Unaligned Daemon

This weekend I finished painting this scratch-built Daemon that I put together a while ago.  It's a Daemon of Chaos Undivided - unaligned to any specific Chaos god, or perhaps aligned to a more minor deity.  The 'internal fire' colour scheme is nicked from a great set of Daemons that I stumbled upon online, where the painter had been collecting the official Games Workshop figures for the four Chaos powers, but painting them all with ash-black flesh & lava or fire from within their mouths & eyes etc.  Unfortunately I've been unable to find the post again, so can't credit or link to my inspiration.

I constructed this miniature from various spare bits, including an old metal Tyranid hormagaunt scythe-arm, Beastman horns, a Lizardman leg, a Warhammer zombie scythe & torso, Kroot legs, a Ork head, & plenty of Green Stuff putty.

It's very tall compared to Human-sized figures (pin-mounted on a Ø32mm base), & I think it's suitably creepy-looking.  I'll be using it in my long-planned adventure-skirmish Inquisition games (set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, either using the original expanded Necromunda rules, or a different set of rules, possibly a modification of Osprey Wargames Black Ops).

Small Chaos spawn

Yesterday I painted this small Chaos spawn.  It's a very gribbly miniature from Black Cat Bases, mounted on a Games Workshop Ø32mm base.  Puts me in mind of John Carpenter's 'The Thing'.  It's a pulp of entrails being re-shaped by evil, writhing with newly-grown appendages, eyeballs, & toothy maws!  I've based it for my Underhive / ruined urban W40K setting.

Black Cat Bases have some wonderfully esoteric (& affordable!) miniatures, especially in their 'Cthulu' ranges.  I had in mind all four Chaos gods when painting this spawn - as if the unfortunate Human who is being reformed by a Daemonic entity is ever-shifting, caught between the different aspects of Chaos.  I finished the miniature with a coat of gloss varnish, to emphasize it's gory, disgusting nature.

Brain leaf tree

I recently finished painting this brain leaf tree & its victims, for games of Necromunda / 'Inquisimunda'.  I modeled the brain leaf tree using florist wire to create an armature on the base, with trailing wires positioned for the branch-tendrils.  As the rules state a 6" reach for brain leaf attacks, I based the dimensions on that.  Next I layered papier-mâché for the surface of the trunk.  Then I used Green Stuff putty to bulk-out the tendrils, texturing them to suggest 'bark' (or perhaps something flesh-like) with a craft knife.  Leaves clipped from a plastic aquarium plant were used for the brain leaves at the tip of each tendril - & for those embedded by the tree into its victims (an unfortunate House Orlock ganger & a scavvy mutant).

The brain leaf is a plant with a surprising instinctual intelligence & ability to transform the victims in which it embeds its leaves into slaves of its influence.  It is believed that the brain leaf plant may be native to the jungle death world of Catachan, & was transported to the hive world of Necromunda at some point in the distant past.  The brain leaf plants of Necromunda are described as having vine-like tendrils, with greyish colouring that allows them to blend with the chaotic industrial ruins of the Underhive.

Atmosphere processor

I've been working on quite a few wargaming bits this spring, but haven't finished much of it yet, hence the lack of posts recently.  However, today I finished this piece of scenery for Necromunda / 'Inquisimunda' - an atmosphere processor; or maybe a large water still for Underhive gangs to fight over?  This is a 3-piece resin model from Fenris Games.  It's chunky & durable, with great detailing.  The sections only needed minimal filing to remove some air bubble bumps to allow them to stack neatly.  [Top tip for those new to resin pieces: a quick wash in soapy water removes residue left over from the casting, which will improve the adherence of the paint].

I mounted it on a disposable 'raft' left over from a 3D-print job, which I think makes for an excellent metal grille effect.  I'm considering strengthening this base with a card disc underneath too, as the raft is slightly brittle.  A couple small pieces of rubble were added to tie the piece in with the rest of my ruined Underhive terrain, but I painted this atmopshere processor in a slightly better state of repair than my usual corroded & rusty scenery.

It had been a while since I'd tried painting the classic 'gem' effect on a miniature, but I'm really pleased how the indicator lights turned out on this - I think they help bring the machinery to life ( +++ALL HAIL THE OMNISSIAH+++ ).

