=x Space Pirates x= | Now featuring: Captain Silver

[Brother Aiwass]

It's been a while, but I managed to find some time for the hobby. Currently I'm a bit distressed by real life problems and can't focus on anything really (well, that is, less than the usual) so I decided to put the Rex on hold for the moment and do something smaller and less complicated, a conversion of a Thunder Warrior.

 

 

Not super happy with the GS work, but that's the best I can do atm.

 

Cheers.

[KrautScientist]

That's actually a pretty neat conversion so far, mate! Very Tech-Barbarian warlord, which I think is a great style for Thunder Warriors -- and is that a Space Crusade Ork gun right ther? Excellent!

 

What are you planning for the head?

[Brother Aiwass]

Thanks Kraut for the kind words. The visuals I'm going after are the ones engraved on my mind thanks to John Blanche. As this is supposed to be an officer/chieftain I will try to replicate the one in this illustration:

 

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/0/0a/Thunder_Warrior_Captain.jpg

 

Which by the way, is the one who inspired me to do the mini. Well spotted on the gun sir!

[KrautScientist]

Yeah, I kinda suspected you were going for something along those lines ;) There's another JB illustration of a Thunder Warriors standard bearer, come to think of it, wearing something that looks like a proto Mk. VII Astartes helmet...

 

But if you are going for that somewhat mongolian looking helmet from the illustration above, maybe the grotesk worn by the Dark Vengeance cultist champ might be a good start for a facemask? Some of the older WFB Dwarf kits also came with faceplate decorations as extra bitz -- I have a few of those knocking about, I believe, so if you're interested...

[~Drakzilla~]

Whoa, thunder warrior looks great! Really captures the old school space marine look.

 

If you're having trouble greenstuffing the fur, maybe try pressing some greenstuff on the plastic fur cloak, letting it harden, and then using that as a sort of mold? Could be worth a shot.

[Brother Aiwass]

Yeah, I kinda suspected you were going for something along those lines There's another JB illustration of a Thunder Warriors standard bearer, come to think of it, wearing something that looks like a proto Mk. VII Astartes helmet...

 

But if you are going for that somewhat mongolian looking helmet from the illustration above, maybe the grotesk worn by the Dark Vengeance cultist champ might be a good start for a facemask? Some of the older WFB Dwarf kits also came with faceplate decorations as extra bitz -- I have a few of those knocking about, I believe, so if you're interested...

 

I think you mean this one:

 

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/a/ae/Thunder_Warrior.jpg

 

And could be a life saver if at some point I actually start an army of them (or just a squad, really). And thanks for the offer! really appreciated ^_^, if you  want to get rid of one of those mask would be awesome, thanks a lot!

 

Whoa, thunder warrior looks great! Really captures the old school space marine look.

 

If you're having trouble greenstuffing the fur, maybe try pressing some greenstuff on the plastic fur cloak, letting it harden, and then using that as a sort of mold? Could be worth a shot.

 

Thank you Drakzilla :D

 

My main concern is not the fur (but nice advice, I'm gonna use it!) but the supposed "chainmail" skirt of the dude. Hopefully, I have some really old metal sketetons and kislev lancer covered with chainmail, and for sure I'm gonna use you arvice here (and also with the fur coat).

 

Cheers!

[Brother Aiwass]

Little update. After a couple of hours carving heads to make the Thunder Warrior head, finally decided to test fit another one (the metal head need lots of more work and GS, so if I finally finish it, will be for (maybe) another Thunder Officer.

 

This one is going to be my "count as" Endryd Haar.

 

 

Needs more decorations. Maybe another shield in the right shoulder pad or even a skull or some medal-kind stuff. Is also missing a ceremonial sword in his right side.

 

Now I'm debating myself about the paint scheme. It gonna be grey as they're supposed to be? (But that would maybe made him to look a bit Space Wolf) Or yellow-orange (too Imperial Fist perhaps?) or even golden-bronze like in the Blanche artwork? Or even raw steel with gold decorations?

 

Every scheme have its perks, the non-metallic ones as I said before maybe make him to look legion related, the metallic ones are difficult because a: is not easy to achieve a realistic metal look and b: is difficult to add battle damage (besides weathering, which I don't want to add neither verdigris nor rust). So any suggestion/recipe about the painting is more than welcome.

