So, I realized that, after a long break from doing anything related to AoS, that I suddenly had seemingly infinite time, and a shelf full of grey plastic. So, naturally I called every game store near me and found one still doing curbside pickup. So I bought these. My goal was to round out my options, and expand my saurus guys enough to run both sarus-star hosts. The extra skinks help me bulk out my existing forces some, and I desperately wanted to kit ash the trogladon rider onto a ripperdactyl. So.... My project began to take shape. So far I've gotten a full shelf full of finished models, and half a shelf of grey plastic left. So, I'll post a bunch of images below, and add notes about conversions and kitbashes as nessecary. The first group of models I worked on, was a group of 10 sarus knights I already had built. Painted them up in my army colors, and began the basing. I just play for me, and so I dont care about senic bases. (more power to the guys who do, but I wanted something easy) so, I glued rocks and bits of plastic plants for fish tanks to the bases, and flocked normally. I think they're pretty cool. That scar veteran conversion on the side of the frame is built from a spare knight, replacing the tail of the colt one with a spare carnosaur tail tip to make the model stick out next to other cold ones. I also mounted him on a base that's one size bigger, so I can pick him out from the knights in a mass. Also, I dry rushed blue onto his back, and them the backs of all the other saurus characters to make them stick out from the crowd also. So here we have all the characters in my army, not on a monster. My eternity warden is a kit bash from spare parts after building the new boxes. I used a razor saw to reposition the hands to allow a two-handed grip. And cut the raptor head out of the cold one squad leader in order to cobble together a big helmet. This Sunblood is converted from a standard saurus body, and oldblood head, and carnosaur headplate. Classic, but, ass kicking none the less. Now that he's got venombolt on the warscroll, I dusted off the old trogladon bit, and made it magical green, with 'ardcoat for the wet look.. And boom. Spare trogladon rider lightly converted to be a skink priest. Astrolith Bearer kitbash. My terradon chief is a favorite, even though I don't have any terradons. But, the box came with three mounts... So he got kitbashed from the spart parts left over after the ripperdactyl chief... Who, what more intensive to make, but I ended up liking this dude quite a bit... The head dress is there, mainly because I used the last collar bit as a belt for the eternity warden. But, it came out cool none the less. Ill post about the ripperdactyl chief in the next entry.
The Ripperdactyl Chief. His mount is converted, I used both wide open wings (by cutting the left wing off, and gluing the wing from the other body on the sprue, I was able to have a pose with both wings flared open.) when I glued the rider on, I found that there was no way to have the hand intersect with the collar, and so, I used the bits of Bola from the ripperdactyl sprue to connect the handle. I love this model. One of my favorite conversions I've made. My Slaan, finally based and feeling like a badass. He sat on my shelf forever, painted but not based, or glued to his stand staring at me like.... The last episode of 'I'm not OK with this!'... So I finally made him feel like a warlord. So, the Scar Vet, and the Bastillidon I already had painted, but I just based them. The oldblood however, came out of that start collecting box I posted in the first shot. My Bastillidon. I like him because I painted him to resemble the earth and space. I wanted the two Carnosaurs to have a different feel. So, maybe they were tamed in different places? Idk. I just didn't want the same guy twice.
I've gotten the trogladon, and ripperdactyl riders, and even the converted razordon pack all done. Then I realized that half my endless spells were still unpainted. So....
Endless spells continued. It's hard to see in the photos, but it's all done with drybrushed metallic, in order to make it magically glitter. Next up, I've got 10 saurus warriors with spears painted, and 10 more with an extra command squad up on the block next. After that, I've got another 10 saurus warriors with clubs. Then, 10 saurus knights with clubs and an extra command. 20 skinks painted, 10 grey, all with blowpipe and club, and need to be based. A painted skink "starseer" conversion that needs to be based. A grey bastillidon with ring pop lazer I'm still deciding on how to paint... And the magnitized ark of sotek for the basti I've already finished also needs paint.... Whew. Then... If I can get all that done by the time GW reopens... It's a toss up as to whether or not to build a new army of goblins riding spiders... Cause... Omg, that's horrific. And mortal wounds galore... And fun models... And room for future expansion... Or Get two stegadon, one built magnitized for the skink chief, and the other built as an engine... and box of terradons. Idk y'all. I'm excited to make all this progress. But I don't want to get so much done that I have to dig up my chaos marines. Or gawd forbid my Tyranids....
Very nice work on the kit bashing! You have been quite productive. You’ve got me eyeing the Start Collecting Skinks box now.
