The theft of the space marine army that I was using as stand in's for the Khan based bike army is kicking my desire to get this semi secret project finished and on the table asap. I have most of the "bikes" converted, just some finishing detail work and the last couple bits orders waiting to arrive.
Overarching theme for the army will be a mid to late Heresy Thousand sons, still doggedly loyal to the empire. (can you see a trend? I am addicted to the art and fluff).
Low model count to try and balance out the fact there would not be a lot of them. And a lot of Bionics replacing the mutations that spring up and keep them “pure”
In the mean time I figured with an unexpected day off I would work on what will be the centerpiece of this army. All of the bikes are converted horses with added bionics and servo assists. To make Khan stand out I needed a strong model as a base. Searching not only the Games Workshop catalog of figures I really only ended up with one or two models that would be a good base. Both from the Warriors of Chaos Fantasy line. I liked the Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount alot, but I felt the positioning was too static for what I wanted. In the end I went with Archaon, The Everchosen as my Khan base.
To start the process of making Archaon, The Everchosen look Loyalist I first had to go through, carve off all the chaos iconography, gap fill the Chaos star on the flank of the horse, smooth out all the rough edges and then I could start converting and adding Bionics.
Next was the torso, I decide to keep it, as it fits the mono pose legs on the horse perfectly. To clean it up I removed all the skulls, the chaos star and ground it down to the base and began to redefine the breastplate to make it look more mid-heresy. I added a custom "stack" built into the rear of the torso to account for the power armor as I think a backpack would have killed the flow of this figure. I am hoping to sculpt a winged scarab on the center of the torso if my skill is up to it.
To fit in with the Egyptian feel of all of my units I did a fairly basic weapon swap, also giving my Captain a greater reach when attacking and being a good stand in for Khan's weapon of choice.
For the head I am still undecided. In a perfect world I would custom sculpt a Anubis head for this project, a power armored Jackal head much like the Space Wolves Wolf head. The real question is how much my greenstuff/greystuff skills have progressed in the past year.
Anyway, here are some photos of the current WIP. More soon.
Wow, I was when I started reading this post I had my doubts. pulling off a conversion like that can be very difficult and rare turns out right the first few times. But I have to say I like what I see so far. I especially like the mechanical assist in the left front leg, very nicely done.
ReplyDelete@HuronBH,
ReplyDeleteThanks, still a fair amount of work that needs to be done to clean it up but pleased with the progress.
Alot of my conversions include "blueprinting" in my head during windsheild time at work. And I try to use "reclaimed" models (for example this guy is clearly dipped and stripped)
What are your thoughts on torso so far? any comments?
Thats pretty bloody righteous Robot man. I love that torso, the metal carving is fantastic. I think the vent is just right as well, At least thats what I think via pictures! I have to get you to use your dremel to get me one of those Torsos they would work sooo well for one of my wolf lords.
ReplyDelete@Tyr's-Vanguard,
ReplyDeleteThanks bud, and hapy to help you / show you / do for you..
BTW drop me a line later on, some possible news on the robot front..
I really like the lord and his weapon. The back vent works really well too. It makes me think how cool it would be to have vents on the sides of the horse's ribcage. like gills or something.
ReplyDeleteOne criticism. there is something off about the horse's right leg and foot. The lower part of the leg is a little large. It makes me think that the horse has a cast on its leg. I would use that part for the upper part of the leg.
Also, don't forget that plastic tau stealth suits legs come with perfect hooves for this model. I just checked my bits box and I do have an extra pair of stealth suit legs if you like.
@Old Shatter Hands,
ReplyDeleteNow thats the kind of feedback I like!
Ok, the horses leg is a bit meater on purpose, IRL horses put the majority of the load on the front legs, so a replacement would have to be bulky to take the weight. But it's still a WIP so I can change it. Maybe with a new hoof...
You know, I would love to borrow a stealth suit leg set and compair... I am not sold on the scratch built hoof I made. I am working in DC today, drop me a line if your free for me to borrow it.
Looking good. The vent on the back appears seamless--nice work there. But I do think the rear legs need some tech added to them. Perhaps some pistons and some cables.
ReplyDeleteMaybe some type of small power pack on the rump above the tail, but that might interfere with the rider's cloak. Also some tech in the neck and perhaps bionic eyes, auto senses for the horse to prevent flash blindness from energy discharges.
Fluff wise, there were 20 thousand sons who didn't join Horus, according to the old space marine epic rule book. You could do the noble 20, or loyal 20, or some such.
the conversion is looking amazing so far! I agree with Old Shatter Hands that the bottom of the front leg is a bit too wide (especially in the picture from the front) but overall it is a fantastic start. The jackal head would be awesome for the model and I say go for the sculpt on the chest!
ReplyDelete@MTD,
ReplyDeleteThanks! I can try that on the rear legs, I was finding it diffult adding them and making it loog "organic" and not out of place.
The cloak covers a large area on the rear, I might look into OSH's suggestion and try and add a stack into the horses torso, and trying for a nice smooth feel to it. =-)
Great minds think alike! It's hard to see in the photo's but one eye was replaced, will show you next time I see you or take a better close up, I want to leave one untouched.
I decided not to add armor to the horse, per the SM codex Khan's "bike" gets fleet, I want to make this horse stand out by not having armor, hence why it, and none of the other Bionic cav can fleet.
Could I get a copy of those pages? I remember you showing that to me in either slaves to darkness or something as well, want to base the loyal splinter chapter of them!
Thanks for the feedback guys! Keep it rolling in!
I am putting the Stealth Suit legs in my pocket. I am heading to Ikea in a bit, I may be able to stop by dream wizards...or we could find another time to meet. At any rate I will keep them on me.
ReplyDelete@D'nyarak ,
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am going to give it a couple tries, worst comes to worst I could try painting it on..
@OSH,
Call me anytime, just driving around DC working. Addicted to the Aircard..
If those stealth suit "hooves" work, let me know. I can see if I have any extra as well and bring them to Nova.
ReplyDelete