Topic: Middenheim Army (Update: Swords of Ulric)

[steveb]

looks good to me. steveb

[Delthos]

I really like it, if I didn't know it was Ursarkar Creed from 40k, I'd never know it wasn't a Fantasy miniature.

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Its been a while since my last update but I finally made a lot of headway on my knights. Finished the back rank of 5 and modelled and primed the front rank. Decided to start at the back to see how the paint scheme would work out so i can adjust for the front.

I went through three version of the knights before I was finally happy with the model. Started of bog standard out of the box, then version two was based on modified Pistolier horses to finally settle on the Chaos knight set with a lot more modding.

Here is a pic of the evolution of my Knights of the White Wolf:



The first as many posts have discussed I just find silly, my second mod horse was much more to my taste but then the knight and his weaponry looked like a Handy man lost in battle, so finally settled on the tried and tested Middenheim manner of bigger is better 

Anyway the horses need to be big to match Wolfgarts horses when Sigmar was allive when the Knight of the White Wolf were Sigmars main hard hitting force.

Here are some pics of the 5 completed knghts ranked up:





It was hard work getting all the Chaos symbols off the models and then start building them up to get them looking Empire'ish. Bits are from several different Empire sets as well as left over bitz from building my DemiWolf unit.

Comments are more than welcome as usual, next up is the Witch Hunter and the front rank of the knights. Hopefully progress will keep up this time, well here's hoping anyway.

Greetz

[Darknight]

Those models are totally fantastic! Really great use of a whole bunch of different bits - excellent stuff.

[steveb]

good job   steveb

[Cam]

Good job on the knights. They look absolutely brutal.
I'm doing the same to make Inner Circle Knights of the White Wolf.

[SpaceCowboy]

Great job there MiddenheimGeneral! As you understand I love that bulkiness you get from the Chaos Knights, especially when doing IC Knights. And you have done a great job with them! Looking forward seeing the full finished unit.

[DerBaron]

Those knights look like they won't be taking shit from anyone..

Also, I love your general-unitfiller. Maybe you could expand and have a whole command crew in it, like a war council maybe?

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Those models are totally fantastic! Really great use of a whole bunch of different bits - excellent stuff.

I really like the bulkiness of the models. Its a nice enough bash of Fantasy and 40K.

good job   steveb

Cheers Steve

Good job on the knights. They look absolutely brutal.
I'm doing the same to make Inner Circle Knights of the White Wolf.

A lot of cutting and scrapping but all in all well worth the effort you put in to move them back into the light of Sigmar and Ulric and away from the Chaos wastes 

Great job there MiddenheimGeneral! As you understand I love that bulkiness you get from the Chaos Knights, especially when doing IC Knights. And you have done a great job with them! Looking forward seeing the full finished unit.

Cheers Space, as the three editions show it was a race of buff size of horse then rider then horse then rider. I had purchased the Chaos knight set for the riders but then saw your post on the Knights of Morr and I was sold and saw the light  . Cheers for the inspiration!

Those knights look like they won't be taking shit from anyone..

Also, I love your general-unitfiller. Maybe you could expand and have a whole command crew in it, like a war council maybe?

Cheers, and in regards to the unit filler, you got me thinking of ways to make that work...coggs are turning and some ideas are popping in and out, thank you Der Baron for the brain teaser. But seriously I like the idea and will be looking into it to see how it could be realised.

[Cam]

You are right, it is quite a bit of cutting, scraping an filing. As you said though, it's well worth it.
The only other option (if you don't like the 'classic' Empire horse) is the Vampire Blood Knights. Their horses require a lot less work to be 'Empirized', but cost a ton.

I like how well the Space Wolves parts fit the Chaos bodies.

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Greetings all,

Quick update, with the army rapidly growing (well not really growing that rapidly as my posts have shown but back to the post), with the army growing it was time to make sure that there is no sliver of Chaos in is present in any of the troops. And that means its time to ask the Order of the Silver Hammer to send one of their agents, known in the common tongue as a Witch Hunter.

Again allthough the original model is cool I wanted something different. Bit of looking around and I found the model I like and I think fits the bill nicely. Enter Wolfgart von Heldood:



A bit of moding and a few additions is all it really needed, the model was near perfect witch hunter material. Just had to remove a few details and then add some Empire flair. Sorry for the pic quality, bit of a rush job as I'm off for a few days on holiday, also managed to destroy my tripod so will need to fix that one aswell, all iin a days work.

Next on the work bench is the front rank of the knights.

Anyway looking forward to your comments.

Greetz

[Shadespyre]

Nice witch hunter! He feels sort of familiar though I can't quite place him? What did you used to look like before your Empire-ised him??

[SpaceCowboy]

Really nice idea MiddenhaimGeneral I had my old Arch Lector on War Altar based on that model (or the the slightly modified variant of this model to be precise) Nice paintjob as well, ties him in well with the rest of the army.

Shadespyre - It's an Inquisitor from 40k.

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Nice witch hunter! He feels sort of familiar though I can't quite place him? What did you used to look like before your Empire-ised him??

Thanks Shade, to be precise the model is based on the Inquisitor with Inferno Pistol & Power Sword from the Grey Knights. Just had to remove some tubes, modify his gun and remove a sort of gas tank on his back. Much easier than adapting the knights.

Really nice idea MiddenhaimGeneral I had my old Arch Lector on War Altar based on that model (or the the slightly modified variant of this model to be precise) Nice paintjob as well, ties him in well with the rest of the army.

