Orlaster's army blog - From the ashes of the old world

[Orlaster]

This is very much a WIP log, partly because it would be cool to get feedback on techniques and ideas, and partly because it may actually encourage me to finish the things in the first place. I recently started a VC army again after not painting or modelling for a few years, so I'm getting back into the swing of things after choosing a general theme and fluff background for my army.

I've been reading Foucault recently, and been looking at Piranesi's carceri drawings and it gave me the idea to base an army on a sprawling subterranean prison populated by the restless spirits and corpses of the desperate and evil who cannot pass on. The overseers and custodians are the characters of the army, and they drive the hordes to war, setting them loose from their incarceration and unleashing the horror of their tortured and broken bodies on the world of the living, or something like that. The idea is to have lots of chains, keys, shackles, and lists of the names of the damned- those who enter the prison and do not leave with their will intact, but rise as mindless servants of the overseers.

I've started some conversions already, without a mind to the theme I decided on, so I might end up changing them somehow. But for now I'll post some things I'm working on.

This first image is a conversion of that nurgle lord model (which seems to be everywhere but is still damn cool), vampire parts from the zombie dragon/TG and a stormvermin hand. I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out so far but I'm slightly hesitant to paint him just in case I mess up!

This second image is just the necromancer model with a head swap from the empire wizards. I totally just stole the idea from the necromancer thread on this forum, so I can't take credit for an original idea here. But I really liked the feel of it so I gave it a go. I'm relatively pleased with the paint, but I think I have a tendency to rely too heavily on drybrushing and that can make the model look all kind of caked and odd. Need to practice painting more, thinner layers I think.

Then some other unpainted conversions. I really like the hexwraiths, and the models for the dark elf cavalry look like they'd compliment the hexwraiths well. I think I'll model some more fire on them before painting if I can, but again I'm hesitant in case it looks rubbish, haha! Also some fellbats converted from ghouls, daemonetes, and scourges (again, an idea I totally stole from trawling google for ideas), and I think it worked quite well.

That's all for now. Comments and criticism is welcomed muchly, and I hope to have some more stuff to show you guys again soon. I have many things to paint...

 

[ObliviJohn]

Wow, awsome work on the fat vampire! Excited to see him painted.

 

[Banat]

Ah the Nurgle Lord, proving that you don't need to be slim and have good hygiene to be immensely popular.

 

[Orlaster]

Thanks! I was pleased that the conversion worked out. It's a bit like defusing a bomb. Cutting into all that expensive plastic without knowing whether it'll work really makes me cringe and the worst thing is ending up unhappy with the result! I have to find a way of attaching a cloak to his back without it looking weird. Was thinking of getting some fine link chain, mainly to convert some crypt horrors into mutated inmates draped in chains and whatnot, but also I could use some as a fastening around his neck or something. Need to find a way of mass producing keys as well. Going to make keys and chains a prominent theme I think.

Meanwhile, here is a shot of some ghosts I experimented with earlier. They're old models that I've had for years, languishing without a coat of paint, so unfortunately the wraith has lost its scythe blade, but that's nothing a little glue and bits can't fix. I'm curious to see what people think of the ethereal effect. I tried light washes and drybrushing but I feel like the drybrush effect came out a little too heavy and grainy, slightly ruining the ethereal look.

Also I seem to be mostly nocturnal at the moment, and hence apologise for the lack of optimum lighting for taking photos. It's always either a little too bright, or a little too dark.

 

[Vallasch]

I definitely think the flagellant kit will be your friend for this project. Lots of good bits on those sprues for a prison theme: Chains, keys, hourglasses, placards, a face cage and of course the head & wrist stocks.

But anyway, your conversions have been executed really well. The strigoi/nurgle lord combo is one I would never have imagined and looks great.

 

[Shadespyre]

The Vampire is fantastic, and the other models look good too. For your drybrushing issues... it might seem strange but you can thin paint a bit before you drybrush with it, which might help with clumping. Also don't let too much paint dry out completely on the brush, wet / clean the brush frequently and look after it - I clean mine in brush restorer after every use. Just because it doesn't have a point doesn't mean you don't need it in good nick to do its job!

 

[NoisyAssassin]

That may be one of the most unique Vamp conversions I've seen yet. Love it! Veeeeery fine chain would probably work quite well for attaching a cloak. I haven't found anywhere that sells chain as fine as you'd need, but I've gotten quite a bit in the right scale by going to thrift stores and buying old earrings with little chains on them.

And I know how you feel about the bomb diffusion, but rest assured that with enough chopping, cutting, and greenstuff the feeling eventually starts to fade. Royally screwing up a few models and then somehow salvaging them into something that still looks cool also helps the process.

 

[Eternal Salvation]

Great conversion work!

 

[Mad 'At]

Must say that I actually quite like the look of Hexwraiths on those dark elf steeds. Never liked the horses for what they were, but used like this they fit rather nice.

Very interesting take on a SGK too, but it looks very cool.

 

[Orlaster]

Having just moved to a different city, I've been without internet for a few days. Perfect opportunity to try out a few painting techniques. I did a few skeletons and grave guard as a tester for the colour schemes, cloth, metal, etc. Think it turned out quite well, and I'll paint the rest of the regiments in these colours. Need to decide on a design for the grave guard banner though.

