CCV. Hecate

The spirit of the Gardens...

I'm working on another mummified saint, but in the meantime I've finished the blog's 'mascot'. She's in a little bit larger box: 7x10x3,5 cm. Built with DAS clay, epoxy putties, roots, card, and other bits and bobs. Painted with acrylics.

I remembered to take some WIP shots during the sculpting process:

CCIV. The Husk of Saint Ottmer

 

Saint Ottmer is the patron saint of orators and preachers. He is also invoked against illnesses of the throat.

According to legend, St. Ottmer was speaking to a crowd when he was shot through the throat by an unknown assassin. Miraculously, he went on with his speech for several more hours, as if nothing had happened. When he was quite finished talking, he immediately fell dead.

St. Ottmer's remains reside in his shrine in Mirrogoi. The deadly arrow's shaft is on display with the body (or rather within the body), while the arrowhead is kept in a reliquary in the city he originates from.

This dry, dusty fellow is the first in an intended series of made-up holy relics from the Isles of Brume. 

The dimensions of the box are 6,5 x 7,5 x 3cm. The mummy's head and hand are sculpted in Milliput White, and the torso is DAS clay draped with some old cloth dipped in PVA. The red and green stuff you can see on the model are Martian Ironearth texture paint and Liquid Green Stuff. The broken arrow in Ottmer's neck is a piece of paperclip with fletching made of real feather. This pre-painting shot (above) actually looks pretty cool and eerie in itself, perhaps even more than the finished version. I'm looking forward to making more pieces in this format.

CCIII. Cult of the Possessed: the Possessed

More MordheimMMXIX progress. The Possessed is the largest piece in my warband, and I expect it will be the heaviest hitter. This is how the Possessed are described in the Mordheim rulebook:

The Possessed have committed the greatest of heresies: they have given their bodies to Daemons. As a result, they are nightmarish creatures, a melding of flesh, metal and black magic. Inside them lives a supernatural thing of evil, a Daemon from the dark reaches of the Realm of Chaos. The powerful spirit of a Daemon can meld several creatures together, be they men or animals, into a multi-faceted horror. These monstrous Possessed are perhaps the most dangerous of the creatures of Mordheim, and certainly the most loathsome and dreadful.

 

 

 I could have gone the usual mutation-heavy route (which I had ideas for, too), but I opted for a closer to human look. An unwashed madman with overgrown, matted hair and beard. His clawed hands, hollow eyes and unnatural body size are the more subtle signs of possession, but the daemon's ethereal seal hovering above his head announces it loud and clear to the world.

 

My main source of inspiration was William Blake's artwork 'Nebuchadnezzar', which depicts Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II during his period of madness, as reported in the Book of Daniel. I'd been meaning to base a conversion on this image for a long time. The demonic seal is made up, but in style of Goetic seals. The idea of it hovering above the Possessed's head came from Wayne Barlowe's incredible depictions of demons of hell.

Nebuchadnezzar, by William Blake.

The base model was Weirdnob Shaman from the AoS Orruk range. Again, I removed a lot of plastic and reconstructed many areas with putty. Gave him smaller hands, from Pink Horrors. The head is from a Space Wolf, but there is very little of it left showing. I sculpted the hair and beard to look filthy, tangled and stuck together, forming something like natural dreadlocks. The demonic sigil was made out of bits of thin wire, bent and fixed together with superglue. This was then covered with a layer of PVA in the end to make it a bit more durable. It's still delicate, but it'll last if I'm careful not to drop him. He was painted same as the Brethren.

 

CCII. Cult of the Possessed: Brethren

This week I'm continuing with my Mordheim project with addition of five Brethren. They all follow the same design, so it made sense to create all of them together in a batch. 

This is how Brethren are described in the Mordheim book:

Brethren are the crazed human followers of the cults of the dark gods, eager to descend into damnation. Their vile deeds and unspeakable acts have driven them to the brink of insanity.

 

The models' warped poses suggest erratic movement, the simple weapons unsophisticated brutality, the filth-encrusted naked bodies complete disregard for their own health and safety. Finally, crude masks hide their faces, adding another layer of sinister unpredictability. I hope this combination of choices successfully results in a 'crazed cultist' feel. Please tell me what you think in the comments.  

 

The conversions are all from 40K Poxwalkers. I picked those that were low on clothing and extreme mutations, but even then I had a lot of cleaning to do. Some of their hands are from Crypt Ghouls. Their sticks and stones will count as spears and short bows in the game.

Those who have played the survival horror game Darkwood may notice a resemblance to Savages, an enemy type from the game. Because of that headdress they also remind me of the Beast from Over the Garden Wall (2014), though there was no intention of referencing that. However, now that I'm mentioning it: the animated mini-series is brilliant, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. It takes under two hours to see the entire series.

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In the end, just a little shoutout: my Polish friend Witold started a miniatures blog. He's currently working on a converted Kill Team, so go check it out if you're interested: Backwater Deathworld. 

CCI. Cult of the Possessed: A Darksoul

New Year - new group project. I've been summoned once more by Alexander of Echoes of Imperium to contribute to an event he's organizing. This time it's Mordheim MMXIX, a celebration of the 20 year anniversary of the game's release. The list of people involved is impressive, and I can't wait to see all they produce in one place. If you want to follow along, check this post on Echoes of Imperium, as well as #mordheim2019 on Instagram.

For my warband, I opted for Cult of the Possessed. It'll be a band of crazed cultists following a dangerous madman. My first model is one of the two planned Darksouls:

Darksouls in Mordheim lore are described as follows:

Darksouls are men who have been driven insane by the daemonic possession which became all too common after the destruction of Mordheim. The Daemons have left the bodies of these men, but their minds have been scarred by the horror of the experience.Their insane strength makes Darksouls dangerous fighters. The Cultists regard them as holy men, and let them work out their unreasoning rage in battle. In their tortured minds the Darksouls believe themselves to be Daemons. They wear leering daemonic masks and garb themselves in armour and clothing resembling the scaled skin of Daemons.

I liked the idea of such costumed cultists. This one is based on carnival bell ringer costumes from Grobnik in Croatia:

Photo by Charles Fréger. From the Wilder Mann project.

The conversion is based on a Nurgle Rotter from Bloodbowl. The club is from a Chainrasp. The ox skull is from the 'Animal Skulls & Bones' pack from Kromlech, but its horns were tiny so I made my own. And I drilled some eye holes for the chap to see through.