Shadespyre - It's an Inquisitor from 40k.

Cheers Space, I tried to add touches of the color scheme but at the same time make him dark and shadowy. I can well imagine that you managed to make a great lector out of him. I am sure he can be modded into many different empire roles.

Greetz

[MiddenheimGeneral]

As usual updates have been slow with life demanding its due attention. Small steps have been made.

I have been working on the front rank of the knights, most of its has been primed. As part of the front rank I wanted to add a sort of multi purpose character. In order to keep the unit as a possible 10 knights with no characters, or with a warrior priest or with Luthor Huss.

As such I tried to make one of the models:

- a toned down yet distinct Luthor Huss.
- a clearly more of a priest compared to the other rank and file
- a rank and file that blends in with the rest of the models

All of these rolled into one. As such this is what I came up with





Now I just need to try to complete the rest of the front rank in good time. Anyway let me know what you think.

Grtz

[mr chumley warner]

it's the meanest looking empire I have seen ever!

[Warhammer-Weib]

  Scary!

[Armholeeio]

Some one has been hitting the riods, power of sigmar nah it's riod rage

[somegeezer]

He's doing a Crocodile Dundee

"You call this a hammer?" [holds up right arm]
"This is a hammer!"

Fantastic paintjob, fantastic army! 

[MiddenheimGeneral]

First off all thank you very much for your comments. I tried to make them tough and it seems I managed so far. Progress has been very slow the last few weeks. The remainder of the front rank is all done in the base colours, just need to find the umphh to get on with it.

I have dug myself into a side project. A friend of mine wanted a diorama of a viking king in the Isle of Man. Spent a good deal of time pondering how best to model this and setup and place it in a scene and ended up going with the Dwarf line. I'm painting up Dwarf High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer and putting a flag bearer in front of him as he is transported to an important meeting or something. In a slightly goofy way I find a lot of the GW Dwarf range semi Viking looking in a slightly cartoony way.

Anyway, the Diorama is very much a work in progress and I need to get it done by Xmas so I can hand it over as a present. Took a quick pic of the work so far on the scenery:



Next stop is the paint station as I am about to Prime the entire work and start painting.

On a side note my freehand skills are not yet good enough to paint a pristine flag of the Isle of Man on the banner. I was thinking of printing it on tracing paper and then glueing it onto the banner and working it in. Anybody done something similar, if so what paper and glue did you use? Any tips and tricks much appreciated.

Anyway I'll keep you updated when I get the chance, need to keep moving on this one or miss Xmas

Greetz

[Warhammer-Weib]

Looks very nice so far! Can't wait to see more WIP pics ... 

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Well here you go Warhammer-Weib, its been a good day painting, untill it all went wrong... .

Lots and Lots of dry brushing and shading.





Still a lot of brown going on but slowly introducing colour. Starting to add the blue in what will be a pond.

Notice the tree in the background behind the house, it is from woodland scenics and to be honest quite nifty. It is made of some sort of tin like the old GW models and comes as a flat mold. You can then bend the branches to your liking:



Pretty heavy tree so I could feel it was unstable under the protective latex layer I covered the foam in. I then decided to use the needle from the plastic glue, adapted it so that I could squeeze in some pvc glue around the stem to help stabilize it, I was quite chuffed by my ingenious solution. All the painting around the stem was untouched and once the glue dried all will be well (famous last words).

I also placed a temporary dam so that I can pour the water effects in when the time comes:



I then double checked the stability on the tree and noticed it was still very wobbly, so I bit the bullet and cut it out and then filled the whole with plaster putty to give it a stable base and then put the tree in so that it could set stuck in the plaster. Then started taking care of the roof, which I turfed as they were at the time. Might use some shades to make it feel less uniform later on, undecided as yet.

Then checked the tree and noticed it was sinking. Strange, the plaster should be setting, so I removed the tree and added a bit more plaster and then replaced the tree. Came back 5 min later and the tree had sunk further. I was perplexed to say the least. Trying to use logic it took another 5 min before I suddenly thought of pictures of styrofoam basis that some of you have made and sprayed only to disintigrate. Hot flashes and panic ensued and I removed the tree and stuck my finger in the hole. An interesting experience to say the least, and shocking when I discovered my finger went all the way in and could move side to side. The hole was huge, one of the ingredients I added was eating away at the styrofoam  . Panic, ran to the bathroom and tried to remove all of the contents of the hole. By now it was very large, walking back to my desk, swearing all the way I needed a plan of action. I finally decided it would be best to cut out all the surrounding styrofoam to make sure it does not get worse;



Tears started to well up in my eyes. Destroyed all the work I put into it  .

Now I am stuck with a rudy big hole in the middle of my work. I left it to stand for the time being so as to make sure I cut out all the chemicals. And resigned myself to trying to think of ways to fix this and came up with 2 ideas:

1) Fill it in with either a new block of styrofoam or balsa and blend it in

2) Change it into a tunnel and somehow blend that into the story


 

Let me know which one you think is best. And let this be the so many'eth warning to anybody else, BE VERY CAREFULL PAINTING AND ADDING GLUES TO STYROFOAM!!!!!

Greetz...

[Zak]

dang sorry dude

[Henerius]

It's sad that this happened and I am sure you will find a fitting solution, sofar the whole diorama is a real pleasure to watch.

keep up the good work! 

[Syphon]

General, can you post a tutorial on how you made those bulky knights?! I think they're ace!