Gas fungi

This week I painted some more flora from the Outlanders bestiary for my Necromunda / Inquisimunda collection - gas fungi.  There are many varieties of fungus growing in the dank, dark Underhive, & most of them are harmless.  These are harvested for food, especially by scavvies, mutants, & outlaws living in the waste zones beyond even the ramshackle settlements.  However, some Necromunda fungi have evolved to become capable of protecting themselves via the release of mycotoxins.  One gas fungus is known as the 'dream-spore', which looks like a multi-coloured ball of fluff & causes hallucinogenic waking-dreams - the victims of which often stumble into one of the myriad horrors of the Underhive.  In rules terms, moving through a patch of gas fungi risks releasing one of three types of gas (using the special grenades rules for Hallucinogen, Choke, & Scare).

These small patches are based as per my usual urban rubble recipe, on laser-cut ply discs from Fenris Games, from where I also purchased the resin mushrooms.  I'm planning to make a larger area of gas fungi, using a CD for a base.

These patches of fungi could also be used to represent harmless varieties to be harvested/protected... or maybe even unhatched Ork/Gretchin spores to be purged!

More wire weed

Following-on from the large patch of wire weed that I made, here are several smaller patches for variety.  These will be useful for obstacles on Underhive gantries & ledges as well as at ground-level.  They are mounted on laser-cut ply discs from Fenris Games, but otherwise made in the same way.  I also had a couple pieces of toy barbed wire fence left over, so I based them on a lolly stick to make a broken section of fence, which could be useful to mark where figures have cut or destroyed a section of fencing during games.

Chem tower

This week I finished a scratch-built 'chem tower' for Necromunda / Inquisimunda.  This was a simple build based on an old CD, & using a Pringles tube for the central tank.  I added a pipe using a little aquarium chemical bottle & a couple sections from the useful Mantic Games Industrial Pipeline kit.  I also added some platforms & support beams using 3mm foamboard, with detail using cereal pack card, washers, & slices of cylindrical sprue for large bolts. The grille on top is a 'raft' left-over from a 3D-printing job.  I then added a bit of texture using coarse paint thickener, & a few bits of debris here & there, with sand for grit.

Only a quick & dirty dry-brushed paint job, with plenty of messy washes, & then a bit more work to suggest corrosion & rust here-&-there.  The freehand detail for the hazard stripes took the most time painting-wise, but I am happy with the finishing touch that they lend. Good enough for tabletop gaming though, I think. On the right is a photo of the chem tower before I spray-painted it with a black undercoat  >

Barbed wire fences & wire weed

This weekend I finished modelling some fences & a large patch of wire weed for Necromunda / Inquisimunda.  The barbed wire fences were made from four lengths of fencing that I kept from my childhood - they originally came with a packet of cheap plastic WW2 soldiers.  I sliced one section into three pieces to extend the others to fit onto large lolly stick bases, which I textured with coarse paint thickener, & added various bits of sprue, washers, & resin flagstones, before flocking using sand.  I'll treat these as obstacles that provide no cover, but cannot be crossed without cutting equipment (or jump packs).



Bio-wire is an extremely nasty defence originally engineered by the Adeptus Mechanicus biologis. When its razor-like brambles tear clothing or flesh, it secretes a highly corrosive acid.  In the Underhives of Necromundan cities, uncontrolled bio-wire that has gone feral is commonly known as wire weed.  I've always thought that the description of wire weed in the Outlanders supplement was an obvious reference to the more garish hues of modelling lichen that you can buy.  & I've finally got round to making a patch of it.  After creating a base on an old CD using my usual urban rubble technique, I simply glued clumps & sprigs of lurid green & orange lichen on using PVA.  I'll be making more patches of wire weed in various sizes.

After the break is a photo of the wire weed base before I added the lichen 'wire weed', which also shows how the rubble looks different under various lighting:

Pile of rubble 3

Continuing with Necromunda, here is another scratch-built terrain piece... rubble pile 3!  As with my other recent builds, this is mounted on an old CD (topped with a disc of thing card to make it easier to paint/texture).  The mound of rubble began as lumps of polystyrene with broken bits of laser-cut MDF sprue jammed in.  This was textured with coarse paint thickener to disguise the polystyrene, & various other detritus was added (bits of drinking straw, cocktail sticks, washers, a pen tip, plastic 'flagstones', a bulkhead corner etc.)  Then a layer of sand was glued on using watered-down PVA.  Then a quick & messy paint job with basic drybrushing, followed by a little more care on the rusty metal spars.  I painted the large pipe as if it leads down to a lower level of the Underhive - could be a neat feature when using 'Tunnels' in the rules.  Or as the entrance to some nasty critter's nest...

