Carpe Jugulum PLOG

[Carpe Jugulum]

So, I'll inaugurate this plog with a picture of my test model for my Blood Knights! As far as I can tell, no one has tried to use the Dark Rider horse/legs as a base for Blood Knights, and I really kind of like how it turned out. I'm not super happy with his face, but that's just because I suck at painting skin...

I'll get some better pictures up once I start on the others, but these will do for now.

I'll also try and re-size those pictures to something more manageable.

This guy happens to be a mix of all elven pieces, but some of my other knights have empire heads and an empire banner mixed in.

How does he look?

 

[Atrophus]

He looks awesome, I like the paint scheme and I actually prefer that look to the originals, where's the shield from? I think I've figured all the other parts out.
The only criticism I have is that the horse looks abit too delicate and nimble, I would personally try and bulk him out with any spare bits of armour or even try and sculpt some chain mail onto the horse out of green stuff.

 

[Theerteen]

The only criticism I have is that the horse looks abit too delicate and nimble, I would personally try and bulk him out with any spare bits of armour or even try and sculpt some chain mail onto the horse out of green stuff.

Yep that's my opinion too. While I like the idea and most of the look (and of course the painting, I really dig this dull colours), I think for the really heavy cavalry that blood knights are, the complete model is just a little to light. But that's my sight of blood knights, and I use chaos knights for them, so you see I like them really heavy and bulky

 

[Carpe Jugulum]

The shield is from the a Dragon Princes.

And I totally thought about trying to put some extra barding onto the horse, but in the end decided against it. My greenstuff-ing skills are not that great to begin with, and even with more armor the horse would still be very agile looking.

I think the Chaos Knight variants look great, but they're just way too bulky for me. Vampires should be lithe!

 

[Adam_Barrow]

I bet some proper scary basing will push the vampire feel of the unit in the right direction. And have you considered blood and gore effects?

Just some suggestions since you asked for them. Your paint job as it is looks great.

 

[Carpe Jugulum]

I'm just beginning to think about basing - not sure exactly what I'm going to do. I generally do a kind of desert, rocky landscape for my 40k models, but I want to stretch for something different with this army. Right now I'm thinking lots of lush grass for some contrast.

And I do want to use some blood effects. I'm just deciding whether to order some of this mythic Tamiya Clear I hear so much about, or just pick up some Blood for the Blood God from my FLGS down the street... I've never used either of them though. Which is better?

And thanks for the suggestions. They really help. I'll post the rest of my knights tonight, and show off some of my ghoul conversions.

 

[Adam_Barrow]

I swear by Clear Red. Let it gum up on the pallet for a bit and mix a little black wash in and it works a treat. Tons of examples in my plog. Haven't used GW's, but the effects look similar, so it may come down to price and availability. Happy hunting!

 

[Borgnine]

While I am also used to big and bulky knights on giant black chargers, this one is interesting because of his originality. Some greenstuffing surely wouldn't hurt, but for me he's quite good as he is.

Well, maybe besides the armor - I'd add some red to it, but that's just a personal opinion. Vampire light cavalry thing you have here is certainly nice

 

[Devour the Cabbage]

I must say I'm fond of the deviation from the normal blood knight conversions, I really dislike the actual blood knights myself and the price. Hah. And I'm not sure if I agree with bulking out the horse myself, while it would suit the intended model more I feel the more light cavalry look could work well if continued over onto the other mounts rather than the black knights looking heavier armed.

 

[benvoliothefirst]

Thank you, DtC, for saying exactly what I was thinking. Test model looks phenomenal so far, very original. Can't wait to see the rest of the unit.

 

[Kutslo]

Like the Blood Knight idea! Always good to see something different. I agree with some of the other comments that it looks a bit light for the heavy armour that I associate with Blood Knights, but I think it will look really cool when the unit is complete

 

[Carpe Jugulum]

Whelp - I've been less productive than I planned to be, but I can at least give you guys a shot of the whole gang all together.

No paint on the other four yet though...

I think the empire heads help make the unit look a little more butch. The banner is a little blurred, but it's from the empire knights box. I just cut the flag off the hand and pinned it to the base of the dark riders standard bearer pole. A little fiddly, but not too bad.

And here's a little look at some more conversions I've got going on...Ghouls!

So I have to give complete credit to the various Mousillon themed armies around here. I think using the flagellant body with the ghoul heads and arms is such a good conversion. It's a lot of work to get everything to attach right, but so far the most annoying part has been waiting for greenstuff necks to dry.

Anyway, to try and spice things up a bit, I decided to mix in some of my extra doomfire warlock bits and make a sort of "command" for my eventual hoard of 30 ghouls. Check them out!

I'll call these my Prophets of Flesh, leading their congregation of the Lost. Since they lead the local cannibal peasant populace in proper worship of their vampire masters, they'll get a much nicer paint job than the rest of the ghoul hoard. Think, deep red robes, actual weapons and shields, that sort of thing. It should help the huge mass of ghouls stand out a little more I think.

And yes, I did whittle the insignias off those shields with a craft knife. I'm hoping when it's painted up the divots I made in it end up looking like poorly beaten metal.

I'll definitely start painting the knights tomorrow, but the ghouls will have to wait while I greenstuff the arm joints. I think I need to add some sleeves on my warlock-ghouls. Their arms look a little skinny next to the other regular ghouls.

 

[Theerteen]

cool ghoul conversion. Even if I saw them before, I dig the look. The right one is like "Yeah man, we totally poison attacked the shit outta them! High Five!" "Prophets of flesh"...Yeah, I like that sound and how they look. I don't really see them as ghouls for me, but as nercrarch or maybe not complete feral strigoi. But they do their job of course. Nice stuff, keep 'em coming!

 

[Borgnine]

Wow, I never knew that flagellant bodies make for such good conversions! ;] It's probably problematic and pricey, but it looks mighty fine. Prophets are also cool - and while they could work with the ghouls, I - as Theerteen - think they can suit something else - and I think that they could fit vampire, wight king, cairn wraith or even a banshee statline, depending on the situation. Good conversions!

 

[Carpe Jugulum]

Proof! I'm actually making progress.

Basecoats, highlights, and washes done on the horse hair and bodies.

Basecoat done on the barding.

 

[Carpe Jugulum]

Ok! That's 4 Blood Knights down, 1 to go... Here are the finished ones.

I need to work on consistency though - I used basically the same paint scheme for each face, but none of them turned out the same.

I must have used a heavier wash on one, or more pallid wych flesh on the other... I'd planned on their faces being more uniform, but they all ended up a little bit different. Oh well, I think they look ok.

I especially like the standard bearer. I just need to think of something interesting to put on that banner now...

 

[Adam_Barrow]

The standard bearer is awesome. I love the head swap choice.

 

[Borgnine]

I agree - heads are awesome - especially the one with one eye - it makes me regret my decision to slopilly sculpt my own heads instead of using those from somewhere

Well, they may look a little different, but vampires are very individuallistic creatures and I think it's ok. Cool unit you have there, generally

 

[White Knight]

Those heads work a treat. I also like the standardbearer best, his head is just spot on!

 

[Kingside_Bishop]

I really like your take on blood knights. I agree with others in that I think they feel a little too light for heavy cavalry, but that's more a problem with my imagining of blood knights -- if you're going for a different image, more power to you. Your conversion is completely successful, and well painted.

A few other things... I like the red eyes, very popping. And, your ghouls look wicked, crazy hair plus crazy shields plus ripped bodies has given them a very extreme look that I like a lot. Totally unique.

Keep up the good work!