Today I'll discuss one of the early creations I made for the force. I was determined to do a conversion on the Dreadnaught, and since the store had an early-make Space Wolf Dreadnaught (all in metal) that was unlikely to sell with the plastics being about the same price but far lighter and with tons more options, I offered to take the relic and work my magic.
A Space Wolf is already a little bit fly-away and prone to rushing forward, and I figure being locked in a tomb unable to enjoy the battle would make them even more grumpy/cantankerous/wild.
Mine, as a result, is wielding a large axe, which he is actively smashing into the ground, having either just missed his target, or equally likely, attempting to intimidate/vent frustration.
Lots of conversion work on this one, starting with my mantra for myself when starting any model, which is "What is the personality?" Whether it's a commander character, one of two dozen generic guardsmen, a technically mindless automaton Warjack, or this dreadnaught, the more I think of it as a real thing, the more likely I'll be able to convey that.
With tanks, (once I finish my PzIV I'll go into that one) and Dreadnaughts like this, you can't use expressions. I'm actually kind of blessed in that my Dread can be posed. To that end: Assault Cannon is slightly pushed to the Right, as though he's counter-balancing the axe coming down; either a hold-over affectation from when he lived, or a necessary move to balance. Next, the hand was converted to hold an axe, as opposed to just having the axe jut from where the fist is. He is appropriately covered in battle honours and banners, (Painted differently to represent either different campaigns or different lords he's fought with.) His legs are painted with 'pack' and 'great company' markings, even though technically his pack now is but one.
Here you can see the relic blade, made from two of the plastic banner tops from the box set, plasticard blade curves, and epoxy putty to fill in the rest and allow me to add runes. The fingers are from plasticard sheet, cut and glued in place, while all the banner tops have been drilled and pinned to ensure they don't break off. Some leftover scrap plasticard became the pieces of slate that is smashed in two by the force of the axe. He also bears the great company marking on his forearm, so that from any angle you know whom he serves.
From the back, another small company marking, as well as the guts and gears. I wanted to keep the metal clean and shiny, because even though the wolves are very superstitious, I know with their reverence towards their epics and legends, a dreadnaught (a living legend) would be well taken care of. Also something you can barely see: The ammo crate is painted in a bright turquoise. Something I decided early on (after attempting to make yellow guns on one pack) was that each pack would have different gun colours. This would help new players easily identify who belonged with whom. As a result, even single models like this dread got his own weapon colours. It also chromatically helps to balance out the large amount of turq. on the axe head.
Right, that's part 3! Next time some special figs.
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