6Plus' WIP Log ++ Night Lords, Deathwatch, INQ28 ++

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on Velurak. Does the name mean anything? When I entered "Velur" in Wikipedia's search bar, I found a list of Indian villages with that name.

[Shovellovin]

Excellent painting (and creation) of the terminator! Wow, that is such a great pose. I really love how you have the lightning claw posed. That really adds to the sinister look of this model. 

[6PlusPainting]

Good job on Velurak. Does the name mean anything? When I entered "Velur" in Wikipedia's search bar, I found a list of Indian villages with that name.

 

Thanks. I can't exactly remember where I got Velurak from (I pronounce it "Vell-your-ack") so I couldn't say there's any intentional meaning there. Last year I just sat down and made a list of names using various online generators, then I tweaked what came up to sound more fitting for the Night Lords. 

 

 

 

Excellent painting (and creation) of the terminator! Wow, that is such a great pose. I really love how you have the lightning claw posed. That really adds to the sinister look of this model. 

 

Thanks very much. I've had the lightning claw in my bits box for ages, from the Burning of Propsero box set that came out in (I think) 2016, and this was the project it seemed most suited to!

Edited January 14, 2021 by 6PlusPainting

[Ryltar Thamior]

I don't know how I didn't see various updates on this log bfore now - there's some great work in here. 

Really nice work not only with the paintjobs, but those truescales as well. Well done. 

[BadgersinHills]

Great stuff! How do you paint your Night Lords armour ? :) 

[6PlusPainting]

I don't know how I didn't see various updates on this log bfore now - there's some great work in here.

Really nice work not only with the paintjobs, but those truescales as well. Well done.

Thanks very much!

Great stuff! How do you paint your Night Lords armour ?

I use a base of P3 Exile Blue then wash it with Nuln Oil. I follow that up with an edge highlight of the Exile Blue mixed with Fenrisian Grey.

At first I used the Ultramarines Blue Contrast to do the recess shading but I've found I prefer the look Nuln Oil gives and it's much easier to control.

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Here is the finished Carnas, who I'll be running as a Khorne Bezerker for my Kill Team. Now that he is done, all the Night Lords I've fully built have been painted, and now I just need to get to work building my Raptor. I'm thinking of running him as a Khorne Bezerker also, armed with a lightning claw, as the Kill Team rules don't include any entries that would really be suitable for representing a Raptor. If you've any suggestions please let me know!

As always, any comments or criticism are more than welcome!

Cheers,

6plus

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on Carnas. From the lack of bloodstains, I presume he recently arrived on the battlefield, and has yet to kill anyone- though that flaw will be corrected VERY SOON.

 

Edited: Goddamn autocorrect replaced "Carnas" with "Car as".

Edited January 20, 2021 by Bjorn Firewalker

[6PlusPainting]

Excellent work on Car as. From the lack of bloodstains, I presume he recently arrived on the battlefield, and has yet to kill anyone- though that flaw will be corrected VERY SOON.

Oh yes, there's definitely a splattering of Blood for the Blood God on it's way!

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Thought I'd post a photo of my truescale Terror Marine alongside the truescale Terminator and a lowly mortal commissar to show some scale. I'm very happy with how Velurak has scaled: height wise he's pretty much on level with Balakh, it's more a difference in sheer bulk that the Aquilon Terminator base provides.

I have also just finished building a Redemptor Dreadnought for a homebrew chapter I've been working on as a continuation of my entry for The Primogenitor, last year's Iron Sleet Invitational. Will hopefully have him painted up in the not too distant future with some lore written up as well!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Fine works.

[Brother Lunkhead]

Very fine work

[6PlusPainting]

Finally managed to get this cultist/traitor guardsman finished in time for this month's #inq28th on instagram. He's made from a load of different kits, mainly Cadian, Catachan, Scions, Skitarii, GSC, and some recognisable bits from the two Dark Vengeance cultist champions, and was heavily inspired by the classic Blood Pact artwork below. He was a bit of a pain to paint as I'd left his limbs un-glued for ease of access and the size made it a fiddly process. Maybe one day I'll paint up some of my spare BSF traitor guard in the same colours for a small detachment to accompany my Night Lords Kill Team. But for now I'll continue working on my Redemptor Dreadnought for a homebrew Astartes chapter.

