Vampire Lord On Zombie Dragon

My Vampire Lord 'Count Rutger Von Ravenstein' riding
on his faithful Zombie Dragon steed 'Thraugnaurhexis'.

His Path to Glory awaits!

Vargheist Vampires

Resurrected some second hand Vargheists, stripped, rebuilt, painted and added to my Death Alliance Path to Glory force. My Vampire Lord Theresa Von Ravenstein's power grows ever stronger as she scours the land thirsting for vengeance.

Terrorgheist

Mortimer Ravenstein, my vampires Terrorgheist pet complete, with a nice rocky perch to pounce from.

Varghulf Vampire

'Great Uncle Siegfried' Varghulf, painted and based, ready to guard his nefarious niece as she battles across the realms with her growing undead hoard.

Vampire Lord and Spirit Host Army of Malignants

The Countess Theresa Ravenstein. Betrayed, exiled and thirsting for vengeance. She seeks to resurrect her murdered household and claim her rightful throne once more. Her path to glory awaits...

Black (and red) Knights - Gaming Standard

Another unit to add to the ever expanding hordes of Castle Ravenstein. Still working on the army fluff for this regiment. I went for a uniform look to the unit and whizzed through them in a week in my spare time. I like the way they came out but I will try a different style when I build hexwraiths for my next cavalry block, more ethereal and less rusty'n'dusty (which is my overall army aesthetic).
The only little conversion was on the Hell Knights steed - he has some devilish horns to set him apart from the other mounts.

More creepy stuff soon!

Necrarch Vampire WIP

Here's the next member of the Ravenstein household, well under way now and hopefully finished some time this week (aside from the mountain of other projects on the go, I need this mini for a local campaign..)

A few conversions here and there and he has a magic sword (won a free treasure: Initiative 10 item in last months campaign..not really useful for a vamp but hey ho, beggars can't be choosers!)

Black Knights to follow soon!

Varghulf WIP Sculpt Stage

Work slowly progressing on the Varghulf custom sculpt/build. At this stage I refer to lots of imagery online, and my doodle sketches of ideas before the project began becoming 3D. It's still not into definiton stages yet but more fleshing out done, working on pose, balance, basing and starting to create the upper head. Lower jaw will be sculpted seperately then added and blended in. There is still fur to add (a good opportunity to do that tutorial at the same time!)

Here are a few development shots so far: The right foot stump is magnetised as is the branch, the left foot has a long pin for locating the tree perch lug.. This makes for a very delicate looking but extremely strong mounting for the model - still with enough 'give' to allow the model some flex if knocked by accident and not shear from it's mounting.The model therefore has small contact points to it's 50mm stand adding to the sense of balance and weight when the armature is placed into the tree stand. Both legs are obviously reinforced with steel and also some simple paper tissue/cyanoacrylate 'fibreglass' at this stage. it's rock solid and very strong stuff.

 More creepy stuff soon!

Werewolf Project WIP: Kessler, stage 2

Well, he's starting to reach completion at the final sculpt stages, just a few little tweaks to make here and there. He now has 4 toed feet/claws and the first armband/torc. I'm still waiting on extra bits I need to arrive. I think he's a got a lot character, stood atop the lair rocks sniffing the breeze for prey..

More work in progress shots of his pack brothers soon!

Werewolf Crypt Horror WIP 3

Last one of the Crypt Horror Werewolf conversions. This is the champion crypt haunter, Skorzeny .

All the werewolves are being left to cure for a few days, then the final work of sculpting the accessories and accouterments will commence. I am deciding on placement of basing options/environmental details and checking out some different 'warrior' type armbands and torcs, amulets etc online for inspiration. I will most likely incorporate the wolf skulls from the space wolf range (ditching any nordic runes.. these are old Sylvanian lycanthropes, not the were-beasts of the northern realms.)

I really wanted a 'crinos' form similar to Forgeworld Skinwolves. The Skinwolves are meh..okay models but they look too Doberman. It would have been cheaper and easier to just go for the FW stuff (wow never thought I would say that LOL), these conversions are not cheap to do, working out at a basic £44 for the components before adding cost of putty and other materials. On the flip side, these are pretty solid, rugged models.

