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

[Augustus b'Raass]

A Rhino?????

In this thread?? Yay!

As you know, Rhino's are amongst my favourite GW kits, and as you are amongst my favourite kitbashers and conversionists, I am thrilled to see where this goes. I love the interior you made for him - and just think that the floor could use a bit more detail. Either with filth, gore, and bones; or perhaps some kind of formed plasticard detailing? Whatever you do, there needs to be at least a couple of skulls in the corners on the floor. :tu: 

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the feedback and suggestions, everyone! Figuring out what to add to the empty side of the driver compartment gave me quite a headache, but I think I might have come up with a good compromise, which I'll be sharing with you all in a minute. Just a few general thoughts, before we get to that, though:

• dismembered corpses didn't really seem like an option to me, as they wouldn't really gel with the fluff of my World Eaters of vicious-but-still-at-least-somewhat-functional. It would also have looked weird next to that relatively clean cockpit setup, I'd say.
• trophies and a little shrine are definitely a cool idea, although I think I'll save those for the rear compartment of the Rhino (that is still completely pristine right now and could use a bit of personality)
• One thing I have been thinking about is a little ammo crate filled with skulls -- maybe that's where the squad keeps its trophies from the current battle? ;)
• the bare floor is a bit of a problem, as noted by Auggs -- I am thinking about ordering some diamond-patterned plasticard from Greenstuffworld to address that problem.

As for the actual tweaks I've made to the model recently:

 

First up, some more cleanup on the driver and his seat: There's now an actual steering column, for one:

 

 

 

 

And here's what the ensemble looks like with the front armour plate in place -- getting all of this to be a smooth fit was really more complicated than I would have expected

 

 

Now as for the other side, Wulfric's suggestion was definitely very helpful, and while I didn't manage to throw together an entire basket, I think this might be a pretty good compromise:

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, there's now a little metal platform directly underneath the top hatch. It hasn't been glued to the Rhino's roof yet, though, and on second thought, might work even better if turned around by 90 degrees:

 

 

So, what do you think? And which version works better? As always, I would love to hear your feedback!

Edited September 25, 2020 by KrautScientist

[Gederas]

I really like it. And I think the platform being turned by 90 degrees fits better. As before it looks like the driver couldn't exit the Rhino at all.

[Augustus b'Raass]

That's a cool solution, although my first thought was; how would the driver get out? Turning it 90° probably solves that problem. Can we see a shot from above, from the 90° turned step? 

 

Also, I see that you've made it with a patterned plasticard - can't you use the rest for the floor? No need to do an entire order from GSW just for 4cm², right?

[apologist]

Lovely development; it's a pleasure to see such attention being lavished on the Rhino.

 

I take your point that you want to avoid scattered bones and things, in order to keep some semblance of rationality in the army (makes a lot of sense – particularly for a vehicle driver!). That got me thinking; would you find any mileage in a semi-ritualistic element? I'm thinking in terms of the daemonic communication devices in Know No Fear. The Word Bearers there use fell sorcerous powers for eminently practical – almost mundane – purposes.

 

I'm picturing something like the head of Mímir from Norse myth; a skull or head set up as a sort of long-range auspex; built into the cockpit or hanging down near the driver. It could whisper (or shout!) strategic information that gives the World Eaters an insight into deployment patterns or somesuch.

 

Similarly, while scattered bones is too much, perhaps a brazier or other deliberate storage of bones might work? They could be coated in brass, as some sort of ward against enemy sorceries. I've always felt Khornate forces had a lot of potential for showing some of the inherent chaotic contradiction present in the Blood God: a disdain for sorcery doesn't inherently mean that no magic is used – merely that it's mainly focussed towards evening the field; stripping down enemy sorcerer's abilities or shielding the faithful of the Blood God (e.g. the brass collars).

 

Anyway, a bit of food for thought. Hope it's useful!

[Nomus Sardauk]

I'm picturing something like the head of Mímir from Norse myth; a skull or head set up as a sort of long-range auspex; built into the cockpit or hanging down near the driver. It could whisper (or shout!) strategic information that gives the World Eaters an insight into deployment patterns or somesuch.