Any comments and criticism are welcome as always!

Edited February 1, 2021 by 6PlusPainting

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Blood Pact member looks promising, but you really should photograph the model under better lighting. The darkness prevents me from clearly seeing, and thus, appreciating the effort you put in painting and detailing the model.

[6PlusPainting]

The Blood Pact member looks promising, but you really should photograph the model under better lighting. The darkness prevents me from clearly seeing, and thus, appreciating the effort you put in painting and detailing the model.

 

You're not wrong there! I wanted to have him done in time for instagram's #inq28th and ended up taking the photos in the late afternoon as the sun was setting. His black fatigues don't help much either with visibility.

 

I am planning on sorting out a better set up for photographing my minis; at the moment I use a small blacked out "light box" I scratch built, and rely on daylight to pick out the mini. Try as I might I just can't seem to work out a good artificial lighting set up that allows me to photograph my minis at any time of the day to a standard I'm happy with, thus I'm limited to a small window of opportunity when the sun is shining. 

 

I appreciate the feedback because it's definitely something I've noticed myself and have been looking at some guides out there on how to better light my minis for future presentations

[TheTrans]

Love the night lords!! Consider those Ideas truly stolen!! ;) 

[noigrim]

He should be red since it's an illustration of blood pact

[6PlusPainting]

Love the night lords!! Consider those Ideas truly stolen!!

 

Thanks!

 

Be my guest, there's a lot of inspiration from all around the community in those minis

 

He should be red since it's an illustration of blood pact

 

He's just inspired by the image rather than being an actual member of the Blood Pact, I've envisaged him as a special operative of a traitorous Guard unit I am yet to name/fuly flesh out lore-wise

 

I'd definitely like to have a crack at some genuine Blood Pact in the future though. I spent a while a few years ago collecting all of the OOP Tanith 1st metal figures and it'd be cool to build a Kill Team specifically to face them!

[6PlusPainting]

Last year I participated in the Iron Sleet Primogenitor Invitational and created a narrative piece titled The Martyr's Hand, which followed the story of a small team of Astartes boarding the massive space hulk known only as The Primogenitor.

The Astartes in question came from a homebrew chapter of my own devising known as the Castellors, or Shield Bearers in Low Gothic, who just over a century prior to the events of the invitational were decimated at the hands of their erstwhile allies. Below is some of the lore I penned for the invitational.

^{The Castellors (Shield Bearers in Low Gothic) were a fleet based astartes chapter active in the Thrallus system at the edge of the Segmentum Pacificus. After their near complete annihilation at the hands of the traitor astartes The Warp Drakes, during The Night of a Thousand Rebellions in 992999.M41, the chapter was reduced to a single company, with the Thrallus system itself left burning in the renegade’s wake.}

^{Unable to rebuild due to the loss of gene seed repositories, the remnants of the Castellors chapter were condemned to a slow death, adrift among the stars. As the only senior officer remaining, Captain Tor Basileus ascended to the rank of Chapter Master and decreed that the dying chapter’s
final act would be to seek absolution in vengeance. Basileus proclaimed that the chapter was now indefinitely committed to the hunting down of the
traitors responsible for the destruction of the Thrallus system, offering the remainders of the Castellors the chance to die the honourable death that their battle brothers had been denied.}

<sup>Repainting their armour black in mourning and swearing oaths of vengeance, the Castellors now roam the borders of the Segmentum Pacificus in the hunt to drive their hated foes to extinction.

Following the emergence of The Primogenitor space hulk from the Cicatrix Maledictum the chapter’s astropath’s began to receive distress signals originating from what appeared to be a Castellors ship. It is apparent that The Martyr’s Hand, former flagship of the chapter and missing for over a century, has become entombed deep within the massive void conglomeration. Scout ships sent ahead of the main Castellors fleet have reported sightings of Warp Drake forces active in The Primogenitor’s destructive wake.</sup>

^{Hopeful that repositories of precious gene seed and sacred chapter relics may remain within The Martyr’s Hand, along with the opportunity to engage in battle with their elusive foe, Chapter Master Basileus orders a strike team of astartes, under the command of Captain Anselm, to board The Primogenitor in an attempt to reclaim the lost treasures of the chapter.}

Shown above are the 3 minis I entered into the Invitational; The Astartes Captain Anselm, and his two indentured thralls, Artemus and Dathur. These characters represent a small part of the Astartes strike team sent aboard the Primogenitor in search of the Castellors' salvation, and were my attempt at portraying a more Grimdark approach to the 40k universe than my previous miniature work had achieved. Anselm was my first fully completed truescale marine, and acted as a blueprint for the creation of my truescale Night Lords Kill Team also featured in this thread.

