Genestealer Cult Gargoyles - Summer 2013

[rtmaitreya]

Genestealer Cult Gargoyles

Howdy, interwebs!

This is the Rogue Trader Maitreya summer 2013 Warhammer 40k modeling blog-irc-bbs-forum dealie. This summer, I am working on finishing my Genestealer Cult army in time for the Labor Day [URL="http://www.strategicon.net/index.php?goto=events"]Strategicon [/URL]tournament. The 1750 point army is about ¾ done, but way short on painting, and I am desperately short of fast hordes to put pressure on my opponents’ flanking units and backfield. I was well and duly convinced that I need a unit of gargoyles!

A week or two later, I was watching [URL="http://videosift.com/video/B-17-Scary-WWII-Segment-from-Heavy-Metal-The-Movie"]clips of B-17s [/URL]in one of those Wikipedia time/space loops where I was losing an hour of my life due to no particular reason. Bounce to a few [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3__NN16uoXk"]Black Sabbath[/URL] songs from the early eighties, and I recalled how utterly terrifying it was to see a crazed mob ripping through a city, with giant bat riders raining death from the skies. It is amazing how quickly the memory returns of my nine-year-old heart being gripped with paralyzing fear as I watched this awesome film when it was released in the theater (thanks dad). Fast forward 32 years, and now I want my Warhammer 40k enemies to feel this same paralyzing panic and hopelessness as I overwhelm them` with countless horrors.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Heavy_Metal_Bats_zps1d5c2eb4.jpg.html][/URL]

I don’t want gargoyles, I want feral bat riders of death! I NEED feral batriders of death!

TO THE COUNCIL CHAMBER!

A half hour sketch the next day at work, and I had my idea. . . Gargoyle body, Genestealer rending claws as legs, an 80’s era Ork boy head for the pointy-eared tusked bat face, and a rider. Durn sketch missing. . . must have cleaned out the pockets a wee bit too aggressively. Of course I have the needed parts, right? I have two boxes of Gargoyles sitting in the shrink and countless Space-Hulk V1 Genestealers doing a few decades of waiting around.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Stealer_Parts_zps593081ac.jpg.html][/URL]

Sifting through bits, I found a baggie of a few dozen Digga Yoofs, purchased from “Trollboss Bob” back in the day. I probably paid $2 each for blisters of four-five of these little miscreants. Bob had some crazy deals back then, and they sold out fast (often within a few hours). For those not in the know, Diggas were a faction out of Gorka Morka, an Ork buggy n’ scrap game in the style of Necromunda and Mordheim. Digga Yoofs were human youths that grew up in the shadow of Orkish Kulcher, so were ripped hard little bundles of sinew and malice at an early age. In the U.S., the game went over about as well as lo-salt pickled broccoli, and remaining models were blown out. End result is I happened to have two fistfuls of bald, muscular, mini-me miniatures, just the perfect size for Gargoyle jockeys.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Digga_Yoofs_zps574f6cc6.jpg.html][/URL]

Headed over to a buddy’s house with bitz and toolbox in tow, I set to mock up. Quick comparison of Ork vs. Genestealer head was a tough but unanimous decision. Torqued up dremeled the little urchin and mounted him up! Voila! Pretty durn cool.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/First_Example_zpsd92f5500.jpg.html][/URL]

Next step is to make a bunch of them. Mathammer says I need 18-20 for an effective unit, so I’ll start with half for the next step.

Will update regularly. Got a lot to do by the end of summer!

[rtmaitreya]

I have made additional progress on the next batch. The pinning is pretty complex, as I have to bend the legs apart for mounting, then pin the rider into a back angle, then pin the head straight into the front. Requires a bit of shaving the neck and some gribbly bits all around. The angled flight stands in some of the Gargoyle bodies have to be re-drilled. Thar's gonna be epoxy in this unit when all's said and done.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Pinning_Parts_zps7388b67a.jpg.html][/URL]

Edit: Awesome mold lines now that I see the underside in high-def. Sigh.

Next batch of riders have been pinned and assembled, but heads and legs are the harder part.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/First_Batch_Underway_zps05732d01.jpg.html][/URL]

Twenty of these wretches will take a while, but so far I'm having a blast!

[GrauGeist]

I love the combination of pieces here, especially the SH2 Genestealers and Digga Yoofs - a blast from the past!

[Captain Bubonicus]

Heavy Metal + Genestealer Cult + OOP GW "Specialist Games" = AWESOME

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Very creative kitbashing, and this is the goofy side of 'stealer cults at its best!

[KrewL RaiN]

Very creative kitbashing, and this is the goofy side of 'stealer cults at its best!

Have to agree here, I be loving these!

