Grimstonefire:
So, I’ve just ordered the first of my ogre sized CD models. Which some might call Iron Golems I guess. Technically speaking this will be Battlerager Mark IV for me. I just got one for now to test whether this will work.
Anyhow, what I plan to do is go over every part of this model, decide which parts of it feel too 40k or impossible tech and rebuild accordingly. Then add in some sculpted areas with CD themed stuff.
So it will be useful to hear what other people think of this model and gauge where I need to do the most work. Obviously you have to be able to imagine a walking machine in warhammer to give advice here.
Something I have considered is cutting the top out of all of them and putting in a pilot/driver.
Thoughts?
JMR:
I’m personally quite a fan of the warmachine models and I want to have my dwarves using similar technology. Steam engines + daemon power offers quite a bit of room as far as tech goes.
One thing I don’t really like, however, is walkers with actual hands holding separate weapons. It seems to make more sense to have a weapon attached straight to the arm. In particular buzz-saws or drill-heads seem to make a lot of sense and also help to make it all look a little less “delicate”.
Grimstonefire:
You mean design them to be machines that happen to be useful for battle.
Like mining robots?
warh:
The screws are what’s most out of place IMO, and I would probably go for pointy shoes.
Samanos:
i’ll agree with JMR on the hands topic.
I wouldnt say like mining robots, personally i would prefer more combat oriented. mining does not fit imo, dwarfs (of every kind) have mashines to do the jobs for them, they dont need robots.
perhaps huge hamers or morningstars.
Grimstonefire:
I was thinking I could merge the chimneys into one big steam boiler with a side chimney and small steam whistle like the Skullcracker.
I’m a fan of the axes, and looking at it I guess the hands are a little high tech. So I might be tempted to build them in instead of the hands like a steam axe. The Bull Father model I made had a cool steam hammer, so I know how I’d do that.
JMR:
You mean design them to be machines that happen to be useful for battle.
Like mining robots?
Grimstonefire
Well, I mentioned the drill bit to hint at the option of tying in with mining operations, yes. It's a viable background for chaos dwarfs, but you can use whatever weapons you like of course.
Just look at the kind of painful stuff the dawi zharr put on machines like the Whirlwind or Skullcracker. Spinning blades, piston-driven spikes to impale enemies, fire-throwers... whatever floats your boat.
Also, I find that a vile plume of smoke/fire coming out of an engine helps to define it as Chaos Dwarf tech too. You could even go for blueish/purplish or green fire to hint at the fact that it's no ordinary engine. What are they using for fuel? Just coal or some other more dubious source, like say... the souls of unfortunate slaves/enemies? (Think Hellcanon furnace)
Grimstonefire:
I got the 2 plastic ones as well. I’ve been working on one of these and looking at it there is virtually nothing that cannot be made in warhammer imo. Damn PP use hard plastic. I’ve cut off the exhausts and put a steam boiler there, plus put 2 chimneys on the top of the body.
I think what I will do is a mixture of the following:
Steam spike, pick and spinning blades exactly as from Skullcracker
Drill and hammer. Steam whip (metallic whip like the Black Kraken tentacle)
So pretty much only include weapons that would be useful for mining and/ or sieges. No hands anywhere, infact I will try and reduce the length of the arms a little where possible.
The heads are rediculously small on the plastics. An Infernal Guard head is about the same size. So I’ll have to sculpt another.
Once I get to the stage of finishing the basic construction I will ask for some feedback on CD details.
Lastly, I have been pondering how best to paint these. If I were to do them using the same rules I’ve applied to the CD the functional parts of the machine (cogs, pistons, other moving parts) would be shiny metal. The decorative parts would be golden.
Non functional but not heavy armour or weapons would be bronze. The armour and blades would be dark iron.
But something I have been thinking is that it would look more ‘evil’ to paint big parts of the armour pure black? Thoughts?
vulcanologist:
Cool idea grim. As you might have seen from my warrior unit filler I’m a fan of the warmachine range too and think they fit well alongside our chaos dwarfs! Black always looks good but it’s tricky to paint and can make your model seem dark or unfinished. What about dark bronze?
Admiral:
Why not black armour plates with red runes and symbols?
Naagruz:
Not to create a headache, but more rivets per plated surface would be a good start. Creating some artificial splits in the plate would help bring it closer to WFB. In a nutshell, you have a basic surface that is too machined to fly in WFB. Texturing should help.