Something big is approaching...

Inspired by the ever inspiring Biohazard (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/234115-world-eaters-warband/) I saw a Redemptor Dreadnought conversion, and I saw that it was good. Actually I started out really not liking the model when I first saw it, but after seeing Biohazards version, I got so inspired that I had to do one myself for my DG.

Here is the humble beginnings of my Leviathan Dreadnought. It's obviously very WIP, and it's only mockup stage (I'm not sure about the sarcophagus or front armour - the shoulder pads obviously need some work as well), but the basics are starting to form - I knew it needed to have the front armour rounded, as well as the shin armour, to match my existing Daemon engines - it would look out of place to suddenly have a lot of square edges. I'm also pondering how to do a Grav Flux Bombard - any ideas?

It's only really when you see it in real life, that you appreciate how big this fella is - but I've included a scale shot, so you can get an idea:

Improved Blight Lords and Plague Marines

I received my second box of Death Shroud today, and promptly tore into the sprues, snickering manically and swinging my scalpel, saw and cutters... Well, not exactly, but I was very excited, since I had some cool ideas for them.

This next batch almost put even more of a fight than the first batch - as I told you in the previous post,  they are NOT easy to convert - everything fits together in one way and ONE WAY only; which is great if you're a beginning model builder, and you don't want to make mistakes. Lord knows I've assembled many kits the wrong way, only to find out the plastic glue is dried solid and there's no way to pull it apart without destroying everything.

Anyway, this quality is not so much of a quality, when a madman such a myself wants to do unspeakable things to said kit - so I used a lot of cutting, measuring, cutting again, a bit of greenstuff and some weird parts to make it work - but in the end it is so satisfying to "beat" a conversion - to pull off something that looks almost hopeless.

I'm really satisfied with the unit, and they look and feel soooo much better to me than the regular kits. Granted, it is a really expensive unit to build - but hey, this is the guy that once bought 8 (!) Chaos Lord in terminator armour kits, to build a Berzerker terminator squad with lightning claws. ;)
In the end, I'm a one-army-guy. I don't play much, modelling and painting is my main hobby, and I want this to be the best army I've ever done, with all of the models looking awesome - so it was worth it. :)

Also a shot of the new Plague Marine unit I've assembled - only very small conversions, but I wanted to show off how great a kit it is:

... Blight Shroud Terminators?

As promised, here is my progress on the "Blight Shroud Terminators". I'm much more happy with this, than the standard Blight Lord Terminators. They just don't feel or look right to me. These however - these I feel give the massive, hulking feel of 1.5 tonnes of armoured decay, evil and ceramite that I want them to have.

I will warn anyone attempting do these however - these are NOT simple arm swaps or easy conversions. They involve very complicated removal of arms, sockets, etc. and some quite complicated cutting to get the new arms to sit right. However, I think they're definitely worth it, and I can't wait for the other box of Death Shroud (which seems to be sold out almost everywhere in Denmark at the moment) so I can make another two combiplas/axe guys and a Mace of Contagion carrier. More to come soon...

And a size comparison; even though it's the biggest of the Blight Lord Terminators, the champion (second from right) is still dwarfed both in height and girth by the new conversion - and the Grey Knight just seem to have lost all hope. ;)

Blight Lords? Back to the drawing board.

I've had an epiphany. Well... Okay, maybe not an epiphany per se, but a realisation.

The Blight Lords just don't cut it. They're okay models at best, but the whole idea of me selling my old Death Guard army, and building a new one, was that it should showcase the concept of my ideal DG army, no holds barred, full throttle, and modelled to the best of my ability. I've learned so much since 2011 when I built the old one, and I want this army to be the best I've ever done.

And the Blight Lords just don't cut it. I realised this when I started to paint them. They're too mish-mash, too many weird mutations, bad anatomy and weird stuff. So I'm scrapping them.

The good news is that I think I can make some awesome Terminators. The bad news is that they'll be made from Death Shroud, which will make a hideously expensive Terminator unit, since I need two boxes. But let's look on the bright side; the unit will have 6 models, which, when combined with Typhus, will bring them up to the number 7 - Score!

Expect to see some mockups and progress very soon.

On another note - I just got hold of the Plague Marine kit today (2 packs), and they. Are. Beautiful. Well, not really, but holy crap, even without having put one together yet, it's such a great looking kit, that I can easily forgive GW for not putting enough options in the box. I'm looking forward to putting some together tonight. :)

Last thing - I've decided that I want to share some of the great stuff I find on my interwebz travels - some of it being great inspiration, and some of it is just plain awesome - this time it is a combination. Unfortunately, I can't give credit, since I found it on the pinterest with a broken link, but if you know whose it is, please say so in the comments so I can give due credit.

It is a (looks like it) quite simple conversion of the Typhus model, but rethought in such a refreshing and cool way, that the previously comical pose seems incredibly threatening - it's just such a case of "Damn, why didn't I think of that?".

Please note - NOT MY WORK, I'm just sharing it.

Progress on Typhus and the Blight Lord Terminators.

I've gotten a bit further on the Typhus conversion. I've tweaked his pose a bit, thanks to some suggestions I've gotten - his stance is changed a tiny bit, and his right arm is a bit more relaxed, while his left arm has gotten reposed quite a bit, making it more forward pointing - a major improvement to me.

While I disliked the cloud of flies, not having them left him a bit bare - so I'm experimenting with adding some creepy insect legs, to make him seem more of a living insects nest, waiting to burst open.

I'm still contemplating if I should make him completely my own character, an old favourite known as Pandemion. 

I've also made some progress on the Blight Lord terminators. I wanted to love the kit, I really did, since I adored the blight kings kit - but I don't. 

A few of my dislikes; 

1) There's not enough weapons. Only 3 axes, 3 swords, and 1 of each type of combi weapon. Come on, GW. 

2) There's next to no options regarding torsos, arms, poseability, etc. I really disliked the "fly" while the rest of the DG community seem to adore him, and I hated the flabby fat guy. I had to do some pretty heavy conversions to get rid of them. 

The kit really needed another sprue. They're more expensive than the blight kings, but with far less options. 

Anyway, here they are - very WIP, but getting there. The champion with the flail is made with combining parts from the Lord of Contagion and the BL bits, and the lower pic is showing some conversions I'm doing for combiplasmas, and making the Blight Launcher a bit more impressive, by combining it with the plague spewer: