The incessant wind keeps blowing through the undergrowth. Forever in motion, forever living, forever dying, the forest gusts keep sweeping the eternal thornes..
Pollen, leaves, and smells of decay travel with it. A millenia old sentience crawls at it’s heels. Surveying, keeping track, guiding it’s motion.
Once a servant of the old gods, the creature no longer has a name.
But it knows a reconciliation is coming.
Because after an eternity, the wind has turned cold.
Some miniatures just make themselves and you’re assigned to watch.
The forest stalker wasn’t a definite plan, but a feeling kicked off by the centipede body of Cawl. I wanted to capture the vitality of forest about to freeze for winter, and the unstoppable power of slow growth. And a being so entwined with it’s surroundings, you don’t know where it’s borders are even though it’s in motion.
How would a ten thousand years old techpriest adapt?
Cut off from the Imperium of Man by dynamic warp-storms, how can a servant of Mars survive the endless onslaught of Crataegus? And how far from mankind will you drift when curiosity isn’t limited by agenda..
I’ve included a daylight shot to show how ethereal the greens are, almost grey under cold light, but bursting with life under the warmth of a lamp. And the conscious and subconscious infuence of Voodoo Forest of course!
IRON SLEET 
Beautiful! That specific shade of grey/green is just perfect. And the way the model is posed on the base provides such a great sense of motion, an almost under-water feeling.
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Bit of a gamble to position the model so heavily on one side, not used to doing so, but I guess it pays off to test new things!
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Love the muted colour scheme. That shows a very talented hand!
The sense of movement is uncanny.
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I’m glad I chopped up the Cawl robe now. It was sculpted to be on flat ground and looked out of place on the natural surface. Although the first thought after cutting through it with a saw from the middle was “what have I done..” 😀
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Honestly, that may be my favourite thing you’ve ever done. Brilliant model and the colours are just sublime.
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Amazing! Love the natural hues and the conversion is just spectacular.
Reminds me of the forgeworld necron centipede thingie (which works on several levels)
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Those necrons were new to me! wow!
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So very, very wonderful. The painting is gorgeous. Even the base is a work of art!
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Cheers, the base probably took just as much time too!
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The paint is tops as usual, but the melding of figure and basing is brilliant.
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Wouldnt want to meet that thing a dark night 😀
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Brilliant Toni!
I find that the base here is the main piece that really tells a story. It is so realistic and real compared to that super unrealistic machine-man…. really nice contrast I must say.
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That gold ❤
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I love it! What a great model.
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Its mi new favourite figure – its wonderful toni – just like a centepede scuttling across the garden …..
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Ah thank you!
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Amazing miniature, he is very creepy you just feel him crawling and search for his next prey.
Very interesting concept and the paintjob and conversion are amazing as always.
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Awesome! Really dig this. The movement/pose is exquisite. The shady tones and highlights are spot on.
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Like others have said, the sense of movement in the stalker’s pose and positioning is masterfully done. With that, the base, and the colour scheme you managed to achieve sublime atmosphere in the piece.
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Thank you! Atmosphere really is the key word here. And it’s a sum of so many parts..
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Exceptional work. Wraith like movement from the undergrowth. The blending of model and base is a stroke of genius and the colours are chosen well, best model I’ve seen this year. Bravo!
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Beautiful! The best take on the Cawl figure, I’ve seen yet. It works really well with the base. Nice and atmospheric, I feel inspired.
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That’s very great to hear! There has been a lot of cool takes on the miniature and it’s all done to inspire more.
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So stunningly gorgeous Toni!
Such a seamless fusion between Crataegus undergrowth and the biomehanical creatures stalking it. I love how you have further unfolded the narrative of the Thorn Moons Crusade with the first physical signs on the ground of Wynter Coming…
You nailed it!
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Happy to hear! It helped keep the winter as a surprise when it’s actually the last thing to do on the model 🙂
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Brilliant work! What a sense of movement, and also a sense of rising up out of the forest floor. Just fantastic.
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Wow… that is just perfection – the tones are stunning, but it is the motion & sense of purpose really makes this tick. Love it!
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Beautiful! The movement is crazy, like he’s floating, his legs barely touching the ground, silently crawling in a misty way! And i love the way the base accentuate that! Really well done!
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Bloody magnificent! I love how sleek it looks.
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I love everything about your model, absolutely stunning.
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Wow this is cool 🙂 i absolutely love your blending of technological and biological. He looks really beastly, and i love the fluff about ‘just how far from human