Genestealer Cult Gargoyles - Summer 2013

[rtmaitreya]

All of the gargoyles were finished up with the same paint scheme, which took a LONG time. Several full days of painting, including one vacation day and one full weekend day. About 20 hours for 19 gargoyles to get them up to that level. The vanes were a pain to get just right, because the wash and recesses wasn't deep enough to hide any sloppiness. I probably should have done nothing on the underside of the wing, and shaved 7 hours or so off of the project. Who is going to look at wing undersides? Dumb. The clock was ticking, and I had most of an army left to paint at this point. The riders are being ignored so I can move on to the rest of the army.

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The first test article on cleaning up my genestealers. I wanted to combine the classic paint scheme with the bright coloration of the nice hybrid units and now gargoyle unit I had, so all the grimdark black-with-poorly-done-drybrush had to be completely updated. Front and back look great, using the exact same paint scheme as before. Claws must be done on these guys, though, because they are such a prominent feature of the model.

Claws are iron oxide brown to start, then painted suntan flesh, then painted dheneb stone. The painting is done with a medium sized brush, splaying the bristles apart so you get the jagged look to the separation lines between the colors. They are way too small (and numerous) to do blending, and drybrushing looks cheesy and uninspired. Painting with the jagged interface is not much harder, and looks WAY better. This test article has drybrushed dheneb stone, and I don't like the look. Everything else on this guy is win.

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Ignore the mold lines; I didn't carve them off of the test articles (too much work for models that risk being turned into fodder for the boy). This one ends up being a keeper. All the other stealers in the "real units" are cleaned up already waiting for paint.

RTM

[rtmaitreya]

Glamour shots of the main genestealer unit. These are all space hulk classic models, all cleaned up and mold line removed and whatnot. Basing still simple, not upgraded to the modern scheme due to time constraints. Still have a lot to do, and re-basing old models with "serviceable" modeling already performed wasn't in the cards.

Here is a standard shot of one "movement tray" of four stealers, so you can see the final color scheme. Eyes, tongues, teeth, and pink spots are not done. Those are details that can wait for 2014. Compare the appearance of the claws of these guys to the first article in the previous post. I think we can all agree these look much better for marginally more effort (a few minutes per guy).

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A lot of people over the years have asked me about my magnetization and movement tray scheme. I use cut-up sheets of roofing tin from Home Depot or Lowe's home improvement centers (any DIY will have an equivalent). Depot are cheaper, and Lowe's are thicker gauge steel, but both work great. They come in packs of 10-20 5x7" sheets. Cut these into 1x7" strips using tin snips. The 1x7 size is basically perfect for a wide variety of units, spacings, and model count. I mount 5 cultists, 4 stealers, or 3 gargoyles per strip, and this allows me to quickly move a large unit of reasonably spaced models very quickly with little effort, which is absolutely necessary in a tournament setting. Larger sheets prevent you from having flexibility of your unit "shape" and arrangement, and make it harder to interact with terrain in a reasonable fashion, so the 1x7" strips are really quite ideal for most gaming.

I cut the strips, use two pairs of pliers to flatten them out (always bends and warps from tin snipping), then use a dremel with grinding wheel to round the corners, flatten out stubborn edges, and soften any sharp edges. Prime with Krylon dark gray, then fleck stone from any of the vendors. Voila, blends in well with a wide variety of terrain types and basing schemes, because it really just disappears. Larger strips have a larger "footprint" and draw your eye to them, but little strips just disappear when you have bright models to draw the eye's focus away. Make them in large batches, enough for one army at a time, and it helps simplify your own storage and deployment issues.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Move_Base_zps98902ee4.jpg.html][/URL]


Here is the whole unit done and ready to field. Hells yeah, they are as intimidating as I was hoping. Nice closeup of the claw paint work. VERY easy to do, and looks deliberate, clean, and precise.

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[rtmaitreya]

Zoanthrope joins the fray!

Genestealer Cult Magus is a powerful psyker character, so could be a zoanthrope right out of the box. I have three of the little guys, two having a staff and one with the vox, so I could ultimately get three of these fielded in a unit of zoeys.

