NPC Plog!

[Van Helser]

I did a couple of rather basic conversions with the ugly guns held across the body on my cyborgs. Broke out the ProCreate and a couple of bits to convert the bulbous machine-pistol into a flamer and the ugly rifle into a lasgun wrapped in cloth:

Ruaridh

[Alyster Wick]

I did a couple of rather basic conversions with the ugly guns held across the body on my cyborgs. Broke out the ProCreate and a couple of bits to convert the bulbous machine-pistol into a flamer and the ugly rifle into a lasgun wrapped in cloth:

I know I've seen those before but thanks for reposting. Good inspiration.

In the meantime, I've finished the 3 Mechanicus folks. The Skitari Warriors are on either side, the one in the middle I've dubbed a Skitari Assassin (he may be an actual NPC Character). I'm debating adding some blades to his fist, though I kind of like him as is. The two other alien warriors I'm going to be chopping up for bits.



Close up on the skull fellow, as I'm relatively happy with how his face turned out (although looking at it up close now I may want to go clean it up a bit more, though I may just go with dark colors in the rougher areas and let shadow obscure those parts):

[Alyster Wick]

Double posting, but there's a picture involved so I don't care

Terrible photo, but you should be able to see the weapons/modifications clearly enough.



And on that note, I've finished converting 18 of the 20 Russian models I got (barring some minor tweaks here and there) and the two remaining ones are going to be chopped up for spare parts. I'm planning to break out the spray paint later this weekend and then get to painting in a week or so (have some travel for work coming up). Feels pretty great to be heading towards a conclusion to this plog!

[Van Helser]

I do like the work you've put into the Skitarii. The extra gubbinz around the skull really add to the robotic menace of the model. I would definitely add fist spikes to the other.

The zombie cyborgs have been very well converted. I especially like the flamer conversion.

Looking forward to seeing paint on them.

Ruaridh

[Alyster Wick]

Ugh, so these pictures aren't great, but I'm doing some travel for the holidays (as opposed to my near-constant travel for work these past few weeks) so I want to get some progress posted before another hiatus. Just know, even if it's hard to see, I have been painting!

[Alyster Wick]

Mutants/Blood Reavers/Random Scum are done! See below:

My two least favorite (the gun, which is supposed to be a futurey shotgun/autogun, is not straight and I pretty well screwed up the lighting effect on Mr. Hat):



My two "berserker"/close combat fellows (not the best pics, but the face on the left came out best of all between the teeth and red glowing eye effects):



The Blood Reaver's Leader, complete with ambiguous sword:



Working on some backstory for these folks. They'll be a Mercenary Group called the Blood Reavers lead by Juda Rathbone (sword guy), one of the few surviving members of a regiment given organ implants by the AdMech. Side effects include shirveling of the facial organs (no nose or lips) in addition to mental imbalances. Thus his minions are made up of a mix of the few other survivors from the original experiments along with posers who want to emulate the look (by surgically removing their lips and nose).

These minis will all also moonlight as random mutants and hive scum, as needed.

From a more practical painting standpoint, this was my first experiment with lighting and I'm pretty happy with what I learned (if not the result). You could probably guess which ones I did first and which ones I did last as I like to think there are some pretty marked improvements. As they're NPCs I didn't really feel the need to go back and "fix" them, but I'm looking forward to applying what I learned to some actual characters the next time I pick up the paint brush.

All in all these folks painted up MUCH quicker than expected. I'm looking forward to finishing the remaining 13 assembled and basecoated NPCs that are on my desk to close out the plog. Victory is in sight!

[MarcoSkoll]

posers who want to emulate the look (by surgically removing their lips and nose).

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only fashion.

It's all looking good to me. I'm afraid I don't have much insightful commentary beyond that, but I don't want you to think this stuff is passing by unnoticed!

