+ III +
Omega Orion – Disciple of the River
“Arrive you say? No!
They were always there. Planted. Placed. Seeds of terror, the ultimate defense nested into the fabric of this system and others before the great war.
Horror… Horror has their face… and you must make a friend of this horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies!
I remember… seems a thousand centuries ago. The tribe of Haggerth. They had suffered. They turned from the green man, declined our protection. I crossed the river. I went into their tree to bargain, to reason. There they were. Everywhere. Little arms, big arms, hanging carrion fruit discolored the branches. The entire tribe. It, I, they…, I wept like the monsoon. I wanted to tear my dendrites out; to burn everything, I didn’t know what I wanted to do! And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it… I never want to forget. And then I realized… like I was shot… like I was shot with a bolt… a diamond bolt right through my forehead. And I thought, Green man, Omnissiah!… the genius of that! The genius! The will to do that! Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure, green.
These ghosts. You have to have men who are moral… and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling… without passion… without judgment… without judgment! Because it’s judgment that defeats us, not wynter.
We hear the howls in the aether, feel it in the biosphere, of wynter, of wolves and of the awakening ghosts to kill them”
– Notes of Apocalypse, Magoster Soseki, Lord of Riverside
Friends of the Legion
The XX has “landed” on the Thorn Moons, perhaps ten millennia ago.
This is an incredibly special model for me. Painstakingly built by my friend Adam of the Between the Bolter and Me as a thank you for Pilgrym efforts it’s a very special type of testament to collaboration. I took his gorgeous model (pictured below), and after the sign of an aquila, proceeded to chop of a few key parts and detail it carefully for his new assignment (the second pic in the row).
I had decided a few things. It was time to reinvent my painting process again – and what a “no turning back” thrill of discovery it was. I wanted to mix and match Japanese Samurai and Garden inspiration with Apocalypse now vibes, and this hauntingly beautiful rendition of the Emperor as the Green Man perhaps.
Omega Orion is painted purely with Schminke acrylics and a brush, and only four “colors” to a rich mix of greens and then given washes that I wanted to mimic rainfall and Jungleness. The turquoise i’ve used to weather my metallics in the past, I knew would be a great rainfall “film” filter. Everything is super painterly, flowing, yet detailed flow and most fun I’ve had painting a miniature – perhaps ever – for a long time.
I’m putting a ton of effort on the basing (the one under Magoster Sesoki, isn’t his, just a temporary suspension for the picture) as they become little sketches and vignettes of the terrain I hope to build and paint.
Next model is going to be a surprise. This all green thing worked so nicely, I decided to pick the least suitable match and make it work, so there will be a ton of orange in the rest of the tribe. 😉
Namaste,
migs
IRON SLEET 
Oh boy, this approach to painting has such an incredible outcome – you’ve achieved a real otherworldliness here… hauntingly beautiful.
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thanks Alex!!
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Outstanding.
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The patina you’ve achieved on your Green Man is incredible. There are times you make me want to throw away my brushes, cos I’ll never be this good. Mostly though, you make me want to try harder and get better, so thank you for that.
I think this is honestly one of the best miniatures I’ve yet seen. Adam’s wonderful sculpting skills, combined with your genius for detailing and painting, has produced something greater than the sum of its parts. My god, I sound like some gushing fanboy, but that’s because I am. 🙂
As for the other chap in the first photo, just when you think you’ve seen everything which can be done with that Magos mini …
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Thank you sir 🙂 I love your work, and ma eagerly waiting for the next installment. Wish they weren’t such a rare event!
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Great to see the model painted! The effect of streaked rain on the armour is something special.
The helmet you added is a neat one, but I am sad to see that you did not keep the neck that was sculpted onto the model. Now, it appears like his head just attaches directly to his shoulders, taking away from the efforts to make the marine anatomically correct. Though, the larger shoulderpads make it harder to see where the arms actually attach to the model’s body, making it less obvious.
Regardless, it is great to see the model taking part in the Thorn Moons campaign!
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A great collaborative project! We have to do more collaborative work in the future! I love how each of us contributed our own visions and styles to create the final model.
Your idea to create all of the greens from a limited number acrylics is really neat and helps give the model a very earthy and primal quality to it. The rain slicked appearance you achieved on the surfaces of the armor is remarkably cool and is easily my favorite aspect of the painting. He really looks like he has been immersed in a harsh jungle environment. The worn metallics are really convincing too, particularly the heat-scorched barrel of his bolter. 🙂
I am looking forward to seeing the other members of his party progress and learn more about their involvement on the Thorn Moons!
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Agreed!! 🙂
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That is just so friggin cool!! I wont even start to list all the things and adjectives I want to say. Thorn Moons crusade is going to be one heck of ride.
It’s crazy what one can conjure from just four different colours, take Anders Zorn for example. To work the same on miniatures is pretty hard I imagine as they are quite unforgiving somehow when trying to go all painterly. And the tube acrylics! They give the sensation of freedom and joy that is seldom found in going-by-the-rules traditional miniature painting don’t they. In terms of pigmentation and blending they are superior to anything else (except oils probably), but how is their consistency working out for you? I’ve found W&N professional titanium white for example quite chunky/muddy and hard to smooth out.
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Thanks 🙂 These are exquisite paints. White included.
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This is really a very very good job capturing the mood you were going for. I was thinking there’s a really distinct vibe but couldn’t put my finger on it, until you said Apocalypse now. That’s it! It emits from the surfaces beautifully. Got a ton of ideas for my force already from just reading this post!
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Optime!
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Love the colours and the rain streaked appearance. Brilliant work!
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Migs, anytime you wanted to remind us of any hobby Achilles’ heel you might have to make us mere mortals feel better, that would be awesome…
This is incredible. The rain streaking, the film and patina. You’ve made this Legionnaire look like a statue, a stone bastion animated and striding sentinel through the rain in forlorn moors and in haunting forests…
I wonder. If the XX Legion are seeds- how many of the Thorns are Ghosts?
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Thank you 🙂 Well I do have one, when ever I figure out something that really works, I decide to drop it and try another way. LOL. And it’s often very ugly, very clueless in the beginning, but I try solve it within the model, and often the reward and the surprise is great, like here.
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This is just brilliant! I can’t get enough of this. . .
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Hey Migs, I have been following your work for almost a decade now (since the first explosion of Inquisimunda you started on DakkaDakka all those years ago). This model is one of your best yet, I am captivated by the rain-stained paint job on the armour and also the clever inclusion of bitz to make yet another fantastic (and new) take on the Alpha Legion. I am intrigued by your mention of wanting to “mix and match Japanese Samurai and Garden inspiration”, for me the greens and the antler horns do exactly that. I cannot wait to see what comes next with this particular set of models.
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Thanks so much Sam!
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I’m absolutely in love with this model. Would it be too much to ask for some tips to achieve such a gostly/swampy result ?
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