I instantly got the mental image of the talking Shrunken Head hanging from the rear view mirror of the Knight Bus in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, joking and guiding his geriatric driver 'Ernie, I therefore strongly support this suggestion.

[Vairocanum]

So many posts to catch up on! Loving the tank driver and his cockpit, that head feels like a perfect fit!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Hey Krauty, I read on your blog that  MkIII lower legs under Blood Warrior torsos are a tad too small  - but wouldn't the method of cutting them horizontally in the middle and placing a 1or2mm plasticard part smoothened with putty solve that problem?

Also YUNO  visit my thready anymore? I miss you!  

[KrautScientist]

Phew, time for another update at last -- it's been a while...again...

 

@ Gederas & Vairocanum: Cheers, gents!

 

@ Auggs: Thanks for the comments, buddy! Regarding the floor on the tank: That textured piece I used for the little platform actually isn't plasticard, but a bit from the Space Marine Trike. I don't own any patterned plasticard (yet), so if I want to use it for the cockpit floor, I'll still have to pick up some of the stuff.

 

As for your question regarding the legs: Yeah, that might actually go a ways towards making them fit the scale of the Blood Warriors a bit better, but then you should know me well enough by now to realise that I would never use an approach that involved -- what's more, extending the legs like that calls for an amount of meticulousness and exactness that is just beyond me. I'm a quick-and-dirty (and fairly improvised) kind of converter, after all.

 

@ apologist & Nomus Sardauk: Hmm, that dangling head serving as a navigator of sorts would even provide a perfect shout out to Monkey Island, too.

 

God, I'm old...

 

Anyway, what I like about this idea is that a head like that could also be somewhat ambiguous: Is it an artifact, whispering forbidden truths and hidden secrets? Is it a chaotic version of an auspex? Or is it the skull of a killed victim or old comrade in arms of the driver, speaking to him in his ravaged mind (like the skulls Arrian Zorzi wears on his breastplate, or the demented protagonist in the BL short story "Enyalius, in Memoriam". Anyway, I think I'll give the head a try...

 

 

As for current events, I've had almost no hobby time to speak of, but I have managed to sneak in a bit of World Eaters kitbashing here and there:

 

 

I think this must be the third version of this particular model, but now I finally like the result -- it should have been obvious from the start that the addition of a second chainaxe would solve the problem. Like this, the model also makes for a pretty nice shout out to one of the very first models I built from when I first bought the plastic berzerker kit (some 20-ish years ago).

 

Then there's this chap:

 

 

 

Aw, man, those stupid running legs nearly killed me -- nothing looked right when combined with them, but I am finally feeling happy with this version of the model. Plus the guy also happens to resemble the ancient mono-pose plastic berzerkers a fair bit. He's just way more dynamic

 

And finally, this is still a fairly early WIP, but I already like where this is going:

 

 

It feels like there should really always be more gladiatorial, slightly weird cc weapons in a World Eaters army, so this model uses a Havoc body and some Corpsegrinder arms and gladiatorial shoulder pads (both sent to me by Augustus b'Raass earlier this year -- cheers, buddy!).

 

So here are the three together in one shot:

 

 

And my current to-do-list, so to speak. *Sigh*

 

 

As always, let me know what you think!

Edited November 16, 2020 by KrautScientist

[BadgersinHills]

I like them!! The havoc based conversion is really great. 

[Augustus b'Raass]

Nine out of nine are perfect, just as planned.

Wait, what? NO! 

You really should paint at least one - because this isn't going anywhere good, numerically speaking. 

I really like all three. The first one because who doesn't love a guy with two chain axes - the second one because you did get it right (my rule of thumb with running legs is always to put the arm forward that is the opposite end of the forward leg, having the weapon in that arm face over the other shoulder, and the head looking over that arm's shoulder to the side. I'll post an example in hidden brackets) and the last one because well - he's armed with a jigsaw on a rope that is. It also, admittedly, have something to do with the fact that you used two of the bits I sent you, together on the same miniature, while those bits come from completely different manufacturers and from completely different time zones in my hobby life (the shoulder pads are from waaaaay back in 2011 when I was getting back into the hobby and the CGC arms are, well, super recent). 

