The Plague Claw

Deep in the wilds if the Caliburn Fell, past the Morrowvale road, lies the remains of the underminer incursion. The high water mark for the tides of scuttling ratmen, fought off by the free peoples of Stonehollow, is a war machine abandoned deep in the Fens of Gyle. Rumours persist that there is a massive chunk of warpstone still attached, and so many a brave - or foolhardy - adventurer has set off to claim it.

None, so far, have returned. 

After finishing my two entries for my first ever painting competition - as laid out in the previous posts - I needed a little palette cleanser while I decided what project to start next.

The random christmas present from my youngest son was the prefect solution. 

As you may recall I used some chunks of it on a previous project  but there was more or less an entire Plague Claw kit left ot play with - although lacking some crew. And this led to the idea of using it more as a scenic piece. 

Obviously, me being me, I wouldn't just build it stocck, so I raided some clockwork parts and started to add some more cogs and gears to it. 

I went with dark, weathered wood for the frame with lots of iron and brass for weathering later. 

The one crewman I had left I painted in my now usual Pestilens palette which is bascially WW2 German Dunkelgelb, fact fans. 

The base was pretty simple, with lots of liquid paint blending to create depth in the swamp water. 

While this was drying I rigged some hawsers and ropes for the catapult, using the same technique I learned for the Napoleonic ships

And then the whole thing was finally put together. 

I've never collected Skaven but every time I do any work with them I do enjoy it loads. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Franz walked into the house, throwing hius muddy tunic in to the corner. As Brunhilde watched, he dunked his head in the washbasin and vigorously rubbed the dirt from the days labours from his broad, weatherbeaten face. 

"Sigmar's balls, Hil," he said, sinking into the chair at the rickety table, "I don't understand. Years, years beyond the counting of it, I've fought that rocky, dusty earth out there and managed to scrape enough to eat. But this year..." He turned and looked out of the window; through the thin animal skin that covered the opening, the light was green. "Everything I drop on the ground sprouts. I've never seen like it. Old Grunwald from the other side of the dale is wanting to buy some of our seeds. I simply don't understand." He sighed, then looked at his wife where she laboured over the pot. 

Brunhilde smiled, and went back to stirring the thick, green stew. She knew. The Gardeners were generous. 

Grandfather would provide.

In areas where the Realm of Life bleeds into the other realms, you find oases of verdant growth. But not all life is safe. The Gardeners of Nurgle toil endlessly to tend the fertility of areas where the walls between the realms are thin; as their labours intensify, the plants and animals grow to inordinate, bloated size. The smell of thick, rich loam and mulch hangs heavy in the air and flies crawl across the hot surface of over-ripe fruits. And when the Garden is fertile and strong enough, Grandfather will send one of His Chosen Grandchildren to claim that area for his own, and spread His gifts far and wide.

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This is a project somewhat related to my Carnival of Nurgle and is my first purpose built Age of Sigmar Skirmish Warband for the school club.

I'm also going to go so far as to say that these are the paintjobs I'm proudest of all year. So here's some shots of them against a white background to show off the colours.

Each of the characters had fairly substantial conversions to help bring them in line with the concept of the Gradeners of Nurgle. The plague lord lost his axe - although the blade migrated to his back - and gained a hammer from the Necromunda set and a number of branches.

The first rotbringer was built around the chassis of a dryad to help with the arboreal theme; a fair amount of greenstuff allowed the marrying of the two kits.

The second rotbringer, the herald of our merry little band, grew some branches from his back in order to hold the icon of Papa.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Is anyone going to Vap in York in Feb? I might venture down this year.

Based on the presents I got this year, the next few weeks are going to be quite heavily fantasy based. Starting with something with a pleasingly piratty theme...

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