Kill Team Morbis

"They'd sealed off Orbital Sector Regulus a couple of months ago to try and stop the spread of the outbreak. Hansen's Pox was pretty virulent, and it was felt that the loss a couple of thousand souls was better than risking it engulfing the whole Starport or - worse - it spreading to Hive Karhonnen. 

"They listened to the cries for help and the banging on the pressure doors fade. After a few weeks, it seemed the infection had run its course. But then the banging started again. And where the those massive doors were struck, they bulged.

"It was on the sixth week that the doors were breached and the Sepsis burst through. Spraying bile and inchor with hideously grinning faces they lurched into the Sector Primus. The air was thick with miasma and screams. But worst of all was what thundered out of the smoke; massive figures clad in supperating armour, like space marines who had succumbed to the Pox, five monsters strode forth to bring their gift of disease to all."

-from The Fall of the Orbital Usher, M41.256

I've been having a serious loss of hobby mojo for reasons I couldn't really place, so I needed a quick palette cleanser. Luckily, Kill Team always provides an excuse to knocks something fun up. These are a simple build up of the miniatures that came with the Conquest magazine and a couple of Death Guard bits from the bits box at work.

The only conversion on these was this one plague marine where I build a new hand using some Dryad bits and some greenstuff tendrils. Everything else was built as is for speed.

Painting was my usual Nurgle recipe: slightly rotten flesh tones and then a variety of different coloured washes for tone. Here I added some bright green for that really pustulent look.

Very happy with these for a couple of days work, and feeling recharged and ready to paint some more stuff. Best of all, if all things go according to plan, Kill Team Morbis will be meeting the Church of the Devoured in a game next week!

The White Rider

They all gazed at him. His hair was white as snow... and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright... power was in his hand. Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say.

At last Aragorn stirred. 'Gandalf!' he said. 'Beyond all hope you return to us in our need!'....

'Gandalf,' the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. 'Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf.'.... 

'Get up, my good Gimli! No blame to you, and no harm done to me. Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me. Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.'....

[The] Dwarf looked up and laughed suddenly. 'Gandalf!' he said. 'But you are all in white!'

'Yes, I am white now,' said Gandalf.

One of my main Christmas presents this year was the fabulous new sculpt of Gandalf the White from GW. As with Theoden this was so nice it was worth spending the extra time on.

Both the foot and mounted version were painted up from grey. I basecoated the cloak on both beige, so that there were different tones of white involved.

It think this was worth the effort expended.

Vindice Tempesta

We were hard pressed by the enemy. Pinned down in the radioactive ashwastes, no way to advance. The Serjeant was gone, our vox operator dropped with a hole through his head. A few of us started praying to the Throne and I slapped the last powerpack into my lasgun. The we heard it. It began with a beeping, high and clear. A figure, man size, strode through the smoke and choking dust long coat snapping around mechanical legs. It stood there as slugs and lasbolts whipped past it. I remember thinking, Is this is it? Is this the help we were promised?

Then the earth shook.

Something massive stepped over me. Rusted metal screeched as a chainblade the size of a wall crashed down into the barricades before us. A toothshaking roar of some sort of cannon as the enemy were torn to a red mist. And still it strode on.

I realised I was standing like an idiot, my mouth open. The mechanical soldier looked at me, making a scraping noise I slowly realised was some form of laughter. "The Storm Of Vengeance Has Passed Over You," it rasped, "And You Have Been Saved." It nodded, and then strode on into the smoke.

This has been, as you can imagine, something of a long term project. I've been chipping (pardon the pun) away at it for the last few weeks in between marking exams and surviving until the end of the year. this was also partially as each step of the process required curing time before I could move on to the next. I am, I have to say, quite happy with the final result.

This required the use of the chipping fluid just like the Tank I did. the difficulty here was masking each different colour to allow the chipping to be carried out before every new stage.

All transfers were applied over a gloss coat and then chipped away with a scalpel to match the chipping of the paintwork underneath. In some cases they had green or beige painted in to show a lighter level of chipping. 

Finally painted, he looked pretty good. I added some rust streaks and oil but he needed some environmental effects. 

Again, I used weathering pigments on the lower half and flat surfaces; the model here was how muddy I get after a walk in the woods with the boys.

The base was constructed out of various bits of junk with bricks cut from old sprue. 

The overall colour scheme was the same as for the previous Knight Armigers I produced; I left the faceplate detachable to match these as required. 

I have one last little thing to finish up before Christmas and then I have the decks clear for new toys. Merry Christmas everyone!