 

In other news:

 

Edited August 24, 2016 by Maximvs

[Brother Aiwass]

 I had a little free time this morning and started to test some paint. I went for a bronze color, and after looking at some real bronze armor examples, I decided to try and make a worn bronze effect.

 

My inspiration comes from this samples:

 

http://www.thefakebusters.com/greek%20bronze%20helmets/pics%20Greek%20bronze%20helmets/chalcidian/72701.jpg

http://www.thefakebusters.com/greek%20bronze%20helmets/pics%20Greek%20bronze%20helmets/chalcidian/67959.jpg

 

To achieve this I tried with the sponge technique and almost succeeded, then I messed it up with gold. Next time will try mixing little amounts of gold in the tin bitz. Damn me.

 

 

Decided to do another approach, using the wash technique. I think the result is rather good on the metal quality (not on the cleanness :P ) although is not what I was looking for in the beginning, it may work.

 

 

What do you think?

[bluntblade]

I like that gold

[KrautScientist]

I think the bronze recipe is really promising, and it should really give the model that certain Pre-unificaton vibe, especially if you combine it with dark red for the cloth -- a colour scheme hinting at the warrior's Imperial allegiance and at the look of the Custodians that came later, yet more utilitarian and weather-beaten, to underline the Thunder Warriors' nature as flawed prototypes and a genetic stopgap solution.

 

As for the helmet, I know I was the one to suggest an Astartes-style helmet in the first place, based on that artwork, but it almost looks too Space Marine-y now. A couple of alternative ideas, off the top of my head:

 

• the slightly more knightly looking helmets from the power armoured Grey Knights might work, giving the model a slightly more baroque look without losing the Astartes vibe altogether
• a FW Khorne Berzerker helmet with the bunny ears shaved off might be an interesting idea...
• or you go bareheaded on this guy, but with a decidedly non-Astartes head (the very disheveleded looking Empire flagellant heads come to mind, particulary the bald, heavily scarred one).

Anyway, this is a really promising project!

[Brother Aiwass]

I like that gold

Well, thank you ^^ it's just an accident, I will try to improve it to make it more realistic.

 

I think the bronze recipe is really promising, and it should really give the model that certain Pre-unificaton vibe, especially if you combine it with dark red for the cloth -- a colour scheme hinting at the warrior's Imperial allegiance and at the look of the Custodians that came later, yet more utilitarian and weather-beaten, to underline the Thunder Warriors' nature as flawed prototypes and a genetic stopgap solution.

 

As for the helmet, I know I was the one to suggest an Astartes-style helmet in the first place, based on that artwork, but it almost looks too Space Marine-y now. A couple of alternative ideas, off the top of my head:

 

• the slightly more knightly looking helmets from the power armoured Grey Knights might work, giving the model a slightly more baroque look without losing the Astartes vibe altogether
• a FW Khorne Berzerker helmet with the bunny ears shaved off might be an interesting idea...
• or you go bareheaded on this guy, but with a decidedly non-Astartes head (the very disheveleded looking Empire flagellant heads come to mind, particulary the bald, heavily scarred one).

Anyway, this is a really promising project!

 

Thanks Kraut!

 

It's really a very simple recipe (codex grey washed with thraka green, then a thin layer of tin bitz washed with griphonne sepia and spot washing of thraka green (for the verdigris corrosion) and blood red spot washing). I certainly aim to match the artwork at some point, painting the leather stripes and clothes in deep red, with some touches of bare steel (chainmail, chains, tubes and wiring).

 

Thinking about the head options (I'm going to buy some heads at some point, will take for sure some GK and the flagellant one that you suggested) I have a bunch of Zerker heads lying around then the ugly-as-hell skull zerker head called my name. If I'm able with my godawful GS skills to add eyebrows, a goblin like nose and grinning lips I think I can achieve the mongolian mask, might the warp assist me!

[Brother Aiwass]

Hi dudebros,some updates here. Bad ones, but still.

 

I did the same steps but the end result is somewhat different.

 

Here you can see the basic stage: codex grey with a thrakka green wash, prior the brasseing,

 

And then after applying some tin bitz.

