White Snakes - Imperial Renegades

And this is my renegade squad, pics will be uploaded as the models get done.


Short background
Formerly known as the 7462th Cadian, the White Snakes was deployed on Incus 4. Incus is a solar system at the border of known space, where little imperial presence is known and many rouge traders try to make a living. Heretics is drawn to this system, as they try to get away from the long arms of the Imperium. As orcs and other xenos were spotted not far from the system, the Imperial guard placed an outpost on Incus 4, to overlook the system as many planets were due for colonization. The 7462th didn't have much to do at first, and after a while things started to get soft. Often they would look the other way for rich traders and allow abuses on the populations of different planets. There were some stirrings about a revolution, but it got shut down pretty fast. Commander Robin was among the most corrupt and spoiled commanders on the outpost, getting wealthy and neglecting his duties, he dreaded the time when this type of life would end. And end it did. A small ork fleet invaded one of the colonies, and war broke out. The imperial outpost was ill equipped to deal with this threat, and the corruption had made them worse yet. Soon however, reinforcement arrived and a new Commissar arrived to set things straight. Commander Robin fled the outpost with his closest men to not get executed, taking as much wealth with him as he could. Now he became the leader for the "revolution" that would rise against the evil corrupt imperials and stop the orks. With the support of the very people he pressed and help from the traders he had helped in the past, Robin tries to reclaim some measure of power in the solar system Incus. Not one to shy from corrupt sources of power, he is also playing around with the evil powers of chaos.


Commander Robin
The corrupt and cowardly.



Enforcer
2nd in command and keeps the rabble in line. In combat he rains death from afar and let the goons take the bullets for him.



Mutant
He is on his way to becoming a chaos spawn, but still retaining some measure of intelligence. The official story is the he is an orgyn that the government have done horrible experiments on.



Mutant
A former(?) cultist that willingly became a demon host. Now he walks the cold world of Incus 4 and do the biddings of his patron god.

Nice, very nice.

Love the fluff that goes with these guys, original and engaging.

On the models - good to see another ghillie suit in the world - the enforcer looks very cool.
The feather on the commander was what really caught my eye with him and interesting use of contrasting colours - is that a GS cloak - nice work if it is!
As for the mutants - absolutely superb paintjobs - the quality is at once organic and sharply done.

Look forward to seeing more.

Cheers Laney

OHHHH!!!! WOW! I fell for them... amazing job!

Let me tell you a little about me. I always look at the pictures first, without reading anything on the post and ask myself what is what the person is trying to do. In some cases, I get nothing. In few rare occasions, I get transported to a new level of consciousness. DeafNala and Laney consistently blow my mind with their talents with the brush and dr!tz and mudboy with their conversions. I saw your models, and this is (more or less) what I got.

Inside Mordheimer's head wrote:

Hmmm... FANTASY! Cool... it has been quite some time since I saw some fantasy models. [looks at the 1st model] Weird... white uniforms... like the blue hat. HA! Those Empire soldiers always so colo.... WTF? What is THAT on his chest? [rub my eyes]... I can't see shit. [wet my contact lenses] DAMMIT! Stupid lines! Just like those zebras... I can't make the outline. OHHHH!!! [scratch my beard] I'M SUCH A DORK! He is an Imperial Guard! Wait... is he? [my mind races in confusion]... Empire or Imperium? CRAP! Hey, look at THAT behind the peacock feather! Is that a... YES! LASGUN! Peacock feather?!? [take a double look] By The Emperor's Jerky! That IS a good feather! WOW... the technique is impressive... hmmm... if he had used metallics he would had screwed up the effect... this is perfect. [looks at the back of the model] WTF?! This guy has a cape that screams 'shoot me' but everything else would make him invisible in the snow. AGHHH!! He IS standing on snow! Holy cow! [sees next model]

WTF? Terrain? Ohh... another one of those guys. They give me the willies. I like my soldiers to look like soldiers, not like piles of leaves... hmmm... maybe that is why I get shot so often. Mental note... 'try blending in behind cover'. [sees next model]

