DreadTober: Week 1 Progress

 

Hi folks,

My project for DreadTober this year is to build an old school version of the Death Company Dreadnought Moriar the Chosen. 

I have always liked the idea of a Dreadnought with two lighting claws, so much so that I built my own using the plastic Blood Angels kit and painted it as a Deathwing Dreadnought called "Hawk Talon". To make a version that would fit in a 2nd Edition army, though, I would need some rarer metal parts. The main part of the model was a "Furioso" Dreadnought from 3rd Edition that I hunted down on eBay. The weapons are all the old 2nd Ed. sculpts, e.g. the heavy flamer is the old double-barreled version. The rest of the model is indistinguishable from the older sculpt, apart from the additional close combat arm. I got the model fairly cheaply because it was missing the ends of the close combat weapons (which I wanted to replace anyway) and the feet (which I already had in my bitz box). To replace the feet I used some spare plastic parts which I drilled to fit the leg pegs:

To replace the "hands", I managed to get a full left arm from the old metal Bjorn the Fell-Handed model, as well as a second spare set of claws from the same model. It almost hurts to think that two Bjorn models will never have their claws, or that I have made it that much harder for Space Wolf players to secure these parts. I was very excited to make my dream project a reality, though!!

To fit the claws I used some spare plastic parts from my old Blood Angels kit to fill in the gaps under the wrist mount, after measuring them up carefully, cutting some pilot grooves with a hobby knife and using my razor saw to finish them off.

To "ease" myself into painting I took on (potential) the most challenging aspect of the model; the banner. I found a picture of the banner online and shrink it to size in a document. After printing I painted over the top to match the shades I'll be using on the model: 

I may add some blue/grey highlights to the black areas of the banner, depending on how the model itself turns out. Overall, I am very happy with how the project has started and I'm looking forward to getting the painting started in earnest. 

See you across the table,

Marc