 

 

Here with gryphone sepia and red wash (the leather red looks pinky because I was unable to find my mechrite red and I used gore red.

 

I don't know why the brass don't look the same, so the most probable thing to happen is strip the paint and start over again. Also as a note to myself, I need to learn that is better to paint stuff piece by piece (i.e. arms, torso, legs and pauldrons separately, because is really annoying to do when assembled.

 

TL;DR. More fails than hits when painting.

 

As for the head, yeah no. Definitely out of my GS league. I tried to make a mongolian-type mask, but the details are so small that I can't even. Here's a sample:

 

 

I will try a different approach next time. That is, following KS advice.

 

P.S: All of this was did in a rush for paint, in barely 2 hrs, just because my OCD told me so. I noticed mold lines that I didn't noticed before, lack of details and the forced paintjob is barely tabletop standard.

 

Take care, see you soon!

[Andvarr A]

"METAL GEAR...?!"

 

...

 

Sorry, I had to ;)

 

Like Isengrin, I got the Metal Gear Rex vibe before I even saw your explanation, so you seem to be doing alright ;) One piece of advice, though: While I like your kitbashed pilot, I think the Marine head clashes with the Eisenkern body, mostly because it seems too clunky and badly proportioned. I'd either try to use a Space Marine torso or turn the pilot into a non-Astartes auxiliar with a different head. Just my two cents...

"It's a military black budget project, so we don't have to listen to those bleeding -heart liberals on the military oversight committee"

 

"Fox die"

 

Sorry...flashbacks...

 

Base of operations should be shadow moses

[Andvarr A]

That's actually a pretty neat conversion so far, mate! Very Tech-Barbarian warlord, which I think is a great style for Thunder Warriors -- and is that a Space Crusade Ork gun right ther? Excellent!

 

What are you planning for the head?

Sperse cresserde....ermagerd!!!

 

That thunder marine looks pretty bad ass

[Brother Aiwass]

Well, thanks. I'm pretty sure you didn't see him painted :lol:

 

Every second I'm more and more decided to strip him and start over. Poor dude.

[Andvarr A]

Well sometimes starting again is all we can do...tip for chainmail if you are going again...

 

Roll the gs out flat between a non stick surface and then let it slightly cure before using a cocktail stick to press into it at intervals to give the effect you're looking for...

 

....hope that helps

[Brother Aiwass]

Cheers pal! As I'm going to tear the model apart, I'll try your suggestion (is not it can get any worst :lol: taking in account my GS-fu).

 

Thanks for the tip buddy!

[Andvarr A]

It's one from an old old old issue of white dwarf...when they re did chaos warriors in multipart plastic, and started doing conversions...that's one thing I remember is that.

 

It may look like wavy lines when you first start, but the more you build on it, the more it will look like chainmail.

[Charlo]

Dem pauldrons tho.

 

Cool plog!

[Brother Aiwass]

Cheers Charlo! Thanks ^_^

 

And sorry for the lack of updates. My life is a mess right now (I'm trying to not loose contact with the hobby and the community here, but can't do hobby stuff :( )

 

In Dec. *crossfingers* I hope to get back if things go well.

[gideon stargreave]

MOAR THUNDER!

 

good stuff, great to see more people boarding the unification train

[Brother Aiwass]

Sorry for they very delayed answer gideon, to be honest, I didn't noticed that was a reply on it

 

Rest assured, it will be some more TW in the future, I'm currently -finally!- working on the set up of the workshop on my new home. Hopefully, it will be done tomorrow and I can start hobby-ing again. However, before moar thunder I need to finish the totally-not-Metal Gear Rex mortis conversion.

 

It was about time!

 

Cheers ^_^

[Brother Aiwass]

After the hype of the 8th edition, I finally got the urge to do something. And here is a little teaser:

 

http://i.imgur.com/b5WAsJ0.jpg

 

What would this filthy xenos piece of tech become?

 

Hint: Not xenos :P

 

Bets are open! :)

[Brother Aiwass]

Finally managed to do some work! ^_^

 

http://i.imgur.com/cvIsXoW.jpg

 

Can you guess?

[Skalpynock]

Lucifer-pattern Dreadnought?