Keep it up buddy! And don't forget to visit and comment on my old thready once in a while! I miss you!

Hidden example fo weird explanation regarding my running poses. 

Hidden Content

From my Imperial Fists Assault Squad See how the sergeant doesn't follow the rule and looks awkward? Hence the rule.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Imperial%20Fists/09ebd16f-b5e4-4f5b-83f6-85c0be0cb858_zpsckz6cels.jpg

Edited November 28, 2020 by Augustus b'Raass

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, guys!

 

@ Auggs: Believe it or not, buddy: Not only was I quite aware of the fact that the relation between the arm pose and the leg pose was a bit of a hobby horse of yours, I was actually literally thinking of your lessons on the matter (delievered in person during my visit to Amsterdam, in fact!) when I was working on this guy -- in fact, that was what made me tear apart the WIP model in frustration five or six times before finally settling on the version I posted -- I hope you are proud of yourself

 

For the record,I do think it's possible to deviate from the rule you pointed every now and then, within reason. but there seemed to be absolutely no leeway for this particular pair of legs -- in fact, most of the models I've seen online using the bit end up looking slightly off for exactly this reason. Anyway, I am fairly happy with the pose of the running guy now -- even moreso because it was such a hassle putting him together

 

A small update for today: I have added some minor detail to the three models (grenades, pouches, trophy skulls -- the works):

 

 

 

 

I am kinda happy with the use of the Ork skull, to be honest

 

Also, there's this guy:

 

 

 

He has just been blue-tac'ed together for now, but I realised I didn't have a single model carrying some severed heads yet, and clearly, such a travesty simply cannot be allowed to stand!

 

Anyway, as always, just let me know what you think!

Edited November 20, 2020 by KrautScientist

[BadgersinHills]

Nice stuff.  So lovely to see them. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by BadgersinHills

[apologist]

Glorious – skulls for Khorne! 

Idle musing, but have you considered recreating the old skull helmeted World Eaters assault marines, with one bare arm and one bare leg? Just struck me as something that would:

• Help get you out of the Tzeentch trap of nine
• Make use of spare bare legs from Age of Sigmar miniatures
• Please Khorne.

(Although, now that I think about it... is this something that you've already done?)

[grailkeeper]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/09/23/these-khorne-team-stats-let-you-master-the-art-of-grievous-violence-on-the-gridiron/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=Facebook&utm_term=BloodBowlKhorne23092021&utm_content=BloodBowlKhorne23092021

 

 

Can't wait to see what you do with these guys.

[Syrakul]

You are doing the Lord [of Skulls]'s work!

 

Bloody Amen!

 

 

How long are the corpse grinder arms? Longer than CSM?

[Montuhotep]

It's pretty much a year since he last posted, guys; I don't think you'll get an answer anytime soon.

[KrautScientist]

I LIVE. I HUNGER.

 

"To those who find this message:
Let this be our testament:

We sought to emulate our father
To break ourselves upon the same anvil
In that, we succeeded
Like him, we were transformed
Thus we were reborn


There are no words in all of Old Terra's dead tongues
To name the things we have become
And there is no way back from the precipice


To those who find this message:
Do not follow."

 

- Presumed last message of XII Legion warship "Aeterna Venator" before leaving Imperial space, early M31 -

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by KrautScientist

[Khornestar]

Nice to see you back at it again. Cool stuff.

[apologist]

A very welcome return – what a wonderful collection of teasers!

[Soldier of Dorn]

This is not an email notification I expected to see! Brilliant stuff as ever. 

[Grotsmasha]

most excellent....

[frankendoodle65]

I was wondering if the new khorne beserker kit would bring you out from hiding! Absolutely love those first two guys, looking forward to seeing more pictures.

[Evil Eye]

Oh yes, now this is something I'm glad to see!

 

A welcome return to the fold, brother.

[Naryn]

Love these new figures, i really missed seeing your work. Good to have you back!