WIP: Imperial Knight

I've started a bit of work on the Imperial Knight sponsored by my good buddy JaeRoler! It's a really handsome kit and easy to put together. I wanted to paint up the Knight as a Freeblade/ Mercenary. This way it can fit into most armies as well. Colors wise I have chosen the ubiquitous army green. Its easier to layer on and I don't own an airbrush haha!

I really like adding a narrative and coming up with fluff for armies. So an early gist goes something like this: The Imperial Knight one is that he hails from a Freeblade company. The men and women of this House are from an ancient Terran descent with their culture sporting influences from Scottish and Celtic influences. I'll be painting on the kilt patterns as well as celtic knots, bands and also some Gaelic Woad symbols as well.

I laid out the pieces that would be painted seperately. It would make freehanding the details easier when I handle the model.

There's a nice spacious cavity behind the head compartment. And yes, I am tempted to make a pilot for the Knight haha!

Primed black for the main body and legs as I will be putting lots and lots of Boltgun Metal on that. The drawings he's standing on is me practicing some of the designs that will go on the model.

I primed the seperate parts green and layer on Knarloc Green. I've detailed a Celtic Triquetra design on the opening of the top hatch of the Knight.

The trim have been basecoated in Calthan Brown. I'm going to paint the area in some quick NMM Gold style. I'll be freehanding the border with the Celtic knots.

The colors were inspired by the Magnus the Traitor model from Warmachine. I'll be using the Magnus model as my Lord Commissar. If I do take this to 2 or even 3 Knights, then I'll fill in the rest of the points with some Highlander inspired infantry veterans :)

I'll be starting work tomorrow so hobbying will take a bit of a back seat. Will take this one slow and easy and enjoy the process of working with the model.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

WIP: Inquisitor, Ordos Xenos

I got this really neat miniature at the beginning of last year. Its the Orin Midwinter Rogue Inquisitor model from Privateer Press's Warmachine. I found that the major elements of a 40K Inquisitor were already there. I added some purity seals and scrolls on the model to make it look more 40k-ish. I decided to do a quick paint up of the mini this evening.

The mini by itself is quite dynamic with its pose. I really like the pose of the left hand. Very kung fu style like! He will be my Ordos Xenos Inquisitor. He will likely appear periodically on the blog as he introduces the Xenos elements of the 40K armies that I am or will be painting.

Introducing....Inquisitor Iyago Dolven

A full century has passed since the Battle of Macragge where the rapacious hunger of  Hive Fleet Behemoth was ended at tremendous cost. For the valiant Ultramarines, the lost of their entire First Company was a terrible blow to the Chapter. For Inquisitor Kryptman, it cost him his standing within the Inquisition. He was declared a traitor and the Inquisition issued the Carta Extremis against him. Kryptman's fate is not known, but he is likely still alive and rumored to be still carrying on his fight against the Great Devourer.

Although he can never return to the ranks of the Imperium, there are some within the Ordos Xenos who recognize the difficult decisions that Kryptman had to make and supported his actions in secret. 

Before Kryptman's departure, he had under his tutelage several Acolytes whom were later assigned to be mentored by other Inquisitors.

With time, some of Kryptman's former pupils rose to the rank of Inquisitors themselves when their mentors passed on. And one of these pupils was Iyago Dolven, now a fully fledged Inquisitor himself of the Ordo Xenos. 

He has held true to Kryptman's teachings through the years and has dedicated his career in eradicating the remaining tendrils of the various Hive Fleets across the Segmentum, at whatever the cost.

Inquisitor Iyago Dolven is 40 standard Terran years in age. He is of slim built and looks older than his appears. His hair is white with a receding hairline. He sees himself as a Radical and is it is not unusual for him to call upon persons and artifacts of xenos origins in his fight against the Tyranids, (or Serpents as he calls them). 

Dolven wields a powerful staff known as Balor's Gaze. It is rumored that the staff was an artifact gifted to him by the legendary Kryptman himself...

In Game Rules:-
I'll be representing Inquisitor Dolven using the entry of Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos from Codex Inquisition.
In addition to his basic wargear, I have replaced his bolt pistol and equipped him with a Conversion Beamer (which also doubles as a standard close combat weapon). These are represented by the arcane looking staff he wields.

Colors Used:
For the Green robes, I used a base of Caliban Green. Then I mixed Caliban Green with Warpstone Glow. Then I slowly highlighted the robes by adding more Warpstone Glow to the mix. The final highlight was a Warpstone Glow with White Scar.

