Mustii Scabbes Sump Muties

"We are the Mustiis. The Scabbes!"
- Quote from Ygraesse, Vagabande Chief

Alright after wandering aimlessly in my mind looking for a cool project to do I was stuck with looking at my sump mutant. What could I do? I looked in the Ammobunker and one of the commentors said that he could be part of a feral scavvy gang. I thought and as I looked at the goblins sprue, I took it and clipped off some bodies. Took a few arms form the cultists and there are 4 more mutants done. I then added Agrellan Earth to enforce their name sake.

The mutants were heavily based off the Shuffylnge Doddermenne by Master John Blanche and the color scheme would be similar too. I did like the mouldy and wet look on his sculpted fur for the doddermenne but I only knew a more barbaric look which I think still fits with the bands feral nature.

Some time before I started to build the gang I was putting down ideas for warbands that would be found in the sump Vagabandes if you will. And I wrote down a couple of words that made me gag just thinking about these two words...

The Mustii Scabbes: 

Feral mutants under the command of a "healthier" human. Their skin is bloated, pustulant and scab-ridden. All of them outcasts since birth from the underhive above. All raised by their giant mother-rats. It was a time of flooding within the damp Sump and the children, with their remaining human intellect, decided to kill their rats to where for warmth and comfort. One of them, Ygraesse, has found a rusted and broken autopistol "Slingerre" in their tongue. Through this he has kept the band under a form of strict discipline. Bashing them if the go out of place and if needs be shooting them.

Now nomadic and roaming the Sump in search for tools to aid for their survival. Using techniques of camoflage within the water of the sump to ambush prey. They have gained a reputation for their mutations that gives them extreme blood loss only to quickly dry from their regenerative ability. These scabs gives them a sort of "armour" to protect them from the harder blows of a blunt knife. Their ifamy was gained for their swift strikes and what they leave behind, with the waters turning red from their hunts...

Ygraesse the leader. He is the one that keeps them all in their place. Under the whip of the pistol and the lead of the bullet, they call this ancient and feared piece "Slingerre". He is the eldest with thick beared and scab-covered face. He sports a pouch from a fallen ganger and the rags of a drowned preacher within the shallow waters of the Sump. Hanging from the waist is one of the legs of his mother-rat to  show his band who's in charge...

As I was researching the scavvies online I saw the leader miniature. I have to say that the rags and torn gasmask really got to me. So I thought I would start Ygraesse with a flagellant body. I was thinking of giving him the mechanical look that the orginal model had. However I stared longer at the blu-tacked body and I thought that it would remove the uniformity of the gang. So I chopped the flagellant torso and replaced it with a goblin body. I gave him a flagellant head but it looked too human so I just hopelessly sculpted fur on top and hoped it would look good. I think he looked as if he was part of the gang. Making him dress differently and have a superior weapon would show that he takes the lion's share of loot in every hunt and raid the Scabbes go to.

Flaegelle was born with an elongated body. He is elastic and from that his skin sags. He has made a flail with barbwire from a long forgotten Hive War that took place during the first settlers of Sapria IV. His flail carves through his skin but thanks to his lack of response to pain, he uses it freely and can keep a few feet away from the enemy as he unties the wire to hit them a longer way away...

I was hesitant using that body but after putting that cultist arm on him, I thought it made the mutant look much better. The bent wire also adds to the motion of the base  cave goblin miniature. I thought of his name 'Flaegelle' after the weapon he carries. The word for whip or flail in Latin is 'flagellum'. After some distorting and adding some of Ye Olde Englishe touches, the name was made. A fun thing about the 40k universe is wondering what the language would be like. How is High Gothic spoken? Is it just an amalgamation of Latin and English? I think it is a combination of whatever forgotten and ancient words that the corrupt Sermognosts of the Adeptus Terra have put together. It reminds me abit of the Ministry of Truth in 1984. I may do a post separate to that later...

Pectyrre is the shuffling brute of the Scabbes. He is dimwitted and finds a special pleasure in dishing violence to the opponent. His mace may be the cleanest and strongest weapon within the mutants. He was born with an enlarged rib cage which may explain why so many of the damage he takes in the chest gives him no thought. His constant head butting has given him quite the scab on his head.