For the last year I have toyed with the idea of fleshing out this strike team but could never find the right inspiration and eventually shelved the idea for other projects. However, this Christmas I was gifted a Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought, and I began planning a custom chapter for him to be built and painted up as. I eventually plumped for the Storm Drakes, or Tempestus Draconis, as the name of my new chapter. Now I had to devise a paint scheme; I knew I wanted to go for black as the primary colour, with a bone and brass accent, as I had enjoyed painting some Primaris Deathwatch in those colours a few years back. I have always found Space Marines to look especially intimidating in black and I've loved exploring techniques for weathering black on my minis.

I decided that these Primaris would be taken from a Torchbearer fleet, sent to the Segmentum Pacificus to reinforce their Firstborn battle brothers. In this case, the Torchbearer fleet carried Primaris marines bound for the Storm Drakes chapter, based in the Thrallus System. However, at this point in time it is unknown to the wider Imperium that this chapter is in fact declared Extremis Diabolus. Upon entering the Thrallus System the fleet is attacked by what initially appeared to be Imperial ships. The fleets' ships are boarded, and it becomes clear their attackers are traitor Astartes bearing bastardised heralrdy of the Storm Drakes. The Torchbearer fleet is crippled, with multiple ships completely destroyed before an effective counter attack can be co-ordinated.

As quickly as they attacked, the traitors withdraw and retreat into Warp-space, leaving carnage and devastation in their wake.

If you hadn't guessed by now, these traitor Astartes were in fact the Warp Drakes, formerly known as the Storm Drakes who were responsible for the near destruction of the Castellors. Right now this is about as much solid lore as I've come up with for my Primaris marines. I have a vague idea of what takes place next; the badly beaten remainder of the Torchbearer fleet makes contact with Tor Basileus and his company of Castellors and they are brought up to speed on the last century or so of the goings on in the Thrallus System. Understandably, the Primaris marines are initially met with distrust by the Castellors, both due to their material nature and the fact that they bear the heralrdy of their sworn enemies, but are eventually accepted into their ranks as the Wardens of Thrallus. As Torchbearer fleets carried contingents of Custodes, I imagine that this could also have played a crucial part in the Storm Drakes eventually gaining the Castellors trust (as well as through their fervour in battle)

If you have stuck around this long then thank you very much (this process of getting the lore out of my head and onto the page, so to speak, helps immensely!); this long wall of text brings us to my Redemptor Dreadnought, Brother Gorgos. His own lore pre and post-interment needs some fleshing out, but I've also found the vagueness adds to flavour and mystery to him as a character.

Upon meeting the Castellors, the Storm Drakes adopted their black colour scheme in recognition of their own shame at the actions of their forebearers. I wanted the Dread to not only be a 'war walker' of sorts, but also act as a memorial to the entombed Astartes in itself. I have seen some fantastic Redemptor converions online, specifically where the sarcophagus is completely removed and replaced with exceptionally grimdark components, such as the half exposed remains of the interred Astartes or more gothic looking 'architecture'. As this was my first attempt at a Dreadnought, I was a little apprehensive about trying to emulate such conversions, so decided to stick to the basic parts that come in the kit and to instead convey this sense of reverence and remembrance through heralrdy. I used some decals from the Redemptor kit itself, as well as a Word Bearer transfer sheet, to represent text written on Gorgos' armour - this recounts his great deeds as both a living and dead warrior. Also on his right hand side are a yellow sword and shield, both representative of his service alongside the Castellors, and the numeral VII is visible on his right shoulder pad, in reference to the 7th Company of the Castellors.

