Deathwatch Smash Captain - Antor Delassio

In preparation for the ITC in 2018, I needed a spectacular centerpiece for my Deathwatch Army, and with Blood Angels having (hands down) the BEST Captains equipped with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields, I decided on a build.  I pulled together special pieces to get just the right pose and "feel" with the model.  The most important part were the wings--I used the wings from the Celestine model because they create the movement of the wings opening up like the model is getting ready to land.  This is what I ended up with... he ended up taking 2nd Overall at the Las Vegas Open, individual model competition. Let me know what you think!

Watch Captain Antor Delassio!

Upon Wings of Fire!

Charging forward with the Hammer!

Glazing technique used on the wings to get the transition!

Love the Spread!

Dynamic Pose!

Forging ahead in the with an Angel's Vengeance!

Hjalkar Redmane - Death and Decay!

His eyes steadily scanned the dust strewn rocks and crags on the alien landscape. The planet’s twin moons began to set. Sweat trickled down his back, cooling his body. Most importantly, it cooled his temper. The coppery taste of blood, mingled with dusty sweat, seeped into the corners of his mouth. Nostrils flaring, the Deathwatch Marine inhaled the putrid, lingering stench of decay in the surrounding area. His vox barked to life, “Brother Hjalkar, do you see anything?” Hjalkar Redmane, of the Space Wolves, had been seconded to the force militant of the Inquisition. These Adeptus Astartes of the planet Fenris, were of the more savage chapters in the line of the All Father’s sons. He constantly had to fight the urge to delve into combat from his days as a Blood Claw. However, the constant threats against the Imperium of Mankind, allowed him to put his battle skills to good use with regularity... so he didn’t mind. 

“No, Brother-Captain, at least not now.” He retorted, gore still oozing from the teeth of Tratiorsbane, his chainsword. He had just used it to dispatch a small brood of unsuspecting, and mindless, reanimated walkers who had been unfortunate enough to meet him. His genetic enhancements, coupled with the reinforced bone structure and power armor had him standing almost three meters in height; tall even for a Space Marine. Hjalkar, being modest, was worth a hundred guardsmen by himself. While he dispatched this brood of walkers with relative ease, one had managed to get in a lucky blow to his head knocking off his helmet, and bloodying his lip.

His kill-team had spread out, and while still in vox range, he could not see anyone. Suddenly, he caught movement. “Wait!” He said, more to himself, then to his team. He realized with these putrescent walkers around, their masters were certain to be close at hand. He squinted in the twilight, nerves on edge, clutching his chainsword tightly and adjusting his grip on his bolter. He activated the shot selector to load his Hellfire rounds. “What do you see, Brother Hjalkar?”

Then, it appeared. Cumbersome. Bloated. Puss oozed, dripping from various sores and infections rotting on its fetid armour. Small clouds of blackness moved and danced around its disgusting girth. Warp flies, no doubt. Its lethargic movements belied the deftness, and strength of its armoured cast. It hefted a massive, corroded battle-axe. Chorded muscle underneath the decaying, fleshy-plating, twitched with anticipation of the kill. “A Lord of Contagion.” he replied, almost at a whisper. Then, he felt it rising again: the anger, the fever, the berserker inside! The penchant need to destroy anything that stood within an arm’s reach! With jaws clenched, he offered up an incantation to the All-Father to guide his hands. He activated his chainsword, the chitinous teeth whirring to life, thirsting for another victim. Then, with a bellowed oath, he charged...

W.I.P. Wednesday... (Sort of!)

For those of you who are part of the non-nerd-modeler/painter crowd, a  W.I.P. is an acronym for a "Work In Progress" and has become something of a nerdy-phenomenon in the modeling, gaming, pro-painter world.  This is a 'sort-of'' post because... well it isn't Wednesday (It's Thursday-although my brain is still locked in last night) and it isn't a W.I.P., it is a completed project.  But, enough banter... here ya go!

Games Workshop released the boxed game Overkill almost two years ago, with some fabulous sculpts  for Deathwatch Space Marine armies.  It took me a bit to convert over from vanilla Space Marines painted like Deathwatch, to an actual Deathwatch army, but once I did... it has been a lot of fun!  Jetek Suberei, is the White Scar Biker sculpt that comes with the set.  One of the things that makes him so cool, is the Deathwatch bike, with it's accompanying scroll-work and Inquisition iconography.

Since the release of the model, I have wanted to do another comparable build, using the model but making a space wolf, since much of the markings would work well with a grey hunter seconded into the Deathwatch.  I had to be careful to not disrupt alot of the fine detail, so searching for the right bits did a little bit of doing, but I finally got around to it, and am pretty pleased with the result.

