One of the most bizarre painting/modelling challenges ever, Plaiecivile decides it would be great to make the entire list of random champions from the Lost and the Damned books and calls upon the people of Oldhammer to arise. Madness. Utter madness. Our kind of madness. I accepted instantly.
The Champion I chose was:
050 - Dwarf - Irrational hatred of elves, Manic fighter, Manikin, Levitation, Regeneration, fear points 2.
I mused upon what I could actually use to create this chaotic monstrosity.Here's the list:
- That horrid plastic slayer from the Skull Pass boxed set that I hated and would never be allowed into my Dwarf army.
- A plastic snotling with a club
- Knife and ankle knife from Forgeword Imperial Guard
- Flail from plastic Flagellants boxed set
- Sword from Bretonian Knights
- Clear plastic base from Nurgle-knows-where.
- Greenstuff.
Regeneration isn't really a physical attribute you can see until the guy is wounded, but I thought, well, a fighter who heals up his wounds instantly probably doesn't care about armour or clothing because it will just become ruined. Therefore it made sense that the Chaos Dwarf would be naked except for a belt to hang his weapons.
Firstly I removed the flash from all the models. I then cut the face off the slayer and carved it a bit, but left the ear, mouth and moustache. This mouth he would now use only for eating. For the manikin, I cut and shaped the snotling so that it would fit the face with minimal greenstuff required to make the join. I then used greenstuff to sculpt the hair and beard onto the snotling to make him look like a dwarf, and Gladdishiet was born.
Originally, to represent his Manic Fighter attribute, I also had planned to attach a spear, scimitar and hammer to him as well so that he was positively bristling with weapons, but in the end the other weapons were more than enough without them. I put him atop the clear plastic peg to imitate his levitation ability.
After basing the model, I painted the extra weapons separately. Inking and the build-up on the skin for flesh-tones was next, followed by the face and eyes. I did the hair and the weapons and glued the additional weapons in place.
I then had an idea. I had just bought some red inking was that I was using on my plaguebearers and decided it would look awesome if Gladdishiet was covered in the blood of his enemies. This would add to the manic fighter attribute further still! I tested it by flicking the paint off a used toothbrush at some undercoated models and was reasonably pleased with the result, so on it went. This also provided a good chance to bloody up the weapons, too.
Backstory
A dwarf named Gladdishiem, driven to despair from an incident involving his decision to take his fellow clansmen to the forest edge to fell trees for lumber. They needed it, he thought, in order to build defences for the encampment at the foot of the mountain. He knew there was the risk of an elven attack, but decided that lumber would be faster and easier to collect than building walls of stone. Barely had the first tree been felled when they were set upon by elven archers and glade guard. He alone survived by hiding in a hole under a boulder. He cried tears of fear and disgrace as he heard his fellows die by spear and arrow.
Casting aside all his possessions save his axes and forsaking all else he had ever been a part of, he changed his name to Gladdishiet in shame and swore an oath never to run nor hide from anything till the day of his death.
He ventured across plains and through forests, slaughtering anything in his way, driven by anguish, sorrow and hatred. Many elves fell to his axes as his lust for vengeance began to take over his mind. His death-quest led him into deep mountains where he cut swathes through goblin hordes, orcs and trolls. The bigger the monster, the harder he fought.
After slaying one particularly ugly and mutated troll, Gladdishiet noticed a small greenstone amulet that had fallen to the ground. Kicking aside the severed head of the troll, he took it up and noticed the image of three connected spheres within. Without care, he placed it about his neck.
Months turned into years, and all the while, the amulet softly whispered to him, almost imperceptible at first, then more and more, offering suggestions, corruptions, indulgences. Gladdishiet's mind began to steadily rot from the whispers of Father Nurgle. Even his oath became twisted and corrupted. Never to run... and Gladdieshiet would lift off the ground, terrorising his foes. Never to hide... and Gladdshiet would turn on the nearest enemy, all thoughts of anything other than murder decayed away to nothing.
He would cut upon his flesh with his axes, imagining himself wounding elves, imagining their pain. He did this so often that the greenstone itself seemed to give him the power to heal up the wounds and cuts so rapidly that it seemed no longer useful for Gladdishiet to wear armour or clothing. After all, it only got in the way of the pain.
Following this new force, this whisper that had become a voice inside his skull, he began to transform. From his face he himself sprouted anew; torso, arms, head, in his own image, but this time even more furious, even more hateful. Blood became his favoured wine, flesh his favoured bread, pain his past-time and vengeance against all good things became his greatest desire.