The Drake emblem is taken from the Alpha Legion transfer sheet and remains as an act of defiance against their traitor brethren - the Storm Drakes are determined to ensure the "Warp Drakes" are a deviance, in no way representative of the chapter as a whole.

All in all I absolutely loved working on this Dread. I feel I pushed myself to try new techniques and to create a mini narrative within the piece. I feel I've gone on long enough, so will sign off for now.

As always, any comments and criticism are more than welcome!

Cheers,

6plus

Edited February 17, 2021 by 6PlusPainting

[Doghouse]

Nicely done, I especially like the Nightlords and Captain Anselm. I think you've consistently done a fantastic job throughout. Keep it up, these are looking great! The thralls are a great touch. :tu:

[Brother Dallo]

Lots of really impressive models here.

 

Keep at it.

 

Dallo

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I want to compliment you for your efforts, but the models' dark colors blur into the dark background against which you photographed them, preventing me from clearly seeing (and thus, appreciating) your work. You should photograph the models against a light-colored background, to provide contrast that makes your dark models stand out; and under better lighting.

[6PlusPainting]

Nicely done, I especially like the Nightlords and Captain Anselm. I think you've consistently done a fantastic job throughout. Keep it up, these are looking great! The thralls are a great touch.

 

Thanks very much!!

 

Lots of really impressive models here.

 

Keep at it.

 

Dallo

 

Thanks a lot!!

 

 

I want to compliment you for your efforts, but the models' dark colors blur into the dark background against which you photographed them, preventing me from clearly seeing (and thus, appreciating) your work. You should photograph the models against a light-colored background, to provide contrast that makes your dark models stand out; and under better lighting.

 

I completely understand. Since taking these photos I've built a new lightbox and purchased a pack of coloured felt sheets to work on a better background shade. I've been using a black felt background and agree that it can be difficult to pick out minis, especially the black armoured ones. I've also been working on a "painted" background, trying to emulate the deep browns, reds and oranges that are a staple of John Blanche's work, as well as building a modelled base for the minis to stand on with some terrain. Will get to testing some of that out today.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

[6PlusPainting]

Had a bit of a play about with my photo set up, as well as some tweaking in post. It's far from perfect but definitely heading in the right direction - the aim is to have mastered some techniques by the end of the year so I can produce some really moody and arty pieces using my minis and terrain.

Edited February 18, 2021 by 6PlusPainting

[Brother Dallo]

Looks good.

 

I just went for the cheap option on my photo setup and use a black pillowcase draped over some wooden supports.

 

Dallo

[Bjorn Firewalker]

This looks bad. Dark model+ dim lighting= barely visible image, meaning your efforts cannot be appreciated.

This looks great! Good lighting is a MUST HAVE when taking photos.

[6PlusPainting]

I recently managed to get a hold of Txarli Factory's truescale MKII Crusade Armour kit, as well as stumbling upon a homemade set of rules for Horus Heresy themed Kill Teams by TwoThinQuotes on Instagram, and started work on what is (hopefully) the startings of a 30k Vlka Fenryka Kill Team.

After a lengthy period of fiddling with a variety of bits and trying my hand at some greenstuff sculpting, I've finished Velgir, the Blackfanged, Huscarl of the Eighth Great Company of The Rout.

In all honesty I'm glad to have him finished. I'm not 100% happy with how he's turned out, but I think that's because I became a little too invested in the creation process. The Txarli kits are great, and meant that I didnt have to put in the extra leg work to make this mini truescale like I had already done with my Night Lords, but the one problem I have is the poses of the legs themselves. I'm not the biggest fan of how wide the stance is on the sets you get in the box, and this lead to me fiddling incessantly with different bits trying to get the perfect pose to compliment the slightly awkward legs.

A fair bit of conversion work went into this mini, most notably his right arm, which is a combination of three different arms plus some greenstuffing at the armpit as I wanted to keep the Heresy aesthetic and avoid using Primaris arms. Some bits from the Victrix kits, like the axe and head, were added to give him a bit more of a viking vibe than OTT wolfness. His pelt his sculpted from greenstuff; not perfect but I'm pretty pleased with my first proper go at creating fur.

As always, any comments and criticism are more than welcome!

Cheers,

6Plus