This was after I ran out of plaguebearer death heads. I thought the next best head would be the flagellant with the stictch mouth, hooked nose and defined brows. Where I see it, the head looks like it is smiling which may be why I though of him as a masochist of sorts. Again his name is a combination of languages with a bit of twisting sprinkled on top. Pectyrre had a chest that stuck out and so I named him after the word for chest in latin 'pectus'.

Remme is what is known as a 'Gasherre' by the mutie band. One of the two who posess a sharp weapon made for stabbing or slashing.  His head has nail stuckdeep within the brain. This may explain his more sinister and sly fighting style. He tends to work alone and can consult Ygraesse about about ambushes that the gang can inact.

I ran out of cool clubs to give them! This guy was the first and his sword was made from two bits. The arm and handle is from one of the skaven in the Island of Blood. The blade itself is from the plague monks kit. Unfortunatle thanks to my crappy memory, I forgot the etymology of Remme's name. Maybe if I spontaneously remember, I will make sure the edit this post...

Braegge, the unidentical twin brother of Flaegelle. His stump hand is an effective shield and can be considered the other tank of the group along with Pectyrre. His weapon is a club with barbwire from the same area that his brother made the flail. Getting in contact with his angular weapon is not recommended...

The guy that started off the warband. His story also was stretched for the rest of the muties. It was my second time sculpting fur trying to do a different style, I covered that up with the one that I used for the Terran ganger from the 'Holi Menne and Muties' post. I have added the Agrellan Earth as a last resort for their name sake and I think it turned out better than expected.

The other half of the 'Gasherres'. Ianne is the more sadistic out of the gang. His twitchy nature and berzerk fury has given him the name of 'Butch' by the other Sump gangs. He has a rope which he addictivly chews on and that could be used by Ygraesse to drag him around.

The head was the last of the last resorts with my lack of bits. The flagellant head is pretty cool but the beard kind of ruined it for me, so I shaved it off and I think it looks pretty legit without it. His name is 'Ianne'. One of the translations of butcer I think is 'Ianius' and since we haven't heard of a human n sounding name yet, I thought it would tie well with the name of 'Ian'.

I spawn that escaped from a portal from the warp. No thought, the hand-rat was recieved by the Mustii Scabbes as a pet and it seems to have found it's place for living. It has a reputation for hiding in sleeves only to pounce on the face of who every is scavenging the clothing...

I must say that this rat was before Braegge even took concept. I was thinking of making a daemon warband where every model would be a spawn but I didn't have the cool chaos bits that you find in the spawn and forsaken kits. I so resorted to taking a rat from the plague monks and giving it a hand from the plaguebearers kit as a head. It is a bit surreal and I found it really creepy. One of the commentors in the Ammobunker said that the natural impulse would be to position the hand flat and facing the ground but putting it side ways somehow made it much more twisted and wrong.

That is enough for now, I will be showcasing a painting next post. I am not that good at painting( I am better at sketching). But I thought it would be a good experience for trial and error to see what works and what doesn't.

Borne on His back is the beaconne...

Penitent. Pilgrim. Burden. Aether. Punishment. Pious. Metal. Censer....

WIP: Holi Menne and Muties

Hello!
My second post and it is time for some content. Pilgrims and mutants.

There were two projects that really struck me back when I was just starting the Inq28 hobby. The Sump Wars and the Pilgrym Project both featuring PDH, Migs and master Blanche himself. The first project gave me the really unclean and heretical part of the 40k universe, filled with gangers, mutants, chaos cultists and rusted cyborgs. However on the other end is the Pilgrym, a little brighter than usual and divine. This was Terra and it was all about pilgrims, custodians and botanical men.

I found that these two projects were juxtapositions of each other. They are contrasting yet still similar. They brought the grim and the dark in both projects and it suprised me how this group of amazing men were so flexible and adapting to these projects. Kudos and respect to them indeed.

So here I am after contributing the Pilgrym with my Arxites( Link goes to the WIP behind them). Wondering inside my mind what to do next. So far I am aimless. I am simply building without a real project in mind, maybe after this chaotic phase I could make a story out of it...

Without further ado, here are the models I am currently making:

A pilgrim. A penitent. He carries the picked skull of his fellow brother after the failed attempt at escaping the Corvii of underhive Terra. A heavy burden to carry yet still zealous over his pilgrimage to ascend the spires of Terra.