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T4 and 2 wounds isn't that far off the mark for a man-sized but superhuman character, but I decided the army would be better off trying to get close to the actual profiles of presently fielded models. I mocked up the magus on a hotwheels golf cart, and saw that the size was almost identical to a "real" zoanthrope, and I was instantly smitten with the idea of a pope-mobile. Ork-and-digga-and-pigiron head driver, some ride pimping, and some magnets later, and I had myself a model that isn't too hard to convince someone is a high-asset target.

[URL=http://s1366.photobucket.com/user/daniel_hyman/media/Genestealer_Cult/Magus_Start_zps2d218bff.jpg.html][/URL]

I started painting up some basics, and so did my 3 year old. It's harder to tell which is which at this point, since he's getting a lot better.

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I am just about done with painting on one, and start making the base for the other. I determined that I only need two for my army at 1750 points. A bandsaw is a great tool for any hobbyist, because you can make the elusive and rare 50 mm bases out of hardboard, and then mod it with a sewer grate without a whole lot of work.

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I have since finished painting both of these guys, but need to snap some nice photos first. I'll come back to these guys after I go through some more modeling updates.

RTM

[rtmaitreya]

BIOVORES!

I have had this in mind for a while, playing both thudd guns and mole mortars for the biovores. In the end, the thudd has the right profile to compete with a modern biovore, so thudd it is! A S4 AP4 large blast is pretty close to the coverage the old thudd got with it's multi-barrage, so I can't complain about the simplification. And no, nobody actually ever places spore mines since the new codex, so don't bother starting on me about that. I think in 18 months of playing with this army, I've missed ONE time far enough to place a single spore (must scatter so it is 6+ inches away from any enemy model, which means scattering 10+ inches in a perfect direction away, or so. Really not a common occurence).

I, of course, want the crew members magnetized so I can replace them with steel legion, arbiters, or what have you as life goes on. First step is to epoxy these guys onto some magnetic bases (magnetic bases for transportability more than movement benefits), then drill holes for magnets. I want real magnets in the feet locations, so I can just use tin boot soles for the guys. Worked great for the gargoyle skyfboarders, so it will work great here. You can see my 1/8" cylinder magnets coming in handy here as well:

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Next is a test run with some bodies and arms, to get the placement of the hooligan-hybrids just right. I want these guys to "look" like they have S4, and beefier than the regular termagant S3 guys, so I could have used the traditional old-school "no-neck" first-generation hybrid plastics. Instead I decided to use old RT era plastic ork boys, which are from the same no-neck school of thuggery, but are even stockier and wider of stance. These guys have the look of gen-2 hybrids that are a bit on the grunty side, so they fit the bill. For those following along in Tyranid lore, the use of Ork bodies for the crew of my counts-as biovore is just a nice nod to canon.

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These guys are using ranged weapons with some degree of competence, so I wanted human-oriented heads instead of ork, monster, or full stealer heads, to represent their Gen-2 status instead of just making them gen-1 monstrosities. Regular heads didn't complement the hunch and S4, so I came up with a compromise. The gunners have bulging brains of genestealers, but human eyes and expressions, while the loaders are hooded grunt-peasants without much else. The seam from stealer to catachan is done with kneadite (and carving tools after drying) and the hoods are SIMPLE kneadite sheets folded and wrapped into a babushka triangle. They look GREAT, and were so easy to do that I won't hesitate to turn to kneadite for hooded wretches any time in the future, be they plague zombies, serf-szganies, chaos dwarf slaves, fimir slave trains, etc.

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Bases, as obvious, were done up the same way as all the previous gargoyles. In this case, the bases were pre-magnetized gale force 9 bases, which don't take polyvinyl glue as well as GW bases for applying material. They do take two-part liquid epoxy extremely well, however, so I used small objects/patches of JB-weld applied scrap and large rubble throughout, then carpenter's glue (Titebond-II) for the surrounds. This gives the carpenter glue a lot of "anchors" to adhere to so it will not delaminate off of the Gale force 9 bases. If you do not do this type of anchoring structure to your gluing, then be warned that normal PV glues (especially white craft glue, not quite as bad for Titebond-II or III) will delaminate en masse from GF9 bases. I have had zero failures of my PV glues if I first apply JB-weld or cyanoacrylate+talc (catp) anchors of rubble or other material.