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

I always see that Chaos Lord model in conversions and god I have got to say he looks ugly as sin... Great job.
Never once seen this conversion done to make him a vampire and it fits the strigoi theme so much from how they are meant to end up and bloated masses of muscle.
Nice work on the GG as well so far, the lazy edge drybrush over the weapons is working really well and looks so much better than just plain steel.

 

[Orlaster]

So I finally got round to giving the big vamp a lick of paint. I'm not entirely convinced yet, and it's not completely finished, but what do you guys think? Feedback at this stage would be appreciated. I'm not sure about the colours, the paint job in general. Doesn't quite look bold enough perhaps.

As a project in the future, I'm considering converting some of the new blightking models to be in line with this guy. Crypt horrors with a bloated, undead warrior twist...

 

[Macarian]

I think he looks good, but a bit flat. He needs something to make him "pop". I would make the cloth, his eyes and the open wounds a stronger red. The rest I think is fine as is.

 

[robtion]

Wow I LOVE that ghoul king. Really creative conversion and a great paint job. The skin tone looks excellent, I like the cloak, and the colours are cohesive overall. Perhaps brighter eyes or a glow to the eyes might look good but otherwise he's perfect

 

[jediguru]

fantastic conversion! Awesome job!

 

[Eternal Salvation]

I like the muted tones, and I think they usually look good against a bright green static grass background!

 

[Blutsauger]

Love that fat vampire!

 

[Orlaster]

Hi guys! Thanks so much for the nice comments. I'm gonna put some finishing touches on that vampire soon, I swear...

Anyway, how goes progress? Slowly. I haven't painted much in a while owing to life, blah blah blah, but here are the fruits of my recent efforts.

Firstly, I painted another necromancer, in colours that would suit the grave guard and vampire. Sort of purple and beige.
Now that I can see it up close, it's a pretty messy paint job, but I think it's alright. No one's going to be looking that closely anyways. I'll definitely do some tidying up, and put some finishing touches on it at some point. Fairly standard model, but he'll fit in nicely. Criticism is always good, so tear away, haha!

And secondly, I want to ask the opinion of people on here. I had a go at converting another necromancer from various different kits (corpse cart, necro, bray shaman etc etc). It's not entirely done yet- I need to perfect the green stuff- and I think it went alright thus far but I can't decide on which head to use. Initially I wanted to go with the human head as it fits with the other necromancers in the army, but looking at the other heads I just wasn't sure. Which do you guys like? Also any other suggestions would be greatly welcomed!

Furthermore, I have a project lined up for a mounted necromancer or corpse master on that demonic nurgle steed- the one that looks like a dead horse. I've seen some amazing conversions and wanted to try it myself. I mean, there's one I just want to outright steal so I might just do that. I'll credit the original maker if I do, as I believe I found it on carpe noctem in the first place!

Oh yeah and also I realise my pictures kind of suck. I'm not sure how take good ones. Daytime lighting always looks washed out, and artificial lighting is too harsh. :/

 

[ObliviJohn]

I like the one with the necromancer head the best. Awsome job on the painting of your army. I was worried that you might not be able to maintain the quality of your converting, glad that you proved me wrong. Going to follow this plog with wicked delight.

 

[Mad 'At]

Really like the eyes on that painted necromancer.

On the other necromancer's head I must say I really like the skull. Perhaps not very fitting for a necromancer but it looks cool as hell. If you want more options I suggest taking a look at the empire flagellants heads, they have some pretty cool ones.

 

[Devour the Cabbage]

I'd go with a human head for consistency I feel a random skull while the rest of the body was alive would be a bit odd unless its used as a mask. The zombie head ( I think ) might be my favourite though, the hair seems to flow better with the heavier cloth that is flowing back at the tips.

I also agree of flagellant heads being something to at least look at, some right deranged looking heads in that set.

 

[Count Vashra]

These are all nice work! Keep it up!

 

[najo]

Absolutely.... AMAZING....work....

Love it all so far. Please continue, you're inspiring to us

 

[vegabond]

I like all Option of the master necromance........and i am very curious out of which parts you build it.....

 

[Orlaster]

I like all Option of the master necromance........and i am very curious out of which parts you build it.....

Yeah, I did go with the master necromancer head in the end. I'm in the process of painting it now, so I'll try and upload a picture in a few days. So, the parts are as follows-
Head- VC master necromancer
Body & back- VC corpse cart corpsemaster (I had to scrape most of the guy down to make the cloak fit on his back, so all you can really see is the front and the feet, and that's basically all that remains!)
Arms- VC Ghoul kit
Hood- Empire Battle Wizard
Cloak and Staff- Beastmen Bray Shaman
The pillar he's standing on is a cutoff from a bit of the giant kit. A friend of mine has ogres and he just chucked a bunch of spares at me one day because he doesn't care for conversion (I called him crazy), so I also have a bunch of giant and ogre bits. Expect to see a massive ragged banner from the ogres kit on a flaming wight king some time soon.
And of course, as any VC player knows, a profusion of extra skulls is always at hand for those lovely little extra touches of morbid.

Thanks for your kind words, everyone. I think conversion is the part of modelling I enjoy most, so it's really great to hear that you guys like them!