Khorne's Eternal Hunt - KrautScientist's chaotic WIP thread: Fine-tuning Eightbound...

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, guys! :)

 

That canister backpack was actually a bit of a last minute addition: I originally had a bog-standard CSM backpack on there, but that just seemed a bit lazy, so... ;)

 

@ Bjorn Firewalker: Cheers, mate! It's a really easy recipe, too, which makes me all the happier that it seems to work pretty well!

 

@ Gederas: Aye, but this guy is even stockier than your usual Plague Marine ;)

 

@ Auggs: Well spotted regarding that boil! I'll deal with it ASAP. Also, let me take a moment to state that your idea of using thinned-down BftBG this way is just brilliant! :)

 

@ PBB: Those twigs are actually an addition of mine to push the "Garden of Nurgle" vibe I want to achieve for the warband.

 

So here are some additional pictures of the Plague Marine, taken in slightly better lighting conditions (although still not ideal -- I am perfectly aware of the hypocrisy of demanding better pictures over on PBB's thread a minute ago):

 

 

 

 

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

Looks really great man and I love the growths on the poxwalker. Are they from an AoS dryad kit or something? It's really effective, really makes them stand appart from the usual, great stuff.

 

It's funny because I know you from your Khorne nstuff and Augs for his Nurgle but now you've nswitched roles and are still producing fantastic content!

[Urauloth]

I love that blightking. The dryad branches are a really nice idea, too - I've used those for horns, but it never occured to me to have them growing straight out of plaguebearers like that. It looks great!

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, guys! :)

 

So, some final touches on the Plague Marine, and finally some pictures taken in proper daylight:

 

First up, here are the Poxwalkers and Plaguebearer again (I fixed the second model's back, as per Augustus's very helpful suggestion):

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the Plague Marine, just about finished now, except for his base:

 

 

 

 

And here are the models together, in what may become the germ cell, as it were, of an eventual warband, kill team or Death Guard army:

 

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Augustus b'Raass]

I think they look swell! And I apologize for the horrible pun! 

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

They look really fantastic, what are the plans for the rest of the team?

[Midnightmare]

Do like the rusted metal!

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

Love the backpack bit. Very clever use of the promethium tanks and the chaos backpack "wings". Also, really digging the smoldering helmet eye lenses.

[sockwithaticket]

The worm/tentacle arm is particularly horrible in the right way.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Happy Christmas, Krauty! Let us plan a meetup sometime in the spring/summer of 2019, alright?

Thanks for another inspiring year. Will you be doing your annual 'Best of the Year' write-up? :)

[Gederas]

Happy Christmas, Krauty! Let us plan a meetup sometime in the spring/summer of 2019, alright?

 

Thanks for another inspiring year. Will you be doing your annual 'Best of the Year' write-up?

He's already doing it on his blog. And I have to say, something he posted jumps at me:

 

 

Whenever you read blogs or browse through threads you like and that inspire you: PLEASE COMMENT! Please engage with the stuff you see on those blogs, threads and forums. Don’t just lurk, don’t just click “Like” — please get involved!

It's so true

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the kind words, everyone, and happy new year!

 

Gederas is quite right, I've been doing a couple of writeups over at my blog serving as recaps for 2018 as a hobby year. There's this one that points you towards lots of awesome hobby projects from different hobbyists (many frater from this board among them, I might add). And I have also recently finished a recap of my own hobby year. As a sneak peak, here's a look at everything I've managed to paint during 2018:

 

 

In case you're interested, head on over to my blog for the full story.

 

I haven't been all that productive over the holiday, to be honest. But I still have some smaller things to share with you. First of all, there are a few more conversions for my Nurglite cult, the Keepers of the Eternal Garden: My current plan is to have a couple of additional Poxwalkers, then some slightly more human cult-members, and possibly the cult leader, an individual known as "the Horticulturalist". Beyond that, I imagine there will be some more Plague Marines and Death Guard models -- let's see. For now, here's the next batch of Poxwalkers. Another ten have already been assembled/converted, while I have about another half-dozen still on sprue.

 

 

Nearly all of these have been tweaked in some way: In some cases, this just meant twisting some arms a bit or turning a head here and there, to support the already rather contorted, spastic look of the stock models.

In other cases, the changes are a bit more involved:

 

 

As you can see, some of the Poxwalkers are now wielding what looks like gardening implements, as an attempt to tie them into the cult’s overall theme (while also giving them a somewhat sinister medieval vibe). The middle guy takes the concept of branches erupting from the infected body to its logical conclusion — there’s probably a daemonic relative of Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis at work here (and I couldn’t resist incorporating some of the inspiration I had taken from The Last of Us).

