Yep, that's it, I finished the War Altar. This means I didn't quite meet my target as I didn't get around to basing the SWAT team, but I'm happy with what I've managed here. Let's take a tour of this mechanical monolith...
Up at the front is the Golden Griffon. In the Empire book this is listed as the source of the spells that an Arch Lector gains when he's on the altar, so I had to have one. This is a piece from the empire general sprue that I've had lying around for a while.
Behind that is the lectern. The parts for this came from the general sprue and the helblaster box set - the main body of it is a weapons chest which I've stood upright. This means that beneath his holy texts the Arch Lector has a few weapons available should prayer fail him!
Then there's the man himself. I used a brighter colour scheme than the rest of my army has, as I wanted to give the impression that the church of Sigmar isn't part of the state military, even though he's riding to war alongside them. Note the enormous hammer, and the fact that I've painted the eyes in for once! I normally don't bother, but recently I've been trying to do this even though I find it pretty difficult to pull off.
Behind the Arch Lector is the stoker, who also operates the controls. I've posed him so that he's leaning on the rail to try to make him seem like a more organic part of the unit.
Then, mounted on top of the boiler is a relic - the skeleton of some former hero of the Empire. This is another piece from the general sprue, I've added it here to try to build up the religious look of the model, and also to further differentiate it from my Steam Tank.
As I said earlier, I'm pleased with the overall effect I've been able to come up with here and I'm keen to try using it in a game now. The only problem is that I have no idea what I'm going to transport it in...
Oh yes, and for further conversion points this month I'd like to refer everyone to the pictures in the previous blog post from the 17th - I made a few extras, painting those will form a future target (probably not November's though, I've got other plans there).
How did you do the eyes? I use to paint the eye White then add in a suitable pupil colour... black always looked best. However after getting the 'how to paint citadel miniatures' book last Xmas I discovered the trick is to paint the whole eye black then add two little White dots in each corner. It sounds really hard but is actually easier.
ReplyDeleteLooks brilliant btw! Top marks for conversion this month! Unless Lee comes up with something special!
ReplyDeleteI did the white, then black dot, then ink. I've tried the other way of painting it all black then adding white, but could never get it to work. Maybe I'll practice on some rank and file troops.
ReplyDeleteNice! I really like the skellie where is he from? I can't do eyes... Only on a model where it would be obvious I haven't painted them do I bother so well done :-)
ReplyDeleteSweet!
ReplyDeleteThe skeleton is the battle standard from the Empire foot and mounted general box - I've been meaning to find a use for it for about three years...
ReplyDeleteLove it! Top marks for cheaphammering and theme!
ReplyDeleteI do eyes with white then the black dot. Then I use flesh to reduce the size of the pupil (and cover up the inevitable mistakes)and to hightlight the cheeks and the nose. Finally, I've taken to adding a final wash of devlan mud over the eyes to make them less 'starey'.