Monday, September 24, 2018

Heresy Era Word Bearers - Argel Tal bits accumulation begins!

After re-reading The First Heretic and Betrayer for the 4th and 5th times, respectively, it was more or less a foregone conclusion that I'm going to have to build an Argel Tal model for my burgeoning Word Bearers force. ...Especially since there are no rules for him and barely any way of representing him on the tabletop, so the whole project totally wouldn't be a huge waste of time, money and effort. Nope, not at all!


I'm attempting to coerce a friend of mine into doing some World Eaters and come up with a "battle brothers on Armatura" themed team force for Adepticon/NOVA next year, though I might break down and do some World Eaters myself next anyway. Love this piece of art, if anyone knows the original artist please let me know, my web searches have been inconclusive. Whomever it was, they did a fantastic job!


My plan is to make and Argel Tal model where his daemonic aspect is at the fore (and really, why would you not?) so figured this Gal Vorbak model would work well as the basis for the conversion. I may update the head if I can find a viable replacement, but if not I do think it works pretty well as-is.


For the left arm, I'm planning on utilizing the arm on the far right of this picture, one of my favorite bits off the Possessed sprue. Generally used as a stand-in powerfist for normal-sized troopers, it ought to make a decently-scaled 'regular hand' for Argel Tal. Some of the remaining bits may find themselves scattered throughout the rest of the force...


Great pains are taken to note Argel Tal's wings, which as the former Captain of the 7th Assault Company is only fitting. I didn't want to go super massive with them with something like Daemon Prince or Hive Tyrant wings, but they needed to be imposing. Made a roll of the dice and ordered up some Vargheist wings, which appear to be a good medium-sized wing set. We'll see once I have them in-hand, I suppose!


Of course weapons are a consideration as well - Argel Tal is described as carrying a pair of Custodes guardian weapons, a spear and sword which he swaps between in combat depending on the circumstances. Scaling being a consideration, I went with some Allarus Terminator arms figuring they'd be slightly beefier than their power-armored counterparts, and suitable for the bulk of the Gal Vorbak model he'll be based on.


Finally, I was a little stymied by what to use for his sword, as I really didn't like the look of the slightly stubby Sentinel Blades from the Custodian Guard kit, but eventually stumbled upon the swords from the Vertus Praetors kit, a good size and sheathed as well, so I can have him wielding the spear and have the sword sheathed across his back as described in the book. On the up side, there's multiple spears and swords, so I may be able to build a version of Argel Tal in his 'regular' form as well and have some continuity on the look!

Of course, all the bits are coming in from the four corners of the globe so it may be some time before my fevered scheme comes to fruition, but I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in!

16 comments:

  1. Vargheist wings should be a good fit. The Vargheists are about the same size as Tyranid Warriors or Chaos Spawn, and their wings get used fairly often in Tyranid Shrike conversions. just about right for a larger-than-normal Marine, I would think.

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    1. That's what I'm hoping! Either way, it's gonna be fun kitbashing - My favorite part of the hobby!

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  2. This seems like a great project. To bad you can't start rigth away - i find it infuriating to have the itch in my fingers, but not be able to so the thing. The collection of bits already seems like is has amazing potential.

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    1. Indeed - I just know I'm going to get all of the parts except the body super fast, and it will take weeks to arrive so I won't be able to get started! Hah!

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  3. Holy shit you're going to do it! I actually bounced up and down in my seat! Vargheist wings are gorgeous but I'm worried that they will be too large for a standard size marine. The shoulder joints are large as well and you might have to get messy with green stuff. I don't know how big the Gal Vorbak models are but I'm sure you'll do him justice. Exciting!

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    1. The Gal Vorbak models are pretty big, taller/bulkier than a Primaris marine. There will definitely be a fair bit of GS work involved to merge all the bits, here's hoping my sculpting talents are up to the challenge!

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  4. Oooooooh. The middle set of wings.

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    1. Indeed! They're the ones that caught my eye, they should work well!

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  5. That possessed chainsword arm on the middle left has always been my favorite of that bunch!

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    1. Indeed! It's definitely going to be used somewhere in the force, might sneak it in to the upcoming Assault squad...

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  6. Good job sourcing a wide collection of parts. I might need to grab one of those sheated swords for a project of mine that is a long time coming.

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    1. Cheers! It's always fun trawling through the bits sellers looking for appropriate-looking stuff! Drop me an email with your mailing address and I'll send you one of the leftover sheathed swords once they arrive, looks like I'm getting three and at the very most I'll only need two (one for each of his 'forms').

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  7. Going to be an impressive kitbash mate for a rather cool character. Middle Wings get my vote too.

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  8. I’m excited to see how your interpretation takes form!

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    1. Me too! Here's hoping I can turn what's in my mind's eye into reality!

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