For the Blues, I used a base of Mordian Blue. Then Mordian Blue with Enchanted Blue mix. The final highlights were done with Enchanted Blue and White Scar.

Upcoming Project

I'll be trying to work on the Imperial Knight next! Thanks to Jaeroler for purchase of the amazing kit! I plan to paint the Imperial Knight up with Scottish kilt patterns as well as Celtic band motifs. A Freeblade Highlander-ish type of knight haha! I may get more Knights as I have a box or two of Warlord Games's Celtic Warriors. I can convert them to Woad Warriors Imperial Guardsmen.

Hope you have been entertained by this post :) Have a great weekend all!

WIP: Iyanden Eldar Wraithknights

(Picture from Google Images)

I've been quite busy with real life stuff of late. And I'll also be starting my new old job in the middle of March. That leaves about 2 weeks more of painting and watching YouTube like there's no tomorrow haha!

I'm also reminded of the upcoming Apocalypse battle at the end of March with my gaming group. And so I decided to return to my Iyanden Wraithknights and at least get them painted up more. They are at time of blogging about 50% complete.

I have the option of fielding them as a Dreamwalker squadron in Apoc games, but I got a feeling they may work better as seperate units. This way they can target more enemy units.

I have named my trio of Wraithknights as The Firmament. This is because I have painted them in the theme of the Sun, Moon and Stars :)

Isirion & Sunfire
The first of Iyanden's Firmament will be the Wraithknight Sunfire. The construct is piloted by Isirion Riverwind who now leads the Firmament. Isirion's twin is her sister Isarien who fell in battle during the attack on their craftworld by Hive Fleet Kraken. Isirion and Isarien were both previously Fire Dragon Aspect warriors.

Sunfire is easily recognizable by the patterns of living flame on the chest  and legs of the construct.

Her weapon of choice is the dual Wraithcannons as they are reminiscent of the Firepikes wielded by the Fire Dragon Exarchs.

Adaeryn & Ghostmoon

Adaeryn Stormfeather is the pilot of the Wraithknight known as Ghostmoon. 

The Wraithknight bears the markings of Isha's moon. A reminder that she still watches over the Eldar. Crescent shaped motifs are also emblazoned throughout Ghostmoon's armor. Adaeryn is also a twin as all Wraithknight pilots are. Her late brother Alaerin was the Exarch in the Dark Reaper squad that she also served in.

Adaeryn's favored weapon is the Suncannon, a weapon similar to the Dark Reaper Tempest launcher. 

Ciond & Amberstar

Ciond Brightheart is the pilot for the Wraithknight called Amberstar. Amberstar is recognizable on the field of battle from the trinity of stars marked on the chest plate. 

The star motif is repeated on his knee guards and tabard. The stars signify the origins of the Eldar as The Children of the Stars (a small homage to Tolkien's eldar).

Ciond and her twin Fiond were pilots in the Eldar Scorpion class Grav Tank. Their vehicle was destroyed in a fierce battle. The Scorpion's engines were breached when two Keeper of Secrets attacked the vehicle after materializing next to it.

Their favored weapon is also the Wraithcannon. A weapon similar to the deadly Pulsar on the Scorpion grav tank.

And a final pic of the WIP Iyanden Wraithknights. The Firmament together in a Charlie's Angel's pose hehe!

Lessons Learned: Painting the Wraithknight 

1) It would have been better to have painted it in parts rather than fully assembled.

2) Yellow is a rather unforgiving color to work with. Use a fine detail brush for freehand work. Take it slow.

3) Paint the darker colors like the black of the interior first. Then paint the rest of the model. So you won't get darker paint spots on that yellow.

Colors Used:

Yellow: Averland Sunset Base. Then Averland Sunset mixed with Yriel Yellow in successive layers. Finally a layer of Yriel Yellow. This took quite a few layers.

Blue: I used a base of Mordian Blue. This was followed by Mordian Blue with Enchanted Blue mix (50:50).

Bluish-Gems: I used a base of Calgar Blue. Then added successive amounts of White Scar.

I have not finished painting the Wraithknights yet and am still halfway through the process. So I may add on to the colors used at a later stage :)

I thought that finishing up the Wraithknights would also be timely as the Imperial Knight is now out today! Epic battles between the two knights await!

Have a great weekend all!