medusae, so constructed a second one from spares. After all, two eyes are better than one! :)

Quite literally brains over brawn

Look deep into their eyes - they can help you stop smoking... by kicking over the pile of ash you've become!

Only very slight changes were made to one of the Sslythes to make them look unique

These guys are some of my favourite ever ingle sculpt miniatures from Games Workshop.  So much character and menace, so many arms!

I used real snake patterns for reference when painting these guys but in a more fantastic palette!

My Urghul was made from a Flesh Eater Courts Ghoul King.  Aside from making a base, the only thing I changed was a quick face resculpt and a finger nail trim! Such a simple conversion, but a firm favourite!

 

Drukhari Beast Masters

This team was a lot more straightforward from the player's perspective, but still packed a punch.  The hydraleth happily spewed flames over a more than one unsuspecting champion!

The beasts from left to right: Giant Ambull, Mechanical Razorwing Flocks, Clawed Fiend, Hydraleth and Khymerae pack

Each of the beasts had their own skyboard riding handers that were visually tied in with their chosen creatures

You can probably guess where I got my inspiration from the Hydraleth's colour scheme!

If you look at the Beastmaster's skyboard, you'll notice that it's adorned with 5 coloured Hydraleth heads

As he is supposed to be the leader of the Beast Masters, I gave him an elaborate skeletal mask and crown

Khymerae are such iconic sculpts...

...I only swapped out the back mounted spines on two of the beasts to make them unique.

This scratch built Ambull was quickly sculpted over a few evenings to give me an additional but original Clawed Fiend

This beast master proudly wears the amber hues of him monstrous charge

Although it was a very quick sculpt and the pose is a little wooden, it makes me smile to see a reimagined beast from yesteryear

I did try to reference the original Ambull sculpt, including these weird looking bulbous brainy tubules on his back

Annoyingly, I didn't notice the putty crack on his arm until I was painting it... :(

Clawed Fiend.  Classic.  Never leave home without one!

His handler looks a lot more brutal and armoured as he has to content with this angry monster!

The Beast Master is actually wearing a clawed fiend pelt!

Mechanical bronze razorwing flocks.  'cos you can never have too many clockwork killers!

 
 Thanks for reading! :)

Nashtah Pup Pt II

Nashtah Pup Completed!

 

I'm pleased with the overall look of the Pup - the hinged wings blend in nicely!

From the top, you can see the distinct 'toothed' pattern on the nose of the fighter

The Pup looks lovely next to The Hound's Tooth

The Nashtah Pup docks perfectly with the parent ship when its hinged wings are in the folded position.

I kept the dock simple by just drilling a hole and filing it to the correct width to accommodate the Pup's base stalk!

 



And Whoosh; they were gone!

It Comes With The Frost...

Freezing Death

He's finally finished; the Frost Giant stomps off through the snow in search of victims following a weekend of furious painting!

I'm very pleased with the final composition which was intended to look as though he's coiled and ready to leap at the prey he's just sighted...

The thread veins running over the Frost Giant's body give him a sinister inhuman look

The cavernous maw is quite horrifying close up!

The oily black, vein covered mouth came out perfectly; he just oozes menace...

I kept the ragged clothing very muted so as not to draw attention away from the face

The intention with the hands and feet was to show what the constant cold has done to its extremities, going through turquoise and dark blue through to midnight black on the talons and nails...

The ice spears on his back are formed with his icy touch, then thrown at an unsuspecting victim!

Getting this foot pose was difficult but looks great...

My very own hideous feet were used as reference while sculpting!

There is something about black toe nails that just makes my skin crawl!

The thread veins were deliberately varied as they don't all sit at the same level under the skin and can vary in size as well as colour

Layers of translucent paint and gloss varnish help the ice look more convincing

The same ice effect was used on the ice spears and the chunk being held in the left hand

I'm very pleased with the scatter foliage and tiny weeds pushing through the snow

 And Finally...

Once I'd got the skin tone and thread veins completed, I used a semi-transparent glow in the dark paint over all of the Frost Giant's pale skin areas to give the illusion of transparency and to tone down some of the darkest thread veins.  It also means that the Frost Giant glows in the dark!!


Taking pictures of things glowing in the dark proved difficult but you can just about make out his outline in the image!

Let me know what you think of this project in the comments section below - thanks for reading!

Frost Giant Progress!

A quick update on the Frost Giant...

The final sculpting is now complete on the Front giant.  I still need to add skin texturing and may need to tidy up a couple of areas, but he's otherwise finished!

Nashtah Pup Part 1

As I've been working on some pretty tricky sculpts lately, I thought I would share a couple of my little side projects as they're more interesting to the casual observer than me wittering on about how I've managed to perfect some tendons or toenails...

I like to give myself little side projects to break up my larger projects.  They can function as rewards for reaching milestones, but more importantly, they give me time to reflect on a project that I'm knee deep in.

I find that perspective is very important when working solidly on a single project for extended periods.  You can get so wrapped up in small details that you forget to stand back and view your project as everyone else will!

The Pup

Some time ago, I promised myself that I'd convert a Z-95 Headhunter from the X-Wing miniatures game (which is superb fun!) into the Nashtah Pup for my Hound's Tooth ship.  The Pup functions as an escape vehicle when its parent ship (The Hound's Tooth - piloted by good old Bossk) is destroyed in the game.

X-Wing miniatures are 1/270 scale, making conversions challenging but not impossible! 

Although it's effectively just a regular Z-95, I just couldn't resist the urge to repaint it as per the FFG card artwork, but also convert the miniature so that it could fold up its wings and 'dock' with the Hound's Tooth while not in play.