In a bit of a rush to get to work (so the pics are more amateurish), but I hope you like the finished product!!!

Jetek next to the converted Jarl Magnesun of the Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company!

Jarl, re-pleat with proper Space Wolf markings on his Deathwatch Bike!

All the proper Space Wolf shield, wolf-totems, and blades have been swapped out from the original model!

  

I used the torso and big, nasty, battle-axe from the Thudnerwolf Cavalry kit (had to work to locate one) in order to make it really appropriate! I also added another wolf totem above the neat Skyclaw chainsword I acquired!

I also added the Thuderwolf Cavalry head to the model, with the beard flowing in the wind to finish it off! Really enjoyed this project, and am very happy with the final product!

What are your thoughts?

Deep-striking Drop Pod... Damaging!

No question that the "fluff" behind Space Marines can make them especially devastating when it comes to the drop pod action!  With virtually every walking thing (including dreadnaughts) having access to drop pods, it is almost too hard to resist at times, putting one's whole army in drop pods, and raining down on an unmitigating foe!

With an opportunity to complete a drop pod for the Inquisition's Deathwatch, I jumped at the chance!  However, I was sorely tempted to just dry-brush the inside and forgoe doing any detail in there; happy to say I resisted the temptation... you'll have to let me know whatchya think!

(click on any pic to enlarge)

Landing on the field of battle! *Kathwamp!*

Unsuspecting Xenos, upon closer inspection might ask, "I wonder what is inside?"

"Ooh! Look at that golden eagle with the pretty book and sword!"
(proffered I their own language of course!)

Details of the inside: yes, I went ahead and painted all the tubes, and the screens, and all the little buttons, etc... so glad I did!

"In the name of the Emporer... you shall be vanquished foul denizon!"

Screams Sergeant Jagatun of the White Scars, as he disembarks.

Panning away to see some of the Deathwatch Marines disembarking...

...a full cadre of Deathwatch coming out with their nasty bolters equipped with M-40 targeters and special ammo!  Battle-brother Maxximion Voss of the Ultramarines steps out with his Heavy Bolter, while Alvarax of the Howling Griffons sports his plasma gun!  Now you know... xenos filth, what this pod contains!

Torias Telion: Sniper Extraoridinaire!

After posting the scout snipers recently completed, it is most noteworthy to mention their fearless leader: Sergeant Torias Telion!  He is the epitome of what every warrior should strive to be, both in hand-to-hand combat, as well as being a ranged threat!  With over three decades of service under his belt, in addition to his numerous accolades while in service, he has continued to refuse repeated attempts at pulling him into the elite first company.  Instead, he continues to remain in the scout companies encouraging his neophytes to exceptional service.  On one occasion, while addressing his charges assigned him in the tenth company, he reportedly uttered the following:

"Forget all your preconceptions of war, of battle-lines clashing in the churned ground. Your mission is to attack before the foe even realises that the war has begun, to strike hard at those vital weaknesses that all armies possess, but that no commander will admit to. Under my tutelage you will learn how to seek out such fragilities and smite them with every weapon at your disposal. Master these duties and I will have nothing more to teach, and you will truly be a Space Marine."

Sergeant Torias Telion, with his special customized Stalker Pattern Bolter with digital eye-scope, and custom fit silencer.

I really wanted this unique character to stand out, while fitting in with his sniper team; the simple white trim on his cloak, and red bolter seemed to tease out these elements without over-doing it.

The cammo cloak was especially fun to do, kudos to the sculptor for "tossing" his cloak over his shoulder to display his Ultramarine pride!

Sergeant Telion with his scout sniper squad.

 

Found this acrylic of Telion using his "voice of experience" from tutzdes.

To get the full background behind Sergeant Torias Telion of the Ultramarins,

jump to this link: Torias Telion

Thanks for stopping in!

More Scout Snipers...

Scout Snipers are not effective unless they have a means of taking care of "bigger" issues... in order to accommodate for unforeseen issues that can potentially take out an entire unit, it is always nice to have a "bigger" gun!

This post has an additional scout sniper that was completed for the commissioned squad that has already been posted, but includes the Heavy Missile Launcher that will be added to the squad.  This sniper from the Imperial Fists chapter has anti-personnel, anti-tank, and anti-air missiles to fit all of your battlefield needs!

Big guns on the field!

With the targeting device this scout sniper has, little has chance of escaping his deadly cadre of missiles that he carries!

With both night vision, and heat-sensing goggles on, this scout sniper is sure to detect his target whatever the environment!

With camo-cloak rolled up, and ready for movement, this sniper is ready to creep in to position and wait... for YOU!