 

There's also another thing I am currently working on, a piece of terrain, of all things. I am completing this for the monthly hobby challenge over at Azazel's blog, something that has helped me immensely when it came to painting neglected stuff last year, and I definitely want to keep it up. So I am currently working on the crashed aquila lander from the old Battle for Maccrage boxed set:

 

 

I've had those pieces for ages, and as you can see, some of them have been subjected to a prior, mostly unsuccessful attempt at painting them -- what was I thinking. Now for the second attempt, I've made some small tweaks to the piece with the cockpit:

 

 

Something that has always bothered me about this otherwise cool terrain piece is its complete hollowness, so I knew I needed to add in a pilot as well as the suggestion of a cockpit, so I whipped something up with a couple of leftover bitz:

 

 

The same hollowness also leads to the rear of the piece ending in a massive hole. Of course I had to close that off as well, both to make it look less awkward overall and to camouflage the fact that there's no real interior and also not a full cockpit, as I merely built the parts that you can see from the outside. So I added in a hatch (from an old model truck kit) and tied it into the rest of the design with a few bitz:

 

 

While the whole ensemble looks pretty improvised when you look behind the curtain, so to speak,...

 

 

...the rear hatch has the added benefit of covering it all up, so when the terrain piece sits on a flat surface, you only really see the elements you are supposed to see.

 

Everything has already been undercoated, which ties it all together rather nicely:

 

 

 

 

 

So yeah, that's it for today. As always, let me know what you think!

Edited January 6, 2019 by KrautScientist

[Pearson73]

Adding in the pilot makes a big difference to the lander, the gaping hollowness was something that always stood out to me as well.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you've got planned for this year (will check out your blog post shortly); I'm a big fan of the Poxwalker with the branch sprouting from his back.

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

Cool, I also have this bit of terrain unfinished and until just now forgotten about! I think this year will be terrain year for me, finish all the stuff I've started.

 

Looking forward to seeing this crashed lander all painted up!

[Soldier of Dorn]

Like Pearson, I'm a big fan of the branch'd Poxwalker -- the greater change to the silhouette from the humanoid base creates something deeply unsettling, far more so than the normal Poxwalkers with their small (relative to the branch) growths and shambling zombie forms.

 

The additions to the crashed Valkyrie are perfect -- really help sell the model with those finishing touches. Absolutely great work.

[DuskRaider]

Wow... Kraut, I'm honored to have your mention and praise. It's especially humbling to have it done along with the best and brightest in this hobby (also a little embarrassing seeing how horrible my pictures are compared to their professional layouts lol). I hope I can inspire others as you and many others on here and elsewhere have inspired me throughout the years!

 

I'm loving the thematic tone you've used with your Poxwalkers, like they've been corrupted by the gifts of Grandfather and as a result now tend to His sprawling garden of rot. I saw this moss-like stuff from Mig I think? that may look really cool growing on their flesh as well. By the time I saw someone using it on some terrain on the Inquisitorium via FB my Knight was already done so I never had the chance to use it, but it may come in handy with your project and their theme. I'll see if I can find where it was and get more info if you're interested. I also like the idea of having the flora actually sprouting from the undead bodies.

 

The Lander is looking great so far. It always bothered me it was hollow and it looks like you've found a convincing solution.

 

Edit: Found it! The guy had put down some AK Interactive Slime for the color, then once dry applied a gloss varnish. While it's wet he sprinkled finely sieved foam flock into it and pressed it in with his fingers, then applied more gloss varnish. He also used AK Interactive Moss Deposits. More info HERE.

Edited January 7, 2019 by DuskRaider

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the feedback, guys! :)

 

Regarding the Poxwalkers, I have to admit that I already like the stock models a great deal: They may seem a little goofy at first, but the quality of the sculpts as well as the way they really do look like victims of Nurglite diseases really sell them. That being said, it's always great to add a little something to properly make the models my own, and the whole gardening/plant/fungus infection angle was just the ticket for that. Plus the guy with the huge branch had a really weird and awkward looking tentacle arm before, so it was a great occasion to fix a slightly off-beat model ;)

 

@ DuskRaider: Hm, that's a really cool idea with the moss! Cheers for bringing it up! As for being featured in my post, it was well deserved -- do you understand now why I was asking for better pictures, though? ;)

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

Excellent additions Kraut. I really like the garden tool theme. I also really enjoyed your year in review... didn't even know about all those wordpress blogs. Definitely going to check them out. As to your point about better pictures.... what's your formula? I have a good iphone + a light box and I still can't seem to take a decent picture. I'm sure all of us would appreciate some advise.