I'll take some photos tomorrow, but I've just finished a few more things. The squad of 20 warriors is done. I've found 1 spare skink body in my bits box, so that I'd have 31 total and two squad leaders, and finished the 11 unpainted guys I had left. Then got them all based. I tweaked a kit bashed skink starpriest to actually look like he's flying... Then I found the deepkin my wife had started on the shelf... And painted them too... 1 soul render, 1 squad of thralls, an allopex, and a squad of Ishalen guard... Which the banner and one of the shields had been lost for them.... And I'd lost thier spare sprues long ago, so I bashed a banner and a spare shield onto them... Just got the other 550 points of deepkin in the mail, which sets up my next few days. Like... Omg. There might be an end to the grey plastic. Anyone else getting down to a place where they can see then end in sight?
A bit late, but there's the photo's that should have gone with my previous post. I've just finished one more squad of eels... Which I'll have to photo here in a min. And I'm about to get cracking on my Voltinous and the last Allopex. After that, back to seraphon for 10 + and extra command squad of saurus knights... And 10 more sarus warriors. *whew*
High king finished and good to go. Whew. Next the last Allopex. And I know I said I was gonna do a bunch of warriors and knights next... But there's a bastillidon that's from that start collecting box... And it wants paint real bad.... I might actually roll a d3 to decide. Idk.... (or I might talk to my brother about painting a few of his perpetually grey daughters of khaine...)
Wow! That's some crazy fast, but still very well done painting. Are you using any contrast or all traditional?
Most of what I'm doing is contrast. But I do t have the whole line... So, if I need a different color, I'll do it traditional. Depends. I do the fastest, least stressful thing I can do, that doesn't look bad. Like... I could paint eyeballs and variations of shade in eyeshadow... But... Why? Somebody is gonna roll a 6, and I'm going to have to take her off the table... So, contrast as much as possible.
I finished the Allopex... Which, I'll photo tomorrow. I was thinking about what project to do next... And I painted half the ship wreck that goes with the deepkin. It's a pretty model but boring to paint. So I wanted something to break up the project of painting terrain. So... I looked at my ogor shelf.. And I realized that lead bealchers changed recently. They always came in boxes of 4. Before the ogor book came out they were organized in squads of 3. So, back then I bought a box of 4, and converted one of them into a tyrant. Now.. I have a squad of 3. After the new book... Default squads of 2. So... I just dug through my bits box, and converted the now 'extra' leadbealcher into a Bucher. (I already have the slaughter master) So using bits from giants, and various ogor sprues, I cobbled together a pretty cool model. Think I'll paint this before I get back to the ship. Then back to the lizards.
So, after making that butcher, I decided that the hammer I built him with... While strictly better than the cleaver.... (rules wise. Meat Tenderizer 3 attacks, 3's and 3's, -1, 3dmg. Vs the Cleaver, 3 attacks, 3's and 3's, -2, 2dmg.) the cleaver feels *MUCH* more like a butcher's weapon. And, the giant tongue on the hook looks like it was chopped off with a cleaver. So, to make the model feel more consistent, I took the "worse" weapon. Then I got it all painted up. Super stoked about how it came out. So while finding the parts for this guy in my bits boxes.... ... I used the riding legs left over from not building beastriders, and clipped and shaved them until I got a passable standing position... Sort of a 'pitching your weight to grab something' kind of posing... So I kept digging until I found some arms that would work... Then I found 'something' to grab. Even parts that could make a passable cauldron.... And this slaughtermaster started to come together.... I'm honestly not as happy with it as I am the butcher. However, maybe it'll be cooler with flock and paint. I consider the butcher above like an A- that I earned... This is like a B- I kinda phoned in. But again, after paint I may feel differently. Idk maybe it's better than I think. The photos make me like the details. I just hope this front grots that are basically identical doesn't detract from the overall feel. Gawd I have project ADD.
The chair that I sit and paint in, is hard maple, flat and small. Probably from Ikea. And my back hurts but I figured I'd post some in progress shots of this model while I take a break. I'm feeling less like I phoned in the kit-bash as it goes... It's really just that those grots I've got holding up the cauldron are basic bitches, and everyone has that bit, like 50 times over, and nobody is using them. Because the sculpt is busy and has a million details that are hard to tell apart until they're painted away by process of elimination. I should have positioned things better on the base to make it easier to paint... But I digress. It's fun to work on. And two slaughtermaster's is a better chance to roll a 3-4 for that killer +1 to hit. So it's the character my army needs two of. And I'm having fun, why am I still justifying this model to myself? So far, there's no washes or contrasts applied to the model. But I'm getting close to that point. Probably a few more colors to put down before touching up all the areas to be hit with contrast paint... Then washes after. Once everything dries, certain colors get highlights to make them pop. Especially the skin. Then details like eyes and blood spatter... Then flocking, then my spray-adhesive and fake snow trick. (which I'll need to mask the surface of the cauldron for... Because snow would touch the surface of the broth and melt right away.... So... Tape? Paper disk with cutouts? Idk... Cross that bridge when I come to it.)
Ahhhh... Done! It's finally good to go. Throughly brutally painful. Like literally. That damn hard maple chair has killed my ass. Pain shooting up my back. But totally worth it. Final verdict? I like this model.