WOHOOO!!!! Look at those eyes! Reminds me of someone... but who? [Search Google and find this ] AGGGH!!! Just like that! Is he a Chameleon? No way... maybe a Fantasy Skink? If not, he HAS to be a mutant... poor bastard! If his mother sees him, she probably shoot him! IN THE EYES!!! YEAH BABY!!! [sees next model]

YEAH BABY! This guy is bad ass! LOOK! He has body rings on his shoulders!!! Nice cat helmet... or is it? His neck is too long? Maybe is a jackal face, like Anubis (jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology). That THING is huge... and looks like he can hurt me. He looks like he is waiting... maybe waiting for me to get closer and then chop me in half with the huge meat cleaver. Seems too confident he can do it too! He looks hot in that helmet... hmmm... maybe that is why he is on the snow. Maybe he is pissed he was left in the snow... after all, he looks purple and his nipples are standing out. I better move away... he still looks crazy.

What an incredible surprise to see that these are indeed future agents of the Dark Gods! BRAVO! You manage to capture the TRU essence of what Imperial Renegades are supposed to be. The story indicates of men doing things that men do (falling from the straight path) and resorting to 'human' things... hiding. They have become fertile ground for the seed of evil to germinate... maybe they struggled with decisions of morality, but they finally crossed the line in a desperate attempt to save their own hides and got away with it. Now, they seem comfortable crossing that moral-line... new agents of chaos are forged. The models convey that exact message... fighters trying to hold on to their human tendencies; flirting with fancy hats and cloaks, pretending to be wise men with a cane, or holding on to his pride on honors once held in past lives.

BRAVO!!! Your building and painting techniques are EXTRAORDINARY. Please, post more pics when you get a chance. THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!!

"Ooo, nice replies, got to respond to that"
"hmmm this guy is almost ready, Ill fix him up quick and post pics at the same time!"
"ok, lets take a picture..... the face isn't right, lets fix that first"
"and the hair"
"ok, another picture.... is that some snow on his hand? got to fix that first"
"Picture again... some mold lines i forgot... lets fix that first"
"here we go again...more mold lines on the flamer tank.... fix fix"
"ok, that took a lot of extra time, the perfect picture...no, more light...less light..."
"The battery have run out, why is that?! *gets batteries*"
"*Takes picture*"

Thanks for the comments, it means a lot!


@02laney:
Yea, I saw your sniper to, really nice!
I wanted my commander to be a bratty guy that shows off, hence the GS mantle and feather.
I put more time on the mutants then the rest, always liked to make organic stuff. I haven't got the cammo right yet.


@Mordheimer
Really enjoyed reading your reflections, fun and rewarding to read
Regarding the helmet on the axe mutant: The lower half is an medieval helmet, the top is a 4 eyed fox or wolf (I think...), then we got some horns.
I wanted to mix some character in my models, and I will probably try to use fitting strategies (like retreating when the commander is close to death, even if the battle is going well otherwise)

Flamer guy
Always had a problem with authorities and like to take the easy way out. Likes to take risks and choose weapon thereafter. Starting to show signs of corruption, or a really bad case of ugliness.

The head of the flamer guy is FREAKING me out!!! HAHAHA! He is turning into ... an ORK! Yeah! Great model... and if you thought that the AMAZING burned metal effect on the nozzle was going to be missed... THINK AGAIN! Wow! Great effect man!

I love the flame thrower guy.

Cool hair - very fitting for a flamer wielding guy. Cool effect on the flamer nozzle - small details make such a big difference. But what I liked best was his skin, nice blending, which makes it work really well (someting I've got to improve on!). Interesting thread - keep it up!

Cheers Laney

Thanks guys!
Something is wrong with the white-black cammo, it gets all...whats the word... messy?
I think I know how to fix it, Ill try it later. For now it looks ok as long as you don't take a picture of them or look super close. Btw, taking pictures is a great way to notice errors and stuff that you don't see otherwise.

COOL STUFF! I LOVE the Flamer Guy. WELL DONE!

