VOIDBREAKER 06

Hello again, welcome back. In this entry I’d like to talk about a mini I made for a friend. Last March just before the SAMMHAS2 event at Adepticon a fellow mini creator (and amazing one) contacted me about sending a model to fit within the setting of jetpack wastelands. Victor (@t8cv8r) created a jaw dropping miniature that fit in just perfectly. He had bashed together a brutal sky chopper and spearman that just screamed cliff combat. Check it out below, it’s Bad Fucking Ass!!!

Victor’s paint style is incredibly grimdark. Up-close all of the detailing is just so deliberate. I love the rusty red painted metals on the vehicle. It works as a great added detail that harmonizes well with the rest of the model’s color scheme.

Lately @t8cv8r has been creating some rad Ash Wastes models for Necromunda so I thought I would create something with the same basing scheme for fun. Every Necromunda player can always use another weird Bounty Hunter so I was prepared.

I knew that I wanted to use one of the hooded character models from the Gaunt’s Ghost’s kit I had picked up on its release. Some of the poses in the box were just perfect for a shady Bounty Hunter type character. I was immediately attracted to the Mkoll model, posed in the winding branch of some alien world tree. This model had a hooded head option that was just perfect. I trimmed off the tree bits with some sharp clippers to more of a “tactical rock” position. Hate the phrase, love the usage. I would use the left hands pose and connect it to the base with some different gages of plastic card and wire. I was aiming for a ruined sort of fence post or long exposed inner structure bit of a ruined facade. The shaved down foot rest was blocked into the base using a plumber’s putty.

I replaced the right arm with a Tau Pulse Carbine. I thought it would be a cool idea to have this bounty hunter dabble in the technologies of some Xenos origin.  With this idea, I started to imagine what would be done to a strange weapon like a pulse carbine in the hands of some sort of underhive scummer or shady arms dealer. That would start to inform the contents of its remaining kit.

After a bit of correspondence with Victor, I decided to turn the Las Rifle supplied with the Mkoll model into a sort of collapsing crossbow. I trimmed down the rifle to match some photo references and added a stock made from some bent jewelry wire. I made a quiver and some bolts that might go with the crossbow out of some wire and card stock. Filling in any gaps with green stuff. I bashed my head trying to identify what kind of Drukhari melee weapon I’ve added here and still have no real answer. I know it comes in the Wrack kit and it looks like some sort of power weapon.

I used card stock here to add to the wire details on the post protruding from the base as well as some 28mm scale barbed wire I think from Army Painter. All the scrappy details on the packed weapons were also made from bent cardstock and CA glue.

I started painting this character with a Zenithal prime with Stynelrez Black and Grey Primers with a bit of White focused about its head and sholders. I then used various inks mixed with matte medium and a small amount of flow-aid. I used a mix of black and burnt umber inks as a base for any of the metallic elements. I then blocked out the body of the Tau pulse weapon with Rakarth Flesh and Aged White(VMA). I also blocked in the skull on the base with Zandri Dust and Aged White. A few layered washes were added to any of the most rusty metal parts of the scene, allowing each to dry before applying the next. These three tones were Secret Weapon Rust Shadow, Beasty Brown(VGC) and Scarlet(VMC). A pretty earthy and simple color pallet, I wanted the details on the Tau weapon to stick out a bit more than the character using it.

I’ve always been inspired by 2000a.d. Artist Chris Foss’s paintings. Some of his spaceship paintings in particular. The idea of making a reclaimed alien weapon fashioned in a wild color was the whole inspiration for the model so why not go trippy and electric on the color scheme? Here’s the basics on the rifle painting process.

After the gun was all blocked in I got to the metals in a normal fashion. Mostly using Vallejo True Metals. Somewhere in there i got around to the mold lines I missed until i really looked at some photos. I hate ‘em.

I weathered most of the model using AK Streaking Grime through an airbrush and buffing away the unwanted bits using a Q-Tip and some mineral spirits. The basing elements of rusty scrap and wasted dust were accented using powdered pigments and denatured alcohol.

This model was an absolute pleasure to build and paint and I hope it found a happy home in Victor’s collection.

I think I’ll have a shorter article about another trade model up next, Another blind step into more of the fantasy side. Also trying to work a place here to put up some models to buy, as well as a way to navigate through some of my older articles. Thanks for checking this one out!