Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Curse of the Alabaster: Arbites compete!

The sentence is DEATH.
Although the Curse of the Alabaster event has come and gone, we feel that we would be remiss if we did not show you the last two models from the Adeptus Arbites squad, alongside the entire group! I am pretty thrilled to have finally finished the group, the five models taking longer to paint than I anticipated. The last two Arbites in the squad to be painted were Jian Zhou, the squad’s technical specialist, and Ada Fortescue, the unit’s sniper.



The last two Arbites were painted like the others, with brown storm coats and blue pants.  Notably, the unit’s sniper is the only one that is not wearing a helmet.  This gave me the opportunity to experiment with skin tones.  The darker skin tone is quite a bit more challenging to paint than a pallid one, but i think it was worth the effort.  I particularly like how the scar tissue came out. I also did a little experimentation when painting their bases. While similar to the others I had painted, I used some of the GW Martian Ironearth technical paint to paint select parts.  Like the related Agrellan Earth, Ironearth cracks when it dries.  When painted on metal it results in a cool rusted/crackling paint look, that adds some variety to their bases.

As the technical specialist, Zhou carries a back-mounted null generator to combat the psychic menace of the Alabaster wreck.

Before this game, I did not realize how strong shotguns are in Necromunda!

Although all of the Arbites have a polymer sidearm, Ada's is the only one with a long slide, evident from the extended holster.

Without a helmet, I was able to experiment with different skin tones of Ada.

To accompany the Arbites, Eric converted a set of four Null Generators that the Arbites were tasked with deploying throughout the ruined hive. They were converted entirely using parts left over from some Kataphron Battle Servitors.  We wanted them to look a little like ambulatory bacteriophages, he he. We were able to paint them really quickly using an airbrush to spray them different silvers. Then after the addition of a red wash and painting their pilot lights yellow they were finished.


The null generators were constructed from leftover pieces from the Kataphron Battle Servitors.

The noble Arbites had to lug these industrial grade null generators through the hive on their mission to protect the good citizens of the Imperium. 

I had a really good time building these five arbites; it has been something that I had wanted to do for some time now.  With this first group complete, I am considering making a few more.  What do people think?  Would you like to see some new ones, and if so, what should they be equipped with?

- Adam Wier

22 comments:

  1. A riot team! Shields/mauls and webbers for suppressing the recidivists deemed appropriate for interrogation and internment.

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    1. Riot shields and shock mauls is certainly something I have been considering. I will need to find some suitable shields that are not too massive. The Death Korp models are on the smaller size in terms of GW models so it could be tricky.

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    2. You could look into Bretonnian militia shields, theyre thin enough to be carved to suit a slimmer model I suspect.

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  2. I think a handler and hound or two – whether canine or not... – would be an excellent addition. I'd also be interested to see what you'd make of a look back to the 2nd edition army lists booklet for some inspiration; a full-on Judge (i.e. the high-level character, rather than troop-level Arbitrators) would be a great opportunity to inject some baroque weirdness to the group. I'm picturing Clint Eastwood with a periwig.

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    1. Thanks for all of the ideas! There is certainly a lot to explore in the theme. I would love to have two mechanical hounds. I am not sure they are any suitable models to base them off of. I will need to look around the different model ranges (GW and otherwise).

      I want to try and make an upper level judge character too. A character with more showy and ornate armor (lots of imperial eagles and the like). :)

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  3. Liking Apologist's Judge idea, would be a natural extension of larger unit. There is also the classic heavy role, possibly go with a breacher character - heavy ballistic armour, a shield and pistol. The door breaker and first in giving the team the opening to clear the hab unit or underhive slum shack ;)

    Keeping things subtle, you could add a grenade launcher for laying down smoke grenades and/or stun greandes :D

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    1. Creating a breacher type character would be cool. I like the idea of creating heavier armor.

      The grenade launcher idea is certainly high up on my list. The Arbites with grenade launchers resonate pretty strongly in my mind when I think back on the old models. I could modify one of the Death Korp engineer shotguns into a convincing grenade launcher. They have a nice rotating cylinder that is appropriately sized...

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  4. I was hoping to get a better look at the null generators! My hat goes off to you for how realistic Ada's skin looks. Darker skintones are one of the hardest things to pull off right. Excellent work guys!

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    1. Thanks for the reply! Eric did a great job with the Null generators. It is nice to now have some nice objective tokens to use in future games. :)

      I am pleased with how Ada's skin turned out too. It can be hard to know how many highlights to do on dark skin tones.

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  5. Lots of ways you could go to expand these! Here are some:
    Judge - crazy and over the top compared to ground level troops, could either go more 40k, or more Judge Dredd with a chest eagle and big shoulder pads.
    Webber - for when you do not want to kill the target... on the spot
    Riot gear - reduced lethality with grenade launcher, sheilds, plastic face coverage
    Sensor team member - with auspex or servo skulls
    Combat team members - with heavier gear, heavy stubber team, or autoguns
    "Horse" mounted crowd control

    My favorite option? All of them. ;)

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    1. Thought of a few more:
      Detective - Noirish retired arbite or young
      Psyker - either "on a leash" so to speak, or more integrated with the team (similar figure with purity seal, touching temple, and holding a pistol would probably fit the bill)
      "beat cop" - not an arbite, and with more showy uniform (possibly pudgy)

      OK, I will stop here before I fill up your comments ;)

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    2. Thank you for all of the great suggestions! I would eventually like to try and convert at least one psyker in the unit. It would be a nice nod to the Psi Division in 2000AD. It would be neat to eventually build an entire little force to be used in Kill Team games or something...

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  6. Very nice indeed! As to the future I think the classic Arbites weapon is the grenade launcher... Looking forward to more!

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    1. The grenade launcher I feel is certainly on the short list of Arbites to convert. :)

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  7. Well dog and handler, riot shields and motorcycle sounds just about right ;)

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    1. Converting a few motorcycles would really be awesome. They should be able to travel around in style. I think it would also be cool to assemble a Valkyrie for the squad. They need a means of aerial insertion. :)

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  8. A cyber Eagle to accompany a Judge would look great.

    Well done on the whole gang and the null generators - such brilliant pieces.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion! Converting a cyber eagle could be fun. I had a great time converting the bionically enhanced owl Bronwen for the Pilgrym event!

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    2. Great looking arbites Adam. I love the trench coats and lighter armour. Gives them a look more like 40K detectives than just another Imperial troop choice.

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  9. Where did these models come from? Particularly those backpacks.

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    1. The models were converted from Forge World Death Korp grenadiers. The backpack was from either a fw death Korp model or an elysian drop troop. I am not 100% anymore, sorry.

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