VOIDBREAKER 01
So, lately I’ve been motivated to document my projects a bit more, or at least show the regular progress going on in the background of a few moody photos on Instagram. When I step back and look at my hobby time existentially I can see a flourishing attention deficit disorder and an almost obsessive compulsive compulsion to over accent small details. That seems to be pretty common in the miniature hobby from where I sit. I want to hold myself a bit more accountable about documenting my progress on the many projects I jump back and forth from. You may have read a few articles I’ve written for The Grimdark Compendium where I document my wandering through projects like my Khrist Tech-cult and YOD assassins. Throughout the process of creating these articles I’m manically jumping from project to project (or motivated to) and I find this makes me feel very unproductive. My answer to this problem is an article to be regularly posted here. (every 2 weeks if not more) I’ve titled this VOIDBREAKER in regard to the silent voice of a World Wide Web blog in our year of 2021. If you check it out or any of this even reaches you, feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think. You can find me on Instagram @witchhammerstudio and my email is at the top still!
This month I’ve been bitten by the KILL TEAM bug. After jumping boots first into the last iteration of KILL TEAM, I was a bit apprehensive to learn a whole new system when the newest release dropped. I was really going to miss creating small groups of minis to explore painting a specific faction. I held out, the salt was strong. Strong until I started playing a few test games of Necromunda with my partner. She loved it, and owned. Some time went on, we’d play here and there and I’d continue to get random ideas for 40k cannon factions I’d never have the time to start. The salt was washing off.
Traversing the Warp
I try to keep these projects wrapped and ready to travel because I’ll work on this shit off and on if I have down time between clients at the shop. Throw it in a tool box and go! This is the travel kit for the harlequin fire team.
I’ve fantasized about reimagining the basic Harlequin or at least take that aesthetic for a spin for a while now. What better time? They even seemed to have a lower model count fire team in the new rules. (From a glance.) On colors I spell my inspiration with a huge screaming letters C and and F. Chris Foss. Fucking stoked! Currently waiting on a few Harlequin Troupe bits to go with the bashing i have planned for a few Blood Bowl Elf bodies. I have a relatively simple plan to magnetize their weapons options to give her all the options, and help with some creative weapon posing. Starting with 6 models, I want to include at least 3 new mask options with some sliced heads. Other than the magnetized weapons, I’m going to use some brass to elevate these characters a bit in floating fabrics. I think this will help make their poses a little bit more elegant. Their pieces sorted, should be in my hands soon.
“So I started blasting”
Before I posted, the Harlequin bits showed and I started cutting. The EBay sprue lot, while being twice as many sprues, included no pistols. I’ll never need another Harlequin mask, but I was going to have to get creative. I settled on the hands and rifle bodies of the dark Eldar weapons. I still had these sprues from 3rd edition 40k box I got in high school. While they are huge, the sentiment and their ambiguous Eldar design won out. With a little more attention I think they’ll work great for multiple proxies but still easily pass for shuriken pistols.
In the mean time I had been traveling down another very dark Xenos road. One day, not too long ago, I stumbled across @craftsmanjono on Instagram. Among many other amazing creations, he had created some stunning Tyranid conversions. Adding, notably, human skull bits to the front of Genestealer and Warrior heads. His posing and little Xenomorph-like details really brought me around to the Tyranid ashthetic. I would feel like a bit of a creep posting someone else’s work here so go check it out, His work is incredible. This really had me scheming. From what I’ve read I was probably going to need a few Warriors for a small model count Kill Team. These six-armed creeps are just like death metal Xenomorphs. It doesn’t take much to get me going. There were also a few things I wanted to do with the models and the Giger Xenomorph (or and Giger creation) has always haunted my work in the best way.
Ended up pinning the upper torso to the leg assembly as well as the legs through the pelvis with brass rod. For the legs it helped for the re-pose. On the torso it allowed me to extend and reposition the waist a bit. I also added another row of scale plates to their backs with plastic card and sculpted on top of those forms with a mix of green stuff and apoxie-sculpt. I also extended the hooves a bit to lengthen the stance and allow them to connect the base in a believable way. Just copper wire here then the sculpting mixture to fill the connections.
This far into these, I’m enjoying working with the natural shapes. They are, no doubt going to require me to get a bit better at sculpting. Couldn’t hurt. Ive got some super fun ideas on color schemes I’ll share later. Ive got some step-by-step shots of this process I’ll put up here separately soon. These three stooges are going to be mainly Weapons Beasts, loaded down with Boneswords/Lashwhipswips and a leader sporting a Deathspitter. And well hell, I’m gonna need some Genestealers…
Splicing the skulls into the Warrior heads wasn’t too crazy with a razor saw. After filling the gaps and eye cavities with a green stuff and apoxie-sculpt mixture I sanded off the eyebrows and smoothed the pieces transitions with some fine sanding sticks. Can’t be completely ripping off @craftsmanjono ‘s work and I feel like the absence of eyes is a Tyranid (and Xenomorph) characteristic I don’t want to shy away from. (Even though skulls are fucking cool)
Starting a bit reductivly on the warrior bases. I’ll break off pieces of the cork facings to trim them more into the base. I’m doing this to make some more believable broken reinforced concrete-like structure. I can add the wire I want to work as rebar into the cork and then remove cork in reasonable realistic ways. Going for a ruined scientific research facility look on these. Layers of broken building materials and some visible tile flooring for a subtle color accent.
Still waiting on a few bits here but I hear they are on their way! I’m super stoked. We should be able to play with these lists as soon as they are built. I’ll have more for you soon, as well as some ordered details on reposing and enlarging the Warriors. If you made it this far thanks for reading the first VOIDBREAKER. I hope all your hobby dreams come true as long as they are dark and dirty.