I thought I shouldn't leave it too long before I posted the completed Havoks.
I learnt a hell of a lot painting these guys, as my first real project in a new army it was a challenge and took me way longer than it should have, but its all worth it in the end in my opinion.
From a rules perspective I thought I might mention my logic when it came to choosing two autocannons and two missile launchers - Its called middleground - They offer decent effectiveness against vehicles and with frag missiles, good effectiveness against masses. Also, if i am facing fliers and chose flakk missiles (for some bizarre reason) two BS4 autocannon shots and four autocannon snapshots are nothing to be sniffed at for light anti-air.
These Havoks were a blast to paint, and as someone who had never painted a 'dirty' model in his life they offered so many new techniques to learn and tools to work with for future models.
... Onwards to the pictures!
Autocannon Havok 1
This havok was a pleasure to make and paint - The forgeworld autocannon was a bit of a pain to work with though, while gorgeous, the ammo feed did not want to fit into the gun and the barrel was slightly warped. I think this is 'mostly' due to using a forgeworld deathguard torso, which is probably a bit wider than a standard legion torso.
My plasticard arrows are a bit slap dash in hindsight, but i can live with that and call it lesson learnt. And the shell casings coming from the autocannon look cool to me, but i'm not sure people get it at first glance.
Very happy with the Chaos Renegade Militia etched brass on the ammo drum.
Autocannon Havok 2
This guy is one of two 'out of the box' models, with all the components being 'as is' from the various boxes i got them from. To try to differentiate him I added a decent amount of scarring to his armor as well as some nice nurgle growths on his legs. I also decided to hand loose cabling from a rusted through part of his backpack but it is not captured well in the pictures here.
My great love of this model entirely comes from the reposed nurgling and scratch built ammo box... i simply love the idea of a little nurgling pottering along carrying his spare ammo. Maybe this guy has a dozen of them following him around? I can see that happening.
My insistence for WYSIWYG showing in the picture to the left (grenades and pistol)
Missile Launcher Havok 1
This Havok was the concept/test model for the whole squad. His backpack is heavily converted and covered in broken power cables and rusted parts. I used small amounts of plasticard to add decoration to the elbow and knee, and I think while not perfect, it adds a nice effect. The idea of the nurgling reloading his missile launcher came to me one day, and was the inspiration for the entire squad.
The picture on the right shows how the gloss varnish i applied to the slime on the models stands out. These models look a lot better in the flesh where the slime and ooze truly pops out.
Missile Launcher Havok 2
Missile man #2 is the second "out of the box" model in the squad, I made similar modifications to him as to the other out of the box model, and overall is my least favorite member of the squad. (That said, I do really like the old havok missile launcher model)
More missile tip patterns, a nurgling in the ammo storage bunker got bored and found paint.
Havok Champion
The Havok champion was the most extensively converted model in the squad, and that can be seen in my earlier post about the conversion process. Painting him was also a challenge in its own right, having basically never painted flesh of any sort to painting rotten nurgle flesh was a big leap. I am content with the result, but not ecstatic. I cut off his left hand at the wrist and made both a knife holding a combat knife and a power sword. I doubt i would ever give a havok champion a power sword but it certainly looks better when on the shelf.
The nurgling following the champion was only ever meant to be scooping up the daemon's drool, however when i realized I had nowhere left to put the champions wargear (after moddeling his thighs exploding from their armor) - I turned him into a little pack animal of sorts.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj902L6woUvbpTr6eMCrgfkZzTL7ZWQgmloyfIY3a-Hy8dantjfOGBsiXY7ls8agIMJ65js091RVJXfHpffQdqHrDXfQtSTHet_Cq3TSLJ3niJh_SRk4xy4jkSidEiilc8Bqtz8mKy9tZo/s320/havokchamp2.jpg)
The eyes on the champion are my one sore spot with him, and I plan on fixing them at some point as I have gotten far better at painting eyes.
So thats the squad! Thanks for reading if you got this far! Would love any comments, criticisms on the models or on what you would like to see more/less of in the blog content!
Still got a decent back log of models to get through so stay tuned!
And a parting shot of the Havoks in all their slime covered glory.
Nice start mate, they are a very solid looking unit, and I intend on running a similar setup with the mixed autocannon and missile launchers.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's always great working on something where every model in the squad is unique and has its own personality. Chaos lends itself very well to that. They are a fun squad but i've found that the MoN isn't a huge help as they are usually targeted by pretty nasty long range weapons and it makes very little difference.
DeleteReally nice work matey, your skills with the greenstuff are very inspiring and in my opinion its touches of character to each guy that makes units stand out on the table and show you the efforts that went into getting them there is worthwhile. They look fantastic, keep up the good work dude :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! That means a lot!
DeleteA big part of my 'design philosophy' (i guess you could call it that) - Is that no chaos space marine would ever be the same, so I endeavor to make each one look unique even if they are just a lowly base cost CSM. Falling to chaos is about breaking the shackles of the codex and fulfilling personal desires and ambitions, which means chaos space marines have to have personality!