I hope they are as solid and rugged on the battlefields..

I'm looking forward to painting these.

More creepy things soon!

Werewolf Crypt Horror WIP 2

Next one for the pack is Talbot. He's done very bad things.

Again this is the basic fur done to hide the seams, some repositioning here and there. Very fun models to work with. Finer details like the musculature definition, toe claws will be done when the fur has cured completely, some ornamental bits, jewellery/totemic items etc.

Werewolf Crypt Horror WIP 1

I have been resculping crypt horror/vargeist kits this weekend to give me Werewolves/Lycans for my Sylvanian army. I used Fenrisian wolf heads, crypt horror arms and vargeist backs. Still lots more to do but I'm happy with the fur so far. The bases will be a bone strewn rocky lair.

 I will get photos of the other 2 when they reach this stage of resculpt, but they are almost ready for the tiny details..This first one is called 'Kessler'.

I have yet to add arm torcs and other accessories. Colour scheme will most likely match my direwolf pack, but that is a long way off.


More creepy things soon!

Undead Battle Standard WIP 3

Undead Battle Standard WIP 3

I wanted something different for my standard bearer icon in the skeleton warrior core unit, something that would be unique, eyecatching but also narrative for my army.

 I decided to go for a carrion bird skull, after all, Ravenstein is my Vampire Bloodline name. 

There's a connection there - plus I really like the skull shapes. A good friend of mine also painted a fantastic picture a while ago with a character having an oversize crow/raven skull for a head (wearing a top hat) and I think the imagery has stuck in my mind. Well, maybe not the top hat.. but the skull is something I wanted to have a go at one day. 

So after a deliberation over bits to use I decided to just go ahead and sculpt my own. I wanted something sturdy and I really prefer carving solid resin than making greenstuff bits all the time for minis. Resin carving is very easy to do and (thanks to forgeworlds generosity) I have plenty of chunks of useless resin laying around to experiment with. 

It's very fast, I only need 3 tools: A scalpel blade, a pinvice hobby drill and a small emery board for sanding (although most smoothing can be done with the edge of a scalpel scraping gently.) I decided to go a little oversize so as I carved it down I still had plenty to play with. I also wanted the skull to stand out visually so I decided on measurements and then using a pair of chunky snips I tore off a chunk of resin to begin the process.

Next I just roughly chopped it to bird skully shape.. No need for precision just yet.

Next step was to drill out some guide holes for eye socket carving. 

I went right through the side of the skull so I can better judge either side and socket positions were equal.. in theory!

I used the scalpel to start to define the main skull structure lines and contours.

Having a picture for reference here helps, so I borwsed many different photos of carrion bird skulls for inspiration and direction whilst carving away gently at the resin.

Next step was to work on the nasal cavity. Using a pinvice drill I again went through the skull at the rear/back of the beak on the top either side.

These little guide holes were then widened lengthwise along the ridge of the beak.

More scraping, shaping and definition added at this stage.

Starting to polish the shapes and tidy up.

Working on the symmetry..getting there almost..

Very fine polishing work and final definitions.

As this is a fiddly little piece I decided to magnetise it so it can be easily removed from the banner if required.. Totally unnecessary but I know some clumsy gamers and would rather it didn't need gluing on every time it gets sent across the battlefield by errant sleeves etc.

So this is the beaky icon..

And magnetised to the banner bearer..

It's simple and I hope effective.. just need to give it some paint..and perhaps that tophat ...

More creepy things soon!

Raising the Dead WIP 2

Tonight I was spending more time on each skeleton now with adding details, and using various soft pastel shades to bring the shadows up and down on them, and on weaponry and armour details. Still lots to do but here is a photo update. Some of the soft blues and oranges are starting to lift each other now I hope.

More creepy things soon..