And here they are all painted up so you can see their hybridy thuddy goodness:

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I've very pleased with how these guys came out overall, and one of my more successful attempts to work with Kneadite. I'll be turning to "brown stuff" forever more when I need cowls and cloaks.

Very pleased! A little bit goofy, a little bit gritty, a little bit colorful, and a whole lot of OOP.

RTM

[interrogator_chaplain]

I do have to say, for a counts as model, a Thudd Gun as Biovore is spot on! Very clever.

I also like saying Thudd Gun, Thudd Gun, Thudd Gun.



Thudd Gun.

[rtmaitreya]

Update: BROODLORD!

I think about a third of our viewers will recognize GRAMPA!

This is the original patriarch from god knows when. He is used in this army as a broodlord for the large unit of stealers (11 + broodlord). I pimp him with implant attack but NO scything talons, because he's obviously not modeled with them. Boo. Best two points EVER, but can't do it if it's not on the model.

Here he is after mounting on his spanky new round base, spray krylon dark gray (blackish) primer, and a touch of paint.

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Here he is with all of the main colors.

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Outdoors in sunlight to see how it turned out

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I haven't added the right metallic sheen to his genestealer icon. I figure I'll have to get it just right in order to compete with this guy:

[url]http://www.tampabaycriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/Flavor%20Clock.jpg[/url]

But I can only hope my army could one day have just a tiny fraction of Flavor's awesomeness.

RTM

[redfox4242]

Those models look cool to me. Well done!

[YourSwordisMine]

please tell me you plan to do some Coven Limousines...

Great to see the return of the Genestealer Cult. I miss some of the wackiness of early RT/40k.

[White Tiger88]

lol the golf cart reminds me of the Pope Mobile.

[rtmaitreya]

Thanks for the support, everyone!

I am not doing limos for this force at first, because I'm using Codex: Tyranids to represent the force, specifically so I could play in local tournaments and the GW So Cal League. There aren't any really good ways to represent limos without access to rhinos or chimeras, so I'm a little hamstrung on the army list. I am, however, doing a cult bus and truck with momma and poppa on board for my tervigons. The work is already done, but I need to get the pictures uploaded and a status update for these two. That puts me a little bit in the limo category but still with a good justification for their presence in the army.

And yeah, the golf cart = pope mobile is 100% my intention. They are studly on the field, too, just cruising along and blasting crap with focused fire. My local opponents have learned to fear and hate them, and engage them with extreme prejudice. High asset targets that keep the venomthrope alive!

Next up is my tyranid prime, Jacques the Favored Son, martial leader of my glorious band of insurgents. In my lore, he is the fourth breed of a fourth breed, an apex purestrain of incomparable health and strength, incorporating the best genes available on the planet. He is young, so painted in bright vibrant colors compared to the much darker Grampa (original pureblood), Momma, and Poppa (fourth generation breeder and leader, respectively), and Jacques is the is the pinnacle of genestealer perfection. My local opponents hate and fear him as well, nicknaming him "Jack the Giant Killer". Pimped out Tyranid Primes are dangerous opponents for ANYONE.

Here he is just getting started painting. I don't have the "green" photo, sorry. He is the Space Hulk Redux broodlord miniature, which is just chock full of character, and a large size of awesome. I replaced his tongue with a lash whip from a venomthrope (and green stuff transition), and his left hand with a biovore fist and carved up monstrous scything talon into a bonesword. The conversion looks as natural as I could have ever hoped for.

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Here he is with finished painting "for now". No pink spotting, yet, but that can wait until the rest of the army is done up to a nice level of completion. The piled up skulls were painted up specifically to replicate the Paris catacombs. If you haven't been, you should, because they're fascinating, macabre, and creepy as you can't possibly imagine. Seriously, the video here only touches on it: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzDOhnpDhgY[/url]

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Here he is in outdoor lighting. A lot of wet blending from the pink to the fuscia to the purple on that tongue. That was not easy:

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I'm very happy with him. He is fearsome and bright and flavorful, and WYSIWYG!

RTM