Hey everyone, with the annual Call of Chaos event (over at The Bolter & Chainsword) upon us, I thought it was time for a rather more chaotic update this week. Because I have had a bit of a breakthrough with my second Armiger Warglaive – and the second member of Enkidu Lance, Baron Harrowthorne’s retinue – this past weekend.
Just to remind you, here’s my previous Armiger from earlier this year:
You can read up on the model in more detail here.
So of course I still wanted to complete the second child of the warrior king. Unfortunately, not much really happened with the model for a rather long while since the last WIP pictures I shared with you.
The main reason for this was that I lacked some parts I thought were crucial for the conversion: Having discovered how well Bloodthirster vambraces work as leg armour for Renegade Armigers, I definitely wanted to feature this element on my second Armiger as well, but I just couldn’t get my hands on another set of the bitz, which also pretty much blocked any further work on the model.
But last week, thanks to the awesome generosity of fellow hobbyist ElDuderino, I received a bitz drop that contained some of those ever important vambraces, and this provided me with the motivation (and the bitz!) I needed to hammer out most of the conversion over the weekend. So allow me to share my progress with you:
Here’s where we left off last time:
Promising, but nothing to write home about yet. So the first order of business was to nail down a pose for the Armiger. And after a bit of hemming and hawing, here’s what I came up with:
It’s really just a subtle tweak of the standard Armiger leg pose, which is very narrow and makes the model look as though it were marching straight forward. By attaching the legs at a slightly different angle (and cutting off the nubs that look the feet in place, allowing for a bit more flexibility), I have widened the stance just a bit, making it look slightly more aggressive while also creating a pose that could be interpreted as the Armiger bracing for firing its harpoon.
I’ve set myself a bit of an overarching visual framework for both Armigers in that I want both models have their own personality while also featuring a fair number of recurring visual elements between them, in order to show how both machines (and their pilots) are still retainers – and, ultimately, subordinates – to the same renegade noble.
So when it came to featuring some recurring models, I basically copied most of the armour from my previous model, especially the shin armour and Khornate icons (the trophies and spikes I add to the carapace will also follow a similar design, while still allowing for some individuality).
Anyway, here’s what the second Armiger currently looks like:
On the model’s left arm, you can see the Ursus Claw harpoon I converted (some detailed conversion notes can be found here):
As for the gun arm, I felt tempted to go with an original, kitbashed weapon for a while, but then ultimately decided to use yet another of the Forgefiend’s ectoplasma cannons: They work really well on an Armiger, for one, and provide some instant “chaotification”. And it also makes sense for both models to be armed with the same gun, seeing how there’s really only one wargear template for Armiger Warglaives so far, especially when it comes to their guns. Oh, and the ectoplasma cannon bit will also allow me to paint some plasma coils again, which is always a plus 
One small complication was that I had to replace some of the cabling on the gun, because I had cut it off earlier (for a different conversion), but I think I have managed to come up with a look that works.
So there are definitely enough shared elements between the two models to tie them together from a visual standpoint. But at the same time, I also wanted each model to have its own personality and, by the same token, have the Armigers reflect the personality of their respective pilots:
With the Hound, I imagine its pilot as a former member of a loyalist Knight household who was forced into rebellion when the Forgeworld protected by his house seceded from the Imperium. He eventually found his way into Baron Harrowthorne’s lance, as part of the World Eaters’ 4th assault company, but when all is said and done, he still subscribes to the traditions and trappings of knightly houses, which also shows on his Armiger (the fairly standard armament, the banner listing the pilot’s accomplishments,…).
This second Armiger’s pilot (codenamed “The Huntress” for now), on the other hand comes from a more techno-barbarian-styled background, as a member of a slightly more feral warclan. Now her homeworld may be a Dark Mechanicum Forgeworld or a former Knight world, but it has been in the clutches of the ruinous powers for far longer, and this shows in her warlike disposition as well as the somewhat more feral look of her machine. For this reason, I chose a slightly more brutal looking armour plate (from the vintage Bloodthirster) for the space between the legs in place of the – more traditional – banner. I also added a huge spike to the right pauldron (for a slightly more gladiatorial look). At the same time, I think the more open, threatening pose also does a nice job of hinting at a less restrained, more openly aggressive personality for the pilot.
So when you place the two Armigers next to one another, there’s a lot to tie them together, but also a slight difference in look, which is exactly the effect I was going for:
And while we are already speaking of the pilots, I also made some tweaks to my model for “The Huntress”, of course:
While the basic kitbash already worked fairly well last time around, I now had to clean it up and make sure the model actually fit into the interior even when the carapace was placed on top and locked in place. I also tried to make her pose look similar to that of the first pilot, mostly in order to hint at the underlying way in which an Armiger is piloted.
I also added some bitz and bobs that few people will ever notice once the model is glued in place: There’s a small chaos icon dangling from the model’s belt, and also a skull shoulder pad that nobody is ever going to see I also added a jagged tooth worn as a necklace to hint at the Huntress’ more tribal/techno-barbarian background.
And once again, getting it all to fit together really took some doing
So with most of the heavy lifting out of the way, the rest of the conversion will be mostly about two areas: There’s some gap-filling and a bit of extra detailing to be done in the cockpit area. The biggest part still left will be the detailing of the carapace and armour plates, including the placement of trophies and spikes, grafting some teeth to the armour trim here and there, and adding some battle damage to match the look of the Bloodthirster vambraces.
For now, however, I am fairly happy with the look of the model — and with finally having managed to get this project under steam again, mostly thanks to ElDuderino. Cheers, mate! 
It goes without saying that I would love to hear any feedback you might have! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!
