Dark Vengeance Rune Priest - Wot I did

Nothing too complicated about what I did here tbh.. most of it was scraping off icons and adding wolfy bitz..

The starting bits....

and with icons removed.. heres a tip, use plastic glue.. the thin stuff we used to call "liquid poly" to melt surfaces clean and smooth....

the wolf arm and the donor sword.. I left it as a sword instead of using an axe mainly because I liked the sword.. I did make some modifications to the hilt to make it more "celtic"

the backpack got some donor parts to wolf it up.

and once the chap was all kitbashed and assembled i set to making some fur..

Here he is in primer...

I'm fairly confident I could set this guy up for any chapter, so it seems my fears about the usefulness of the DV box may have been exaggerated...

Wot I did: The Redmaw Conversion

Calling this a “Wot I did” rather than a tutorial as it’s literally a “i did this” rather than a “you should proceed thus”. as a teacher, I see a difference :)

I’ll still tag it as a tutorial though, and you should feel free to take away from this anything you want or are able to :)

So, I started with my two donor models:

 

Which today is a Thunderwolf mount, and an old Mornheim Skaven Rat Ogre. though anything with humanoid but still beastly hands and claws would do as well I think.

I wanted to work from a Thunderwolf because of the fluff…

+++SpoilerSpoilerSpoiler+++ (dont shout at me if this spoils you!)

what with Thunderwolves basically being Astartes who have lost the fight with the Canis Helix, ultimately, Bran will end up properly on all fours and drooling, but for now he can hold it halfway.. that’s what I wanted… anyway.. onwards.

++Spoiler over++

first, I chop the Thunderwolf in half.

Using Magic Sculpt I put a base together and pinned the lower torso (and it’s new feet) to it, I also pin the arms into the torse, bulking it out with Magic Sculp to hold the heavy white metal limbs safely to the plastic torso.

Once this is set up, (about 2 hours) I do the same thing with the upper and lower torso, putting much more bend in the waist than the original Thunderwolf body had.

 

With the head in place this gives me the basic form, although it looks very stitched together right now.

So, time for the Greenstuff!

 

That’s My usual sculpting set up, though for this sculpt a few of those tools get used far more than others. the one at the bottom of the picture is my “go-to” for cutting and placing putty on the model, the one above it has the perfect triangular tip for shaping fur GW style, the clay shapers in the image are largely used for smooth putty before i start to add any desired detail.

Vaseline keeps my tools lubed.. that’s about it. the mounted needle and the bladed metal tool weren't needed for this work.

the putty goes on in stages, first any large forms get blocked out, the torso in this case is made to look a little more humanoid, then the two major joins are covered, and rough fur is sculpted to blend them into the figure.

 

Next we sculpt yet more fur over any joins and to help blend new forms into the figure, this is where you need to take great care not to smudge work already done, and why I usually let most work set up in between changing locations on the model

 

And here he is, a blast of primer homogenises the colours so you can more clearly judge the form, at this stage often you need to do more blending work over seams and transitions.

More picture available on the first post, and paint will soon be forthcoming.

thanks for reading, and I hope that helped someone :)

Wolf Scout Conversions Painted

 
Fairly happy with how these guys have come out, as they were a bit of a compromise between speed and quality, also, going in, I wasn't sure how to approach them, I toyed with using some camo.. but it wasn't right, in the end I went for a slightly muted version of a “normal” Space wolves paint job.
 
the Squad is rolling heavy with melta bombs, plasma pistols and a melta gun.. I do have the parts to make five more of these guys, and will probably, with the exception of a wulfen model, do them “vanilla” to give me a cheaper deployment option.
anyway, individual pics incoming.
 


 





 
thanks for dropping by to take a look at these!

Bran Redmaw WiP (2)

Plus a size comparison with the Redmaw model as it’s been requested.

So, here’s my current thinking on Bran..

Again it’s blu-tak..  I’ve kept the pose essentially the same as the widely preferred pose from the previous post. I changed both the torso and legs, because I wanted something a little less “trimmed up” in order that I can add a fur loincloth and a much larker dynamic fur cloak to the model without overwhelming the detail.

I've also got a different head here, as I want to GS a beard.. and maybe hair (might keep him bald, let me know) all to generally increase the wildness and furryness of this bloke. I’m also thinking about painting that wolf on his chest the same colour as the wolf he becomes (once I decide on that)

So yeah, let me know what you reackon.. I’ll be starting sculpting the GS and actually using glue soon :)

oh and yeah, he’s on a very tall base, I kinda like to do that for my commanders, and it was more necessary with him as the Redmaw’s base is quite stacked too.

This way, their feet are about the same level. he’s about sixteen feet tall scalewise (2x a marine on an equal footing) that means though that over a marine on a shallower base he positively towers…

  

..and finally from eye level so you can see what I mean :)

A skinwolf might have been a better fit.. but as I haven't got to any FW events this year.. and don't fancy buying 3.. I went with making my own. I’m still fairly happy with him, and I’ll certainly use him at least until FW get thier asses in gear and release one. tbh so far all else I’ve seen in use is skinwolves (with chaos insignia intact!) or Orobos wolves,anyway, paint soon..

..thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts!

Bran Redmaw – First thoughts

So Bran. Lovely set of rules, which are covered extensively elsewhere on the web, but to summarise, Decent wolf lord, good in CC, frost weapon axe type thing rerolling wounds..And he turns into what is basically a Demon Prince when he’s pissed off. okay, that’s good, I'll buy that…

..oh but wait.. he can outflank if you put him with wolves. and if you go that way, then once he “turns” he can benefit from the unit’s fleet.. oh and he allows you to give outflank to a GH pack too.

So I need this guy. and typically with awesome FW rules, there’s no model yet.

Conversion/Kitbash time!

I blu-takked some initial thoughts together –

I’m going to do much greenstuffing of pelts, and while I like the calm, assured nature of this model/pose, I fear I might need to try and go balls-out feral with this guy.. dunno, he IS all about patience, control until the right time.. hrm

‘course one can always go in a different direction and “use the pointyfinger” for a classic GW captain style pose..




again, much GS to follow.. just looking for his form I guess..

..and then there’s the “use both Hands” option..

(Bigger axehead goes here)

I did think about using a nice dynamic sculpt like Khan as the basis of this, but ya know, he’s mail order only.. and metal.. How hard do I want this to be? especially when the minute I finish him the FW release will happen :)

Anyway I thought I’d let you guys see every stage and fettle of this to see what I play with before I get to a place I am happy and reach for the glue.

I’m also more than happy to entertain comment/notions from you. although I reserve the right to carry on regardless :)