Painting a Jungle themed Imperial Guard

By endurance we conquer.

Two years back, I went through a lengthy process of converting more realistic Imperial Guard from Elysian Drop Troops and making molds for them. I was really fortunate to have the talented Polysmith create some female heads to go with the models, due to a relative lack of good options from Games Workshop at the time. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to properly paint one of these completed Imperial Guard models. With the increased hobby time I have had due to the current pandemic, I decided to rectify this!

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 71: Chatting with the Polysmith

Shaman - the Polysmith

In this episode, we had the good fortune of chatting with the incredibly talented Polysmith! We begin by talking about how he got involved in the hobby, before talking about his design process and how he is able to utilize his digital sculpting experience from the video game industry when he creates miniatures. We discuss digital sculpting and how to get started with it, as well as his experience with 3D printing. Finally, we talk about his current projects, including an imaginative cosmic horror for the upcoming 28 magazine challenge.

Ossiarch Bonereaper Challenge: Eldar

Rogue Trader Era Eldar - Tony Hough

The Polysmith built an Eldar Gladiator a little while back that captures some of the alien weirdness of the Eldar that was present in the old Rogue Trader imagery. Its elongated limbs really help to illustrate that it is not just a human with an oversized helmet, but a truly alien creature. Ever since seeing that model, we have wanted to try our hands at creating a model in the same spirit, but were not sure where to start. When the Ossiarch Bonereapers were released for Age of Sigmar, it occurred to us that they would be a great, albeit unconventional, basis for such an Eldar conversion. The bone warriors would allow for us to create armor that looked organic and ossified, as if made from wraithbone.

Thorn Moons Crusade: Spireguard of the Thorn Moons

On a midnight run.

As the month comes to a close, the Thorn Moons event is almost here! With the T-26 tank finished, all that was left was to paint some of the Imperial Guard that we converted as Spireguard. To fit alongside the tank, I chose a similar color scheme with drab greens and browns. Below are some pictures of the completed kill team and the background we wrote describing how they fit into the setting.

Thorn Moons Crusade: the Polysmith helps us create the first Spireguard

Our presence remakes the past.

Having made some molds, built some mock-ups, and written some background, we are thrilled to finally show everyone some completed Spireguard from the 73rd Thorn Moon! Even more exciting, however, we get to announce that the esteemed Polysmith (one of the nicest and most talented hobbyists you will ever find!) has collaborated with us to make them into a reality! An accomplished 3d designer and sculptor, he designed and printed a range of stunning female heads to help build our Thorn Moon defenders. After being disappointed with the scale of the new Necromunda Escher models, we needed to find a new source for supplying us with a large number of suitable heads for the models. The Polysmith quickly came to mind, due to his skill with 3d design and his imaginative conversions that take GW models and turn them into something completely unrecognizable (his work on Instagram speaks for itself). He graciously agreed to help us and created a series of remarkable sculpts. Below are pictures of the initial renders and some of the final models built with them!