This guy was ripped off from Marcominius' pilgrim Tyliff Liederre. I used a flagellant body with goblin arms and a skitarii head. It also contains random bits from my cutting table. I will be adding the sleeve for the robe and a fur pelt around his neck.

Walking aimlessly within the Hall of Penitents. Reciting the psalms of the God-Emperor's Holy book to only himself. Caecus was pious man who has memorised the entire Codex Imperialis. He blinded himself to ensure that he read no other text as the Codex was the holiest scripture he has ever read.

I am in love with making small character. So, I took the plague monks kit and gave one of the robes a flagellant head. The blind folded one seemed the best and I gave him a book borne on his back. The rat tail was removed and I gave him a mechanical hand from the Kataphron kit. I just had to fill up the gaps in between the torso and the arms and I called him finished.

A collegiate from the holy household of Iesua. Grex Symmorre is just another ganger in House Ieusua's private army. He is a master at geurilla warfare and a great marksman when it comes to the secret wars that rage beneath Terra. He has gained many a purity seals for his achievements under the commands of the noble house.

Bunch of boxes that I had lying around the desk. One of them being the cultist kit, I took my favorite model in the box. The one with a hooded gasmask. This model is supposed to be a trial. It was the first time I sculpted fur and purity seals. Think it came out alright. I tried following what Marcominius said where he takes the knife to "shape tiny "worms" in the greenstuff". Worked out well and I am happy for a first timer. I just need to add one more layer of fur towards the back of the neck and it will go to the painting stages.

A cast away orphan from the shallow sewers of the sump. Braegge was left in the sump to die for his atrophies and pustulant skin. In his cries a great rat heard his distress and took him in for care, Treated like a rat while still retaining his human intellect, Braegge scavenged scrap from bloated corpses floating in the waters of the sump. At a time of starvation, Braegge killed his mother rat to eat and wore her fur for heating him in the cold dampness of the sump.

Stolen idea from Blanche's Doddermenne. Instead of a plaguebearer body, I used a goblin body. In my love for realism and childish humor I added a disgusting sack to show that Braegge is a human. Goblin body, cultist club, death head from the plagebearers kit and a tyranid toxic sac. I still need to sculpt one small patch of fur.

The poor child... Inonne's decadent body was strapped in a strait jacket and given neural implants. The implants were made to remove all emotion other than the trait of self-loathing. Very pious and devout in his belief, the mutant spawn will be taking a pilgrimage to the Hall of Penitent. His objective in the voyage, to die and release the galaxy of his taint.

Seeing the Emperor's Will book was really inspiring and I was awe-struck by each of the illustrations found within it. One page showed a giant arcoflagellant with a straitjacketed man in the corner. So I saw my chopped up goblin body and thoughtlessly decided to put a Kataphron head. I added a skull to hang from his waist. I just need to add some layers of greenstuff on the jacket and lock it with a gothic cross from the Terminator's kit. 

Comments & Criticisms Welcome!

Introduction!

Welcome!
I have been thinking of making this blog for a while now.
I have started building plastic men back in 2006 with LEGO's Bionicle and a few Technique sets too. In 2013,Paris as I was marching down to my friend's birthday party I saw my first GamesWorkshop store. Small and modest I went in the next day and have been introduced to Warhammer Fantasy and 40k. 40k seemed to lure me in more and I bought my first kits, Tyranid hormogaunts and Khorne bloodletters.

Loving this new hobby, I bought the 4e rulebook which gave me a while to truly know the rules. But what encapsulated me the most about it was the art made by John Blanche, Magister Illuminatus... Still being introduced to my teenage years, I was so struck by the movement, twisting and exaggerated looks of his characters. With this I decided to not care for the rules and growing Orks army too much and invest my time in the art and literature of the 41st Millenium.

Since then I have just been building miniatures and drawing characters on my sketchbooks. All for story and none for competitive play. Living out in the Middle East now with no GW scene at all, I am missing my days with Warhammer and occasionally I would go back to France to get my fix of plastic crack and minatures. Pretty lonely so this blog would be another way of communicating with the outside world about my hobbies and thoughts.

The blog, to put it bluntly, would just be a dumping grounds for my thoughts,sketches,wrting and miniatures. Just dumping any thoughts I have out and talking about my thought processes and concepts on miniatures and sketches. This was really inspired by Neil's late and missed blog, Opus Maius, Tears of Isstvan and Ironsleet.

More to come. Who knows what it will be...