[rtmaitreya]

Hi everyone! Nice little bit of progress getting the heads and the legs on over the weekend. I just want to clarify that I thought the rider and head were a snitch to pin, but apparently those are really quite easy to wrangle. The LEGS suck far worse. Of course, because they aren't legs, they're arms. And if you want to have them torquing around in all different directions to give the various and sundry models some character, well, then, you had better have your dremel handy. There is no way to make the flight stand removable, so I'm resigned already to tape over them or use a drinking straw to mask them for painting.

The result of the work on the legs with respect to the overall unit appearance is well worth it, fortunately. The different leg positions give some of the gargoyles a jumping appearance, or lunging, or all other kinds of different "looks" to them irrespective of the riders. It gives the mounts some real flair and character, which was hard to imagine at first since there's all of one head design, and it can't even rotate!

Here are some poorly focused snaps of a few sample fellers to see what I mean.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Single_UP_Grunt_zps1e6a0774.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Single_UP_Plink_zps26b4fb11.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Single_UP_Zulu_zpscf86f2e0.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Single_UP_Lurch_zps5f597ecb.jpg.html][/URL]

Oh, and why, YES, I drill out the gun barrels of my 7 point models. Doesn't everyone?

[rtmaitreya]

And a nice group shot of all nine in the pack to date.

I have a whole 'nudder box of gargoyles unopened, so I am pretty excited about turning this into a pack of 20. That will allow me to get in some additional conversions, head swaps on the little guys, maybe have an unfortunate victim being dragged away or summat. I will have some fun on the next batch. I have a flank shot as well below so you can see one of the leaping gargoyles. They look great from a lot of angles, so I'm quite pleased.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Group1_UP_Cluster_zps10140f79.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Group1_UP_Couple_zpsf0db9dc5.jpg.html][/URL]

I have a pretty busy schedule, but might get back to these next weekend if possible. The next step is not very sexy, just a bunch of putty work to clean up those legs. I found I had stolen a stripe of putty from my buddy, so that's awfully convenient. Will put some of that to good use (before it goes bad, of course). If I do anything cool, I'll post another update, but the cleanup needs to be first.

I am also finding they are quite top heavy, what with the lead guy on top of a plastic dealie way up in the air. A magnet solution will occur, so just gotta let that percolate for a while until I come up with the right plan. I am a big fan of K&J magnetics neodymium magnets, so will go that route, but need the right way to get it into the base without any FUBAR action. Taking suggestions from the peanut gallery if anyone has done a nice job of getting magnets into flight bases. . .

RTM

[rtmaitreya]

July (first half) update on Genestealer Cult Gargoyle project

The most important next step was to not get complacent with only a handful of models as a minimum fielded unit. Math-hammer says I need about 18-20 as a useful number of models, as I want to ensure I can scrap a 3HP AV10(rear) vehicle on the charge. Since stripping hull points doesn't shake or stun, I really need to have my S4 units kill vehicles when they get to them, or else risk becoming flamer bait.

I started up another batch of 9 models, leaving the leader for later. To break up the mono-pose Yoof models, I had to come up with some new heads. I had some pigiron heads in my bitz box that I have been saving for smaller models, as they are cartoonishly small for most GW models these days.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/pigiron_zps20c58c5b.jpg.html][/URL]

Drilling these tiny heads was a dangerous task with a dremel, and I can only recommend using putty and pliers to hold them fast. I use floral wire from Michael's Crafts for my pinning, as the wire is pliable and perfect for heads where you want to crank and turn them around to pose them just right.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/drillhead_zps47e78bc2.jpg.html][/URL]

Cutting off heads (and any other operation) I found was best achieved with a metal cutoff tool. Hold the miniature with needlenose pliers, as it heats up a lot. The "white metal" of early 90s GW miniatures has a tendency to load up on the disc, as you can see below:

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/cutbuildup_zps57b3c530.jpg.html][/URL]

I discovered a good way to clear this buildup. Anchor rough grit (100) sandpaper so it extends over a ledge. Run the dremel against this "cantilever" of sandpaper after each model. It strips the buildup quickly and cleanly without having to break stride in your model prep.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/sandclean_zps8acaea20.jpg.html][/URL]

[rtmaitreya]

Pin Party!

Lots of pinning was next, plus all the mold line removal. Drilling the butts were easy, plus necks and all the gargoyle holes. This step included taking most of the "angled" gargoyles and re-drilling them to be more flat in their trajectory. This was necessary to keep riders more or less upright instead of leaning back.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/drillbutt_zpsc67a50cd.jpg.html][/URL]

All of the second batch ready for assembly (except weapons)

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/pinparty_zpsca2584ca.jpg.html][/URL]

And here is the second batch shown all lopsidey, with original batch behind. Unit is almost ready!

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/headless_zps05221074.jpg.html][/URL]