Large containers

Just a simple terrain piece this week - some large containers for Necromunda.  These were really simple to make - the containers are Jessops SLR film packs that I've had in my bits box for many years, embellished with panels made from thick card.  They were stuck together & mounted on an old CD, to which I added a few small piles of debris to emphasize the Underhive / urban ruins theme.

I'll have to get all my urban Warhammer 40,000 scenery out of storage for a group photo soon, as I suspect I have more than I think by now - although I still need a lot more vertical pieces & platforms to get going with Necromunda again.

Pile of rubble 2

Yesterday I finished my 2nd pile of rubble for my new Necromunda scenery.  I was pleased with my 1st rubble pile, but even more so with this one.  Again, the base is an old CD, with various pieces of polystyrene, Airfix kit bits, sprue offcuts, a thread dowel, pen nib, & other detritus incorporated as junk.  I also used sliced-up parts of an original Necromunda bulkhead, & as grille flooring: the disposable 'rafts' left-over from 3D-printing projects.  The polystyrene chunk that dominates this piece has a nifty warning sign & arrow that I thought would look good when painted.

I really enjoy making free-form scenery pieces like this, as pretty much anything goes.  Once you've picked a few parts, they seem to fall together into a logical arrangement with very little effort, & almost take on a character.  I think this 2nd pile of rubble is more interesting & successful than my first one, which was more a vertical stack.  This one has more interesting angles, more variation in texture, & more contrast between rusted metal & plascrete.  The big pile of grit also adds more realism than blocks alone.

Guilder trade hall / warehouse

This weekend I finished painting a building that I've been working on for a while - a Guilder trade hall / warehouse for Necromunda.  It started life as two halves of polystyrene packaging for a handheld vacuum cleaner, onto which I glued 5mm foamboard walkways (with sewing mesh grille flooring),  cardboard panels (with plastic sprue-offcut rivets), doors, windows, & roofing.  The ladders & railings are laser-cut ply pieces from Fenris Games.  I added plasticard backing to the railings for a more defensible position.  I textured the bare polystyrene surface with coarse paint thickener.  Also added were aquila supports to the lower platforms, & a lamp, both from the GW Sector Imperialis sprues.

Walkways from adjacent structures can connect to the lower platforms on either side, whilst the town Watchmen can look out for trouble from the walkways above.  This building should be useful for Underhive wastes scenarios as well as settlement encounters like Shoot Out.  Think I should follow this up with some market stalls & a bar...

Raised walkways

This week I finished painting a pair of raised walkways for Necromunda, as well as adding ladders & a base to the small platform I made earlier.  The walkways & platform are part of the TT Combat Industrial Hive set of laser-cut ply scenery.  I filled-in the railings with plasti-card panels to improve the cover.  I used 3mm foamboard for the bases to make the structures sturdier.  Sewing mesh was used for the metal grille flooring.  The ladders that I added to the platform are from Fenris Games.  Various debris added using coarse paint thickener, sand, & sprue off-cuts.

My friend Tim suggested getting some raised walkways to interplay with the (ground-level blocking) electricity sub-stations that I built, & these should fill that slot well: allowing movement with soft cover at both ground & raised level.

Sludge jellies

This weekend I made six sludge jellies for Necromunda.  These are another weird critter from the Outlanders supplement.  They reside in the sludge lakes & industrial effluent pools found in the Underhive, & rise to the surface to ensnare passing creatures or gangers with their stinging tendrils.  Once paralysed, victims are slowly dragged into the sludge pool in a rule called 'Gooing Gooing Gone' in the book  :-D

Each of my sludge jellies is made from half a pistachio shell for the body, topped with a crest sculpted from Green Stuff putty.  The tendrils are from Black Cat Bases, & the laser-cut ply bases are from Fenris Games, textured with coarse paint thickener.

Most sludge jellies are around 1-3ft across, like these ones.  But some that live in the sump sea, or have been growing in stagnant ponds for centuries can be very large... I am working on a couple of larger ones currently...