DreadTober: Week 3 Progress

  

Hi folks,

Just a quick post tonight because it is getting late. I managed to get quite a bit done on Moriar the Chosen during the weekend, most of which I have not taken photos of yet. The sarcophagus is pretty much finished, depending on how cleanly the assembly goes. I have been varnishing the parts as I finish them; a trick I learned working on the Tyranid Warriors a few years ago. Unfortunately, when you construct metal models, there is always a chance you are going to knock something and end up having to repair chips in the paint job. 

Thankfully, the decals I ordered last week have been delivered. They are from the new Death Company set and they look excellent. I have actually put them on the model already, but I'll have to show that off next time I post. I also received the static grass I needed to finish the base off in the style that I wanted. I did actually end up going back and warming up the colour of the dirt on the base by dry-brushing with XV-88.

The arms were pretty quick to paint until I got up to the claws, which took me ages to blend and highlight. Here is how they looked the step before the claws were worked on, including a neat little free-hand blood drop.

See you across the table,

Marc

DreadTober: Week 2 Progress

 

Hi folks,

The past week went by in a blur. It was the last week of the school holidays for me, which is a time when I start preparing for the new term whilst trying to cram in as much "holiday" as I can around it. I marked a huge amount of school work, set up a vegetable garden with my daughter and managed to chip away at the paint job of my Dreadnought.

My mantra with painting Moriar has been "less is more". I have stuck pretty strictly to a limited palette and added just a couple of free-hand details that help tell the story.

The legs have free-hand saltires to represent Moriar's place in the Death Company. The black is highlighted with Thunderhawk Grey to add that tinge of blue. A lot of the parts that I would add a spot colour to were painted black on this model, as it has enough spot colours in its heraldry and claws; more would be too busy I think.

I painted the banner pole to match the Crozius Arcanum that Lemartes has on the cover of the Angels of Death Codex; again, the black wings freaked me out a little bit. I was so driven to paint them white instead!

I added a simple free-hand blood drop to the exhaust unit on the Dreadnought's back. All of these pieces will probably need some white decals to finish them off, which I have ordered on eBay. Hopefully they make it to me in time for the challenge. Fingers crossed!

I have an old copy of the Collecting and Painting Wargames Armies from 1998. It had some nice variations on the classic Goblin Green bases that I was keen to try. This base riffs off the ones used on an Ork army (Page 24) by Jakob Nielsen. I think the dirt colour is a little desaturated on my base, but overall I am happy with it so far. I am just waiting on some more static grass to add the finishing touches (my son used my entire supply on a diorama at some point...).

That's the first half of the challenge down. I have "just the sarcophagus and the arms to go, but I get the feeling they are all going to require a bunch of painting.

See you across the table, 

Marc

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