[Kizzdougs]

Nice work on the Poxwalker conversions! The conversion work definitely makes them stand out, but in a way that looks natural and characterful :tu:

[Greenz]

Terrific and inspiring work, as always Kraut! Those poxwalkers are fantastic. I love the small additions youve made to them. Very subtle, yet very Nurgle(y). And I could gush all day about the paint on those walkers, especially the pustules and the texture on the one guys arm tentacle :tu:

 

And I can’t quite make out what you’ve added to the tanks on the marines back. But it’s a great detail!

[DuskRaider]

@ DuskRaider: Hm, that's a really cool idea with the moss! Cheers for bringing it up! As for being featured in my post, it was well deserved -- do you understand now why I was asking for better pictures, though?

 

I know 

 

I really need to get a lightbox and I've been saying it for years but I think I'm going to order one on Amazon tonight. It won't fit an entire ar,y of Knights in it but it'll be better than what I've currently got.

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

I'm also enjoying the progress on these guys, the are a lot of fun, nice subtle conversions and fantastic colour scheme. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the bases.

 

@Duskraider

Lightbox?... Man, you should see my setup. It's a big pice of paper, clothes pegged to the back of a laptop screen, with two bits of white card leaning against it. To stop it curling up i have to sit my roll of sculpting tools on it. Everything I do is on so budget and shody XD. I really like everyone else's textured backgrounds and Kraut's props too. I just need to figure something out.

[RobWrath]

All the models are looking great as always, conversions and painting. I always enjoy your painting because it is very much not 'Eavy Metal but is still really neat and the models just end up looking great, and full of character. It's something I'd certainly like to emulate.

 

 

I'm also enjoying the progress on these guys, the are a lot of fun, nice subtle conversions and fantastic colour scheme. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the bases.

@Duskraider
Lightbox?... Man, you should see my setup. It's a big pice of paper, clothes pegged to the back of a laptop screen, with two bits of white card leaning against it. To stop it curling up i have to sit my roll of sculpting tools on it. Everything I do is on so budget and shody XD. I really like everyone else's textured backgrounds and Kraut's props too. I just need to figure something out.

 

I've found a blank sheet of paper gives a decent background as long as the lighting is good.

What I need to figure out is how to make my pictures bigger - anyone got any advice?

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

Bigger? You need a good camera (high megapixle) I use my mother's borrowed SLR but I mean most phones these days have more than enough. It's all about the resolution right? If you blow it up with that it will look pixilated. Buy high resolution mean you can crop if you want and still have a big detailed photo.

 

What's you're set up like Kraut, can we get a behind the scenes of your next shoot or will that destroy the magic?

Edited January 9, 2019 by Pandoras Bitz Box

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the feedback, guys! :)

 

Regarding the issue of photography, I am actually a bit reluctant to give out hints, but mostly because my setup is actually far from ideal, and I would say my photos aren't actually all that great :) But anyway:

 

• I take virtually all of my hobby related photos with my phone these days (Iphone 5S, so it's not even up to date). The most important thing is to make sure you nail down the ideal distance for the photo: not so far away as for everything to blur together, but not so close that the closest models become a blur. It's easy enough to experiment with, however -- and even better if your phone/photo app actually allows for tweaking the aperture, exposure time etc. GW's own published guidelines on their page should help a lot.
• as for my background setup, I actually keep things simple, mostly because I am such a lazy sod: I use an old Bloodthirster cardboard box as a solid base for everything to sit on, and a pice of black/dark grey fabric as a standard background. For bigger setups, I default back to an old roll of cork wallpaper. For shots with extra props, I use a Final Fantasy XII guidebook (that has a nice, leatherbound look with a map design).
• as for the lights, while I realise I should get some proper lighting equipment, I mostly just wait until it's a reasonably sunny day, then head outside to take my photos. Be advised, however, that this is far from ideal from a technical standpoint, because natural light is pretty fickle and hard to reproduce, plus it can add a hue to your photos.
• Oh, and I tweak all of my photos afterwards (in Photoshop, but freeware software like GIMP works just as well), tweaking the brightness and contrast a bit, usually by simply applying Photoshop's "auto-contrast" and "auto-brightness", unless I want to create something more involved.

For those of you who are interested, there's also a short tutorial on glitzing up your photos here, although the Pixlr editor I mention no longer works as an offline version. Anyway, hope this helps! :)