Converted Dark Eldar Wracks complete (Flesh Friday)

 Well, I've officially polished off the first part of my November modeling vow by completing the conversions and sculpting on my first unit of Wracks since the Bob's Big Bad Coven commission.

This time I opted to use arms that were much more to scale with the models (last time I used mostly big, beefy, and LONG bloodletter arms), and I'm much happier with the effect. I also used mostly actual wracks arms (though sometimes converted) along with actual wrack masks to mask the fact that I'm using flagellant lower bodies and bloodletter upper bodies to sub in for the actual wrack models. I also sculpted on some combat cumberbuns to merge the two pieces/tie them back to the actual wracks.

Why go to so much work, employing bits across to many different stock models?

Introducing Vestigial Twin: The Modern Synthesist Podcast

Hi Everybody!

It's Brother Pink here, and I'm certain that everyone was as thrilled as I was when Mr. Pink started kicking his flesh-crafting into high gear!

I was so thrilled that I started to hound Mr. Pink about recording a podcast with me. By hounding, it was more like this:

Brother Pink: Let's do a podcast!
Mr. Pink: Do I have to do anything?
Brother Pink: No, I'll do everything.
Mr. Pink: SURE!

I decided to call it 'The Vestigial Twin' as it suits the twisted nature of flesh crafting as well as our relationship. If you're wondering what a vestigial twin is, all is explained in the podcast.

Mr. Pink and I are brothers and one of the things that is most similar is our voices. Listening to a podcast with two guys with the exact same voice wouldn't work. I got really pumped about doing some voice acting, so the host of the first episode is Kraekorr, the haemonculus. I really tried to rein-in the theatrics. Also, Mr. Pink addresses this character exactly as if it were his brother.

If you really enjoy this character, I left a couple of extra bits with Kraekorr at the very end, which you are in no way encouraged to listen to.

This first episode we just talk about Sculpting; the action figures that first inspired us, how we first started sculpting, various materials we have attempted to sculpt with, and projects and people that really inspired us.

There were a few hiccups: Mr. Pink is a tad too quiet (he now has the 2nd best mic on wirecutter.com), and I have a slight case of the sniffles. The call drops soon after I talk about helium filled terrain ideas and Mr. Pink may or may not encourage listeners to plunge their hands into buckets of plaster (which will cause serious harm).

The Opening song is 'Drop' by a Japanese band called Thee Machine Gun Elephant, and I have absolutely no permission to use it. The song at the end is 'Parasite' by a great band called Gammage. They are such a great band, they actually gave me permission to use their song!

We really hope you enjoy our podcast. Bare with us, it is the first episode. There will be immeasurable improvements for the next one.

Here it is, The Vestigial Twin:
The Vestigial Twin, Episode 1, Sculpting

October Modeling Vow Complete (Flesh Friday)

Though it's the case that I didn't finish this modeling vow IN October, it is the case that I MADE the vow on something like October 16th, so I'll call that a victory.

On that day, I vowed to my Dark Kin on The Dark City forum that, come end of October, I would have finished:

- Building and converting my first squad of Grotesques
- Painting a 10-man squad of Kabalite Hunters
- Painting 1 Haemonculus
- Painting 5 Mandrake Cronos Parasites
- Painting 1 Cronos Parasite Engine
- Painting 3 Reavers

Here are the results:

Happy Hallowe'en, Fleshcrafters!

I wanted to wish all of the fleshcrafters and monster makers out there a happy hallowe'en. To celebrate this most haemonculic of holidays, I carved a pumpkin in honour of my cult, using a sigil design that Brother Pink has been developing for the Coven of the Unmarred.

It's meant to represent the juxtapositions within the fluff of my coven: the idea that the Archon of Flesh and his inner circles are beautiful and unmarred, while the rest of the coven is made up of masked, twisted masses.

Using a very poke-y tool, I painstakingly pointilized that design onto my pumpkin, then went to town with some wood carving chisels. It was my first time using chisels on a pumpkin, and I HIGHLY recommend it if you're planning anything amazing with squash.

Here's hoping you had some hallowe'en themed projects of your own!

Converted Dark Eldar Grotesques & Aberration (Flesh Friday)

What feels like a thousand years ago, I converted the guys below as part of a commission to create a haemonculus coven for a client.

...And they had some cool little details...

...and they took me FOR. EVER.

When I decided it was about time I do my next batch of Grotesques, I wanted to get them done quick and get them painted so I could see how my test scheme would work on them. I made them part of my October Modeling vow of stuff I would get done by the end of the month to keep me motivated.

It worked pretty well:

Coven Reaver Jetbike Conversion (Flesh Friday)

In my ongoing quest to convert haemonculus coven versions of every dark eldar unit in the codex, I've been rolling around the question of reavers for a long time. Well, I always knew that I wanted to convert them to look something like miniature Talos, but I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off.

Until one day a couple of weeks back when I was just messing around with a Hellion skyboard and a reaver jetbike canopy. I placed the skyboard on top of the canopy, and—BY GOD—it just...fit. As in the two model components pretty much slid together like they were meant to be that way.

Haemonculus from Cephalyx Overlords conversion (Flesh Friday)

As soon as I saw these guys, I thought they'd make perfect Haemonculi.

In the fluff I've created for the Coven of the Unmarred, one of my main juxtapositions/weird and hideous bits of creative reasoning is that the Coven is obsessed with perfection. Well, at least the Coven's master Haemonculi/Coven Archon are. It's a kind of pyramid scheme, I guess, wherein the Dark Eldar at the highest level of Coven get to be pretty (or "unmarred") because of all the hideous experiments that have been attempted on the twisted creatures beneath them.

Cronos Parasite Engine Conversion Complete! (Flesh Friday)

I posted my thoughts on the Cronos Parasite Engine model a while back. The summary was that, though I love everything about the Talos/Cronos kit and all Our Man Jes did with it, when I hear the description of the Cronos as a soul-sucking parasite, I picture something far worse than the be-tentacled-but-faceless existing Cronos plastic model.

I picture an insatiable, avaristic horror: a gaping, needle sharp maw stretched wide as it hungers for souls. I picture this:

A twisted, dangerous, grasping thing. A soul vaccuum. A monster from under your bed. An utter nightmare from your darkest dreamings.

So I built it, and I'm pretty damn happy with the results. Here's a rough, 360 tour:

Coven Mandrake Conversion (Flesh Friday)

Remember this guy?

He was my attempt at my first coven-ified mandrake, based on the idea that if there was a soul-sucking Cronos Parasite Engine, there must—therefore—be Cronos parasites somewhere who were bred up to Engine size/capability. I figured what better place for these soul-sucking parasites to live than in the slot reserved for mandrakes.

Anyway, he now has a whole posse to terrorize the neighbours with:

Including a spooky Night Haunter that is emerging from the shadow of an Eldar Guardian:

Silent Hill Amnion Talos Conversion

*AHEM* - Mr_Pink

This post could also be called "Kiss of the Spider Lady", or "Kiss of the Pregnant Spider Lady", as she's become known to my friends. Also, this is kind of like Flesh Friday, except I haven't done that in a while, so I figured it's worth posting early ^_^

Also: WARNING - NIPPLES!

I took on a commission earlier this year for another member of the Dark City forum. At the time I was presented with the following sketch of the Amnion boss from the Silent Hill Homecoming video game as inspiration for a Talos, and I thought "I could scratchbuild that..."


Famous last words.