Warp Rift Jackhammer

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Building up my Hrud (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=22125) has slowed down a bit while the masters for some new molds set, in the meantime, I've converted up some Plaguebearers. I've never been that fond of the cartoonish look the official models have, and the new ones don't look that much better; these ones are converted from Mantic Zombies.
http://i.imgur.com/VTLGX.png
http://i.imgur.com/NDtT3.png

[KrewL RaiN]

Oh I love those, very solid conversions.

The GW Daemon models have been getting more cartoony these days :<

[olberon]

i love them!!

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I agree with you, I hate the cartoonish direction Daemons in general have taken, the new tzeentch stuff went from nightmarish lovecraftian stuff to saturday morning cartoon villains (horrors being the best example), new nurgle stuff is just as silly too IMO of course.

I guess my point is, it's nice to see people doing something about it instead of just complaining - and it pays off as I like these Plague Bearers, they look more realistic/believable, they are actually the first plaguebearers iv actually liked in general too! if the new ones looked like that id of probably bought a box too.

Curious to see how you'll do other units!

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Thanks for the complements! Currently playing with some ways to do nurglings - trying to hit a sweet spot that lets them keep the nasty-minded-joker look without making them look too much like a plush-toy :P The metals had an okay style, but nothing about them really grabbed me. Playing with combining vermin-animals and electron microscope pics of bacteria/viruses. Once I've got the Nurglings nailed down I'll move on to a Palaquin Herald/Epidemus.

Yeah, the plastic horrors were kind of a sad moment, makes me wish I'd ordered the metal ones in bulk, price be damned. Here are some Pink/Blue Horrors I converted from Drydads a year ago - they need refurbishing, got banged around while traveling. A sculpted, half-painted Changeling is skulking in the back, perhaps the earliest 25mm-base sculpt I'll willing acknowledge :P Based off've a neat claymation - he doesn't have legs, rather, the terrain rises to support his torso.
http://i.imgur.com/8Nczl.png

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Yeah, I really like those! tehy actually look like they are in a state of constant change.

The old metal ones were great for that too, they were sort of reminiscent of carpenters the thing, which looks like an influence on yours too.

Man, I hate those official plastic ones so much....

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

The Drydad-Horrors pretty much started out as budget-4th ed. Horrors (but now I regret not stocking up on those casts while the getting was good), plus a bit of fishy inspiration - I wanted them to look more like they're swimming than walking. Playing with some new sculpts to evolve beyond that.

Plaguebearers almost ready to be primed, went back and did further detailing. More sores, pustules, tentacles, nipples, Nurglings etc. Sculpted up two Nurgling reimaginings I was okay with, then realized that they were somewhere between a half and a third the size of the official nurglings - making a swarm out of those would devolve into a busy mass of detail. Made me go back to the drawing board, think about how to approach this. They were conceived of as nearly fitting in a Plaguebearer's footprint, just upsizing them didn't feel right.

Most Daemons that aren't Undivided/Tzeentchian are fine with a consistence appearance - the theme of being dark reflections of mortal wants and fears is pretty compelling. But for me, it doesn't jive with Nurglings - they need to be a jibbering horde of bizarre creatures. From a modeling standpoint, I'll need these hordes to be as tall as a space marine, and I don't want to fall back on scenic basing (or consistency).

My spin on "Nurglings" is of it being a catchall phrase for the various tiny riffraff flailing around Nurgle's realm - and while some of these are puny GUO lookalikes (which will probably be rarer - perhaps their appearance is considered lucky, a sign of Nurgle's favor), there are just as many bizarre insects, bony little creatures, angler fish frogs, stumbling plants with carven faces, paper lantern will-o-wisps floating along on clouds of flies and hunched-over, gibbering mortals who have been sucked into this realm and play host to these creatures. Still, all but the unfortunate mortals might bear an expression belying mischief - but these have more've a "snooker cue to the bollocks" sense of humor than the "custard pie to the face" expression of the current sculpts.

When planning out a concept like this, I usually put together a scrapbook file of references, this's what I'm using for the Nurglings.
http://i.imgur.com/PHDrT.png

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

While since I've posted anything, so here's a little drip of life to the project; an experiment in using a glue gun to build up a Horror;
http://i.imgur.com/eRuup.png
Mouth came out kinda meh, though. I like some parts of the style, but not others. Might use it to make the core of future Horrors, with limbs/faces being done traditionally. In other news, got my hands on some of the Juan Diaz Pink Horror sculpts, those guys are jumping right to the front of the painting line :D

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Yeah, I've been wondering about glue-guns - figured I may get myself one to play with, seems useful for sculpting weird stuff.

I like the overall shape of it, but it looks like it needs a bit more to define it. It's still a thousand times better than those god awful plastic horrors (or horribles).

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Yeah, the Glue-Horror is very much a prototype. It was done with an ancient large-size glue gun, corroded nozzle, little control. I've gotten my hands on smaller ones, though (cheap, too! $6 for hi-temp, $2 for lo-temp), playing with those soon.

This is probably a first for me, but I'm about to post some pics of unconverted models :P Two of the Diaz metal Pink Horrors, and a WiP of a Dark Vengeance cultist. No amount of camera fiddling seems to bring out the shading in the pink and blue, tho :/
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb1qcn5ZWz1qe00iwo1_r1_500.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb1qcn5ZWz1qe00iwo3_r1_400.png

[KrewL RaiN]

Cameras seem to run of chaos. You can never get those darned things to co-operate at times :<

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Damn thing's filled with Nurglings! Updated to photos with the flash on (which I normally avoid for a host of reasons), but it seemed like the only way to improve beyond "blob!".