[Van Helser]

I like what I see. Good work with the glowing eyes. It looks the part. The thing I was most happy about with my group of these models is that they can fulfil so many roles - cyborgs/cultists/xenos/rebels/hereteks/anything! I see you're leaning the same way. Great minds and all that.

Ruaridh

[Alyster Wick]

It's all looking good to me. I'm afraid I don't have much insightful commentary beyond that, but I don't want you to think this stuff is passing by unnoticed!

Thanks! The encouragement is definitely appreciated.

On that note, I've been very productive of late, behold the men of the Planetary Defense Force:







I took A LOT of short cuts and one day I may go over the metallics with a couple rounds of highlights to make everything pop, but as it stands I'm pretty happy. Somehow the leader ended up with a red power fist, which must somehow figure into the Imperial Fists Successor Chapter that inhabits the sector (per my stalled background). It just kind of happened unplanned as I was looking for an interesting color to break up his armored/mechanical arm.

Anyway, the Ratskins should be coming not too far behind. As a sidenote, I find it fascinating how everytime I pick a brush up after a hiatus there is a strange combination of skills I have to relearn coupled with revelations about how I've somehow been doing it wrong. Dunno if it's age, patience, and a willingess to experiment or what, but whatever the cause it's definitely exciting.

[Alyster Wick]

Disclaimer time: I took a TON of shortcuts with these guys (though there are some aspects I didn't skimp on). Anyway:

First two:



Daniel Grim (with the face mask), the #2 Ratskin Leader, and the bow fellow:



Here's the leader (he has a tech fetish). Also, from that picture is iron gob looks terrible, I'm gonna have to redo that:



(Better angle of his rat head dress: http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx83/alysterwick/IMG_1543_zpsf3146580.jpg)

BONUS: These Ratskins believe eating the flesh of beastmen will grant them powers (in the sector background there was some unauthorized genome experimentation done by the admech on a large number of people to try and generate better soldiers for the imperial war machine, thus the "beastmen"). Anyway, this group worships an entity they call the White Rat. As a surprise to the players, I've created an actual White Rat. He's rather tall, standing slightly above Covenant (one of the taller GW models) even in his hunched over state.

[Aurelius]

(Mods, if this is threadromancy please delete - really not sure what the etiquette here is, given the low post rate, and this is still well on the front page...)

Love the ratskins, I had exactly the same thought when I stumbled across these guys the other day. The bow armed guy is anachronistic, reminds me of Serenity, and a very cool idea. Your PDF troopers look more than suitable for NPCs, I have the Valhallan ones myself any may need to order these too.

Cheers
Aurelius

[Radu Lykan]

love the ratskins, must've missed that update originally. am aiming to create an alien race that worships some ancient gods (necrons) and so that bow idea really sparked off some ideas, thankyou

[Alyster Wick]

Glad you both like them!

love the ratskins, must've missed that update originally. am aiming to create an alien race that worships some ancient gods (necrons) and so that bow idea really sparked off some ideas, thankyou

Honestly, just go buy a couple necron kits and let your imagination go. I've got a few different projects I'm working on right now using necron parts, some meant to be inspired by them but some that are completely unrelated. Random bits scale really well with a variety of archetypes (given most of these archetypes are on the radical side, but still).

[Van Helser]

I somehow missed the finished Ratskins - they look really good. Just the right amount of feral and futuristic modelled on them.

When will the White Rat be done?

Ruaridh

[RobSkib]

I'm a big fan of your zombies and your PDF. The Russian Tehnolog models always amuse me for their comicbook villain stance and I think you did a good job with what you had!

I loved the Ratskins in their WIP stage but I feel a bit underwhelmed seeing their colour scheme. I think it's your choice of colour palette that isn't sitting right with me - the clothes they wear are (nearly) the same colour as their skin, giving them a very unfinished look. You've chosen all three primary colours as your spot colour (Here's a handy guide) which is fine if it's your bag, but if you're wondering why your models are looking a bit 'busy' even with so few colours, try swapping one of those primary colours out.

Can't wait to see what you do next!