Friday 19 June 2015

Helmawr gangers

Patrick Landmait, Jefferson Murdoch and Steve Taylor

Just try and guess what we have on today's menu... Oh good ! You've been following then ! Yes , more Helmawr gangers indeed !
I had planned to blog a ganger after the other but for once painting happened faster than blogging (can't really complain here) so here are three new entries for the gang !

They are all different in styles and definitely are something different from the previous members. I hope you'll agree they go together quite nicely.


Just try not to think about this song if you can... (from 1991 like confrontation)
So who are our new candidates then ?

The first model on the left is the Limited Edition Clan Hive ganger. Although he is not specifically named a Helmawr ganger or anything, he does sport the skull spider (on his belt and gun) the other Helmawr gang models wear so I guess hat makes him part of the crew unless this is just a distinction for nobles of the Hive... (that and his clothes and even hairstyle do match with others too). Whatever he's supposed to be, I think he is just perfect along the Helmawr gang leader (in the middle).

Second in the middle is the Helmawr gang leader. That one came in blister with the Ash waste nomad and tech leaders and was only available during a Games day in the US (if I understand things correctly).
This model is highly detailed and requires some proper preparation before getting in the ring. The many areas to paint mean you'll have to think a little bit about how and where to apply your colours especially if you plan on using a limited palette. You can see Ed Gladdis' excellent version on his blog. Just prior to starting mine, I tried to refrain checking his own version to avoid being too influenced but it seems I couldn't help painting the familiar the exact same way (apart from eye colour). I really like his asymetrical pants and socks and the general choice of colours.

Taken from Ed's blog : the work of Shaitan
After giving it a thought, it occured to me that maybe both Edward and myself just let our youthful heart express itself in our interpretation of the familiar :

Come on, no shame in loving Pokemons
There are of course others Helmawr ganger models but those were unreleased and let's face it, I'm not able to afford a full gang of unreleased models ! I've already had tremendous luck getting my hands on my beloved venators, so I think I'll just try and bulk up the unit with cheaper alternatives to those they do look like splendid and enjoyable models though) :


All pictures taken from the Collecting Citadel Miniatures Wiki

The third man is a fairly simple kitbash I did to get along with my other leader. I just sculpted a sort of powdered wig over a mix of Empire and imperial guard bits to have a promoted Imperial guard veteran acting as mercenary/bodyguard.

From a previous episode
Painting wise, you can see that I stayed in the same palette as previously with the creamy whites, deep reds and dark greys. The added checkers here and there and gold jewels help to tie all that little bunch together and somehow give a slight nod to the Blanchitsu genre.
The plastic bodyguard wasn't particularly hard to paint and though my reluctance to painting plastics still stands, I have to say it wasn't that a chore.
As said before the leader in the middle was a bit tricky and though I did schedule my painting by first applying all basecoats, I had hard time not coming up with tone against tone clashes (actually had to introduce grey into the mix to cope with that issue without adding another colour).

Rehearsals before the full backal

Being a ganger in Necromunda is not always a piece of cake let's face it. On the other side though, being a ganger associated to a noble family or under the authority of the Lord commander of the system you live in does come with some compensations. 
That's at least what Patrick tries to focus on when times are tough... Steve has known the horrors of war and he has endured atrocities that would have left most men shattered so nothing actually gets to him now. No, the real issue is not the fighting, violence and danger which are part of the job and of the fun actually... the main issue is having to cope with the lunacy of officers like Jefferson Murdoch. Oh, Jefferson is not complaining about results, he gets them at all cost (often the cost of a well placed bullet or power axe swing) and Patrick and Steve do provide results, Jefferson does have a real talent for making complicated situations simple. No, the real issue is that every simple thing becomes complicated like when he starts focusing on his hair being big enough or not (in the middle of  gunfight), his shoes matching with the rest of his outfit and all or that time when he insisted on taking a selfie over a pile of scavvies' corpses... in the very depths of the underhive...
But then again, lunacy is not reserved to nobles and gangers from lower levels probably have to endure as much stupidity as he. At least he can do his job in a relatively disease free and comfortable environment (and the booze, drugs and girls are of far better quality up here). Another good thing is, their boss Piers Gaveston probably wouldn't mind a change in the chain of command as long as he got his results...

Thinking about that song won't help either
Finally, a group shot of the gang so far. There are still 4 members awaiting the final touches to join and amongst those, 3 will be a sort of rank and file of well equiped but less characterful individuals acoompanied by the master of intel... all the other members will be plastic kitbashes built on similar sources as the first.