Undead Battle Standard Paint WIP 2

More progress made on the standard bearer for the skeleton warriors core unit.
It's a nice break from rank and file painting, as most undead generals will likely agree..
I am pleased with the way the bloodstains came out, rather than splatter 'blood' on a lighter canvas I went for the challenge of trying to bloodstain a red 'canvas' banner. The effect looks quite nice I hope without adding any usual glossy red gunky varnish/tamiya clear red effects yet etc. The very tips will be glossier and wet looking during the final work on it.
For the icon I decided instead to go browsing gothic fonts; I went for a simple Initial for the Ravenstein Bloodline.
.

More creepy stuff soon!

Undead Battle Standard WIP

Started the assembly of this little chap last night and the sculpy was tough enough to file, fill and prime tonight. I hope he will make a curious and dramatic accompaniment for the Violinist musician model.

I have left off the skull for the top, that's something else I am working on..
Still unsure on the paint direction for the banner but red is the unit theme so..bloodstained, mouldy, micro mottling and staining will be the basis on the canvas, regardless of the iconography I choose at a later date. I'm leaning towards something like an hour glass filled with blood.

More creepy stuff soon.

Raising the Dead

So after a weekend of hobby (including a 5 hour epic game of Super Dungeon Explore!) my undead core units are coming along well... I hope to have them on the battlefield within a week. I spent more time than I had counted on creating the musician for the unit, and I am still deciding on a standard bearer model/conversion for the unit.

Still a way to go but the bonework is done and the weapons and shields are weathered and rusted (the latter are yet to be attatched to many of the models). Small armour accents such as scale mail will be bronze and weathered with turquoise to pop them. Belts will be dark leather + mouldy green.
Then finally basing and we are ready for war!

More creepy things to come...

I am working on the core units now and firing all cylinders late into the nights.

Mainly a large block of 40 warriors in the mid stages of completion. 

I was never a fan of lungless undead carrying large wind instruments into battle so I set about creating my own musician model and I am quite happy with the final posing and sculpy work so I have begun painting.

As a child I was very fortunate, in that my grandfather was a constant source of education and inspiration to me. He was a classical Violinist, and he would practice on Sunday afternoons while I sat and drew little pictures for him as he played. One of my cherished memories is my gramps sat on his stool, playing along to Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre, a soaring, powerful piece and one of my all time favourite pieces of music.
He really was a maestro with the bow and strings and would launch into the piece with gusto while his old record player popped and crackled out the orchestral accompaniment.

Well, years later, I decided to honour this memory and bring to life something I always imagined in my mind. There really was only one choice of musician to play my legions forward into the enemy...

Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre WIP

And in case you have never experienced the inspiration..

More creepy stuff soon..

Three Killers

A hiatus during the new year from blogging..but not gaming and painting! So what has this citizen been doing? 

Getting older officially!

Lately I have been cracking on with some new projects and adding to existing ones. I am at that stage where I am trying to balance the juggling of doing friends minis and my own personal collection, not always an easy task when it is all scheduled during just my 'hobby time'. 

Lots of Super Dungeon Explore on saturdays is also to blame!

Recently I have painted some daemons for a good friend, but more on them in another update (and I still don't have pics of them..).

Adding some more units to my Vampire Counts army has been a priority of late, mainly because at the beginning of April, my local GW store is running a new WHFB campaign. Eager to get some of my undead horde blooded and hone tactics! Also more chaos heros for my gaming friends to come soon, and also a little Infinity - Some Pan-O troops and mecha in a very updated 'Nam 68 vibe, man. Groovy!

So here are a few shots of what I have been up to..

These are the Fell-Hags (bats) for my Vampire Counts.

 I made them from GW Daemonette heads, Ghoul bodies,
Dark Eldar scourge wings and the morbid but cool lil

gravestones are from Renedra plastics.

On the same theme of Three Killers, here's a triumvirate of WIP..

The green mech on the left is part of a promise for

a very good friend and Infinity maniac. 

The red Khornate hero is for another friend and

part of a larger chaos force, with daemons in the mix.

The Vampire Countess is for my own Warhammer army.

And a slightly closer look at the lady of the night..

Countess Theresa Von Ravenstein.

Fixing her atop a way marker, she is a simple conversion,

again using Dark Eldar Scourge wings. Still a long way to

go but she will hopefully make a nice eyecatching hero.

More soon..