Re-Inventing Fear, The Knightmare Project:PC&A

[Knightmare]

Well Brothers,after working on nothing but my Deathwatch for two years I have found myself as late rather burnt out on all the black and silver.Not to mention I miss gaming on a regular basis(and not getting knocked for using an "unfluffy" army. ).

To be honest,I felt like a break from my Deathwatch was in order.With that in mind I decided that all the Horus Heresy talk was a sign that I should return to my roots.


The Nightlords.


I have a army of them already,and enjoyed a rather decent win/loss ratio with them.Unfortunately,every time I look at those bat helms I cringe.Everytime I see that my Commander Knightmare ended up a statured DP I shudder,for not only is it unfluffy,but NOT what I intended for him.

With that in mind,I decided to start them ALL OVER.

After reading the IA article on them several times,I took pen to paper and created aesthetic guidelines I would follow this time.

-Knightmare would remain a Commander.

-Mutations would be absolutely minimal.

-Trophies will be plentiful,as will other "fear-inducing" concepts,most notably on the assault oriented squads,Knightmare and my Chosen.

-No Bat Helms!Pre-Heresy/Heresy era helmets are a the order of the day.That means few horns and more modified Chaos helmets and Beakies,most with "Terror Markings".

-More helmetless marines.I've grown rather fond of throwing at least two in each squad.A leftover quirk from my Deathwatch project.



With that said,I'd like to now show my Bretheren here the first of my rank and file troops.

(Please note that I just got this camera tonight,and I'm still learning how to produce the best pictures with it)

This first lad is a fine example of how the Beakie helmets will be utilized,complete with Terror Markings...







The highlights in the Terror Markings are now softer than they are in these pics. :blush:


The next marine is a helmetless Plasma gun weilder.I was initially at a loss on how to do the faces during the Concept phase of the project.The Raven Guard and the Nightlords are both described as being very pale/white with black eyes,and I definately wanted my Nightlords to look more unique.As a result,I created a mixture I call "Nostromo Flesh",consisting of Codex Gray and Skull White at a 15/85% mixture to use for highlights.

My epiphany in regards to the eyes goes primarily to my cat.
The Raven Guard have black eyes due to a mutation in there Geneseed.The Nightlords on the other hand have black eyes because they are entirely pupil,hence the night vision.
While petting my cat one evening,I noticed how her eyes shined in exposure to light.Somewhere I heard it's because of a protective lense behind the pupil.

Did I mention I was watching Pitch Black at the time?

The result was eyes done in Boltgun Metal to represent that "Eye Shine" that opponents would likely see on the dark battlefield.







I'll be adding more pics as I chug along,including the insanely extensive conversion that will be Knightmare. :ph34r:

Comments,Critisisms and ideas are very welcome.


-Lord Knightmare

[Lord_Caerolion]

Looking good! Better than I can paint mine.

[Knightmare]

It's a matter of patience and a steady hand.

It also helps to go over the areas that you mess up on often.

Here is the updates,including the helmetless marine,who had his eyes re-done to portray the night vision better.









Next up is another rank and file soldier without a helmet.

[HellChyld]

Continue with the global domination by excellent painting and extremely well planned theme to form a rock hard core for an excellent army of terror troops. Look forward to see more singles and a squad pic or two

[Your Worst Nightmare]

I loved your Deathwatch and judjing by the quality of these models so far I'll love your Nightlords too.

[Knightmare]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Not much getting done today.I'm heading out in a few to tie one on with my lil' bro,and we all know drinking and painting doesn't mix.


Thought I'd throw a few WIP shots up here in the meantime.


Started work on the second Bolter/Plasma firebase squad.I wanted to make sure that both squads have characteristics that will make it easy for me to tell who goes where,so I mounted bayonets on the bolters of the second squad.Here is the first.




The next WIP is of my first assembled Chosen.As I hope you can see I'm going all out on them.Trophies,Heresy era studded shoulderpads and all of them will be helmetless.

[Lord_Caerolion]

Can't wait to see the finished product. Plus, where did you get the head of the Chosen model, as I too have an obsession with the helmetless heads, to give my squads a more elite look.

[Knightmare]

It's from the MKII Blood Angel Predator Sprue.

A direct link to the US store can be found here...

http://store.us.games-workshop.com/storefr...23901&orignav=9

[Knightmare]

Finally got another rank and file troop done.I'm rather pleased with the new shade I'm using for the Eye Shine....





A couple minor updates.I just finished assembling my first Chosen AC.

Faythe,Harbinger of the Dark.





And work has begun on Knightmare finally.I'm taking my time on him as I am quite intimidated by the process and I do not want to botch it.

A Pre-GS shot of his legs..



A shot of his torso.The GS work isn't finished on it..



More to come soon.

[Night Haunter]

Looks good, i think you have quite a bit of highlights, but i have to admit it looks cool. Keep up the good work.

[Knightmare]

Thanks.

My highlighting IS abit extreme,I will admit.I have tried more subtle approaches though and wasn't very fond of the results.It can be very difficult to make a dark blue marine eye catching from a distance.

I have also found that with my "extreme highlighting" technique that my score in regards to appearance has shot up drastically in RTTs,so I took a cue from that.

[Dante]

Wow those rock. And I love the souledge that your DP has. (saw it at b&c)

[Lord_Caerolion]

Keep up the great work, and I must search B&C for your daemon prince, haven't seen it yet, but I know it'll be great!

[Knightmare]

Just a small update here.By tommorrow I'll be finished with another trooper,and the GS work on Knightmare's legs should (hopefully ) be finished.

I pitched this question on the B&C,so I'll pitch it here,especially since I'm amoungst my Kin.

I've been thinking of "40K-ifying" Knightmare more and changing him from a Namco owned Character to something that's more "mine" in nature.

One idea I've been batting around is changing the massive mutated claw into a massive cybernetic claw,a throwback to an injury he suffered during the Great Crusade.At the same time I'm thinking of transforming the Soul Edge into something less organic in nature,keeping the size and shape but making it more sleek and more akin to a weapon a Nightlord would use.

Opinions?

[Knightmare]

New troop done.







I think I'm getting better at Terror Markings.

And to show I'm not completly crippled by fear in regards to sculpting,here are a few current shots of Knightmare's legs and chest so far.





The chest needs a little clean up work,and I may add some form of icon to it.

I know the sculpted ribbing coulda been done better,but it's pretty good for a novice,right?