I was trying to figure out what the white camo reminded me of and I finally came up with it. It looks like the surface of the ice moon Europa, maybe you could use that as a visual reference for the camo (if you haven't already). Looks great to me anyway.

Laney

I was going for this

A deer?

indeed, but that's just the workers

Cool camo - have to admit I've never seen camo like that. If you want to try the finer lines on it, maybe you could use an ultrafine permanent pen like 0.1 or 0.05 to create the patterns - I've used one for fine tattoo outlines.

Cheers Laney

Ohhh! There is a guy there! LOL!!!! I'm an idiot...

Yes, try the marker. ALSO... check out Laney's Tutorial on Power Sword's Effects... he is a true master! You could so a 'lightning' effect to break out the black lines... thin grey with thinned back in the center.

AMAZING Camo! I would suggest a diorama, if you have the time.

@02laney: yea, I need some new pens, right now I'm just using a couple of GW pens in 3 basic sizes.

@Mordheimer: I have never done a diorama before. And making one there the soldiers are hard to separate from the terrain sounds cool. Maybe I'll do that sometime.

I figured I'd jump on the "Thursday pic night"

I have been quiet for some time now, mostly due to work and participating in a miniature gaming event. But I have still been painting, so here is som new figs! I have been trying out some new techniques, some went well and others made me learn something.


First of we have my renegade priest Hampus. Hampus is really a wyrd, a weak psyker. He is on the run from the government that wishes to experiment on him or sacrifice him to the golden throne. He got a safe haven within the White snakes, and there he uses his minor powers to boost morale and trick opponents. As a rare and useful individual, he have been promoted and privileged. A once innocent mind, but what will the future hold?




Militiaman 1: Hank. I wanted to show that the commanders got all the good stuff and all the others got to get by with what they could scavenge and make themselves. By performing well and doing dirty work, Hank have gone from being rabble (worker) to militiaman. A once normal boy with dreams of justice, but have crawled in to many sewers and eaten to much radiated food. Now he is kind of disgusting.




Militiaman 2: Jonte. I experimented with dust to make a "frosty" effect, didn't get as much frost as I wanted. Jonte was always a violent one. He got more and more savage and took more and more pleasure from killing. He got punished for his actions in the Guard, and held back. Finally he sensed a calling and simply walked away. Commander Robin, sensing the potential, took him in with promises of violence. Is he a curse or a blessing? Or is he blessed himself?




Militiaman 3: Johannes. I went all out with the "frost", and I suspect that he is kind of ruined. He got frosty all right, but I feel that to many details got ruined in the process. Johannes is old, bitter and angry. After many years of watching Guard command making many unnecessary errors, his squad got shot down due to an clerical error. He joined the Snakes in hope of changing his world.

These are great! Keep up the good work.

NICE work man! I liked the dust effect... it is VERY nice to see people experimenting with models. Sometimes they work, sometimes the don't. For the effect, I think that what went wrong was that the 'skin' got frosted. I'M NO EXPERT ON SNOW (I have only seen fluries... ONCE)... but maybe the guns and clothing could be frosted (specially shoes), but not the face.

Looks good, but a little weird. Keep trying! I know you will succeed!

Great looking renegades, some very nice conversions and the radiation is very effective. The frost effect looks good but I agree with mordhiemer that it could be more effective if not used on the skin or maybe the barrels of the guns where it would melt though the beards and hair look fantastic.

i like the conversions and frosting...but the radition on the wyrds base just makes me think of yellow snow

Thanks for the feedback!
I'll repaint some parts and take away some snow. The yellow snow on the wyrd was supposed to get blue on it to, I just forgot it.
I think I'll make the rest of the team first, so I got a complete team.

cool i can't wait to see more of them

Ace work - I'd love to see a group shot!
Like the glowing effect on Hank and Hampus is a very good use of empire militia parts. Nice subtle GS work in a lot of places as well - I particularly thought the bulkiness of their back armour looked cool.

Keep it up - looking forward to seeing the finished squad.

Laney