Savvy Scout Snipers!

Savvy Scout Snipers: Not sure exactly why, but I have always thought the Scout Snipers for the Space Marine armies were dough!  Perhaps it is because of my personal experience serving in Marine Recon, or some of my Scout Sniper buddies in the Corps... but regardless, they are just Baaaad dudes!

I was a little concerned about the color scheme in order to incorporate them into the Deathwatch with appropriately colored attire, while maintaining the integrity of their cammo uniforms and then it hit me... duh!  *Shazam* Urban cammo!

Scout Snipers sighting in on their targets, ready to pull the trigger!

Was a bit nerve-wracking to get the urban 'grey' cammo cloaks completed, but after I finished the first one and saw how cool he turned it, I was motivated to knock out the second one! The interior red, was a perfect finish to the Deathwatch black, red and gold color scheme.  Can't wait to see them on the battlefield!

Wonderful Wolf-Guard Rune Priest!

Truth be told, I have been able to get quite a bit of work completed during my brief hiatus; and this post was supposed to be a ways out... but he turned out too cool to not share him!  I have been completing a series of projects for different clients, but the Space Marine Deathwatch army has been a true joy!  Comprised of different Space Marines from different chapters, it makes the fun, fluff and flair to fun to ignore!

This is a Space Wolf Rune Priest that was completed, which has been seconded to the Deathwatch to serve over a kill team.  Shredding his Space Wolf Grey, and donning the Deathwatch Black is especially hard for the Sons of Russ, but they never ignore there call to serve!  The model is actually a converted Njal Storm caller from third edition... and here he is!

I love the dynamic spell casting pose of this model!  (I wonder if this is where Gandalf got his dramatic pose for the movie because this model predates him!)

I was a little trepidacious about the runes on his armor and staff (I have painted this mini before), but I am pleased with the results! :D

 With all of the wolf tassels and pelts, it was a bit nerve-wracking to get the blends on the fur as I like them... but after patiently working through them, I think the effect is worth the effort!  What do you think?

Jazzy-Jazz: Jain Zar

With the advent of 7th Ed. here, I thought I would reach into my 40k archives and post some pics of some of the work I have done in past months for 40k clients.  Today's post is none other than Jain Zar, the "Storm of Silence!"  Arguably one of the best all-time hand-to-hand combat characters since 2nd ed., this blademaiden still packs a serious punch, and still strikes fear in the opponent when she enters the battlefield!

The Fearsome Jain Zar, Storm of Silence with her Mask of Kaine, Blade of Destruction, and her deftly dance of death!

The Blademaiden with her troop of Howling Banshees!

A pic taken from the perspective of some poor Imperial Guardsman, ducking behind some crates hoping that these futuristic she-elves glide by... and leave him alone!

Another angle of the Banshees; their masks are uniquely fitted to amplify the scream of a female elder warrior, emitting a psionically paralyzing shriek to the target!

...another ammo crate perspective!

The Banshee Exarch deftly defending her Banshee mistress from a hail of bullets!

Hope you enjoyed these mistresses of death!

Leave your comments here! :D

Helloooooo Heldrake!

Today's post is a recently completed commission job for a client who did NOT want to paint all of the veins on this magnificent Heldrake model from Games Workshop!  Truthfully, I accepted the assignment with a bit of reticence and a sigh, but after I got cranking on it, was oooh so fun!  Hope you like the results!

The Heldrake finished with all of it's metal veins and rivets gleaming!

Going through the painstaking effort of getting some base gold from P3 Paints!

Dry-brushing on some detail to one of the talons.

Side view of this screaming monstrosity!

Catching all of the cool detail on the many fins; all of the layering of ribs and fins were definitely a challenge, but proved worth the effort!

Combination of dry-brushing, highlighting, washes, and glazing gave this effect!

Right side view... such a cool model!

Screeching as it circles in towards its victims.

Close-up view of the head; notice the digital red-eye, the green acid in the venom spitter, and the pink on the techno-lash-tongue-thingy!

Definitely no fun facing this thing on the battlefield! (I know... I have had to do it!)

Ariel view of the head.

Ariel view of the back, showing off some of the detail.

Look at that wing span!

Transitioning to the battlefield... awesome!

What a terrorizing model to place on the field! It definitely makes you sweat because you know the commander is going to spit venom on your troops, roll the dice to wound and then say, "Pick'em up!" because MOST models get no armor save! Ick!!!

Here is the final pic: really enjoyed this project, and the final result was soooo worth the sweat.  Please go and vote for him at:

Cool Mini or Not

Comments always welcome! :D