Oh yeah we're nobles and we're moving in... - Oh my, there goes the neighbourhood...

19 comments:

  1. Oh you lousy, lousy talented jerk JB.

    They are fantastic. The central noble in particular. Just top notch.

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    1. Thanks a lot Conrad !
      The central noble is a model I had been condidering for quite some time and when I got my hands on it and decided to do a gang of nobles, I knew I would have fun with this sculpt inspired by Jes Goodwin's style (don't think it's a Goodwin sculpt but I could be wrong)
      Anyway, I hope to have the full gang up and ready soon.

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  2. Pokémon?! I was about 25 when that came out! Speak for yourself! They look fantastic, JB. You've achieved a good colour scheme without having to go overboard and bombarding them with too much colour. That Helmawr leader probably took me more time in preparation than any other fig I can think of. He definitely looks better than my one. Great work on a face that is a tricky one to get tight. Eyes are a bitch too!

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    1. Well I was 18 when those came out but we were so drowned in them it must have gotten to our subconscious somehow !
      Anyway I agree the details definitely are very small and there are plenty of them so you definitely need a steady hand to start that one ! oh and yes, those eyes... taking Diazepam before hand can be of help here ;)
      In all honesty I prefer the way you treated fabric with asymetrical pants and stripes, it more evocative of the concept than mine are (which is just model colouring).

      Cheers Edward !

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    2. Well come to think of it, my nephew was mad on it at the time so I guess it found its way into the dark side of the brain without me aware if it. Model colouring - really! I admire the modesty! 😊

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  3. What a treat JB - wonderful models, delicately painted! Helmawr leader is just wonderful...The little splash of cool pink works very nicely, and I really like the restrained palette you've used. I can't wait to see the remaining members of this team!

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    1. Well, the coming models will probably not be as exciting as those I'm afraid but they'll bulk up the team to make it playable at least !
      I like how the limited palette works and though everyone has his own spot colour, I think it works well enough.

      Thanks a lotc!

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  4. That middle dude sure had a full mop of hair doesn't he!!! :D Makes an awesome character model.

    I like the arm you used on the placky man, is that a power fist or some other armoured arm? Really cool conversion.

    The black guy is a bit "ok" for me...mini wise, but the skin tone is spot on. I've never attempted to paint negro skin on a mini before, yours' came out gold standard!

    Job well done, again.

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    1. The power fist comes as is in the cadian command box I think, I bought it on an online bits store along other bits to kitbasj the little group.
      The LE ganger is a bit of a "flat" sculpt I agree like his Bratt counterpart and I could have probably made him a little more fancier with some more fancyness, I thought the orange triple mohawk would make the model pop a little more but I should have had theball to go with an electric blue or something.

      Cheers mate !

      Delete
  5. "has" a full mop.

    Damn auto correct :/

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  6. All are great, but that second one is really ace. The sculpt is fantastic, and you really did it justice. It is a pity that these figures were not more widely available.

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    1. Believe me that's a question we're many to consider really, so much wonderful models, I've read that there had been over 80 models created for confrontation but only a big dozen did make it public...
      I'm glad people like the second as he clearly was the trickiest of the bunch !

      Thanks a lot !

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  7. What a wonderful post; the kit bash is great but I absolutely love your noble leader, it's a fantastic model that I've never seen before and you've painted it brilliantly. Great work!

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    1. Cheers Stuart, it Is a Great model indeed and not one You Can easily get your hands on unfortunately.
      It got me to get out of the comfort zone because of its details which Is a good thing really.

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  8. Great stuff!

    Warburton

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  9. Damn Nice Blogg you got here, Sir!
    I am very impressed of your work and great skill with painting the old miniatures. I am not even close to your standards. Your blogg is really giving me some great inspiration to get going on my project with all those citadell figures lying in boxes just waiting to get wet..with paint.
    I also invite you to visit my own blogg, even if I so far only is blogging about my Victorian SF project, it coul maybe serve as som inspiration? =)
    http://mars1889.blogspot.se/
    I will stay tuned for your blogg, thats for sure. Thanks, Sir.

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    Replies
    1. Well see, that's what I like about this whole blogging thing : I get to discover new cool blogs avery now and then. I really like what you do too as it's not really what I usually work on and therefore is refreshing to me. Oh and any hobbyist focusing on storytelling as you do gets my votes !

      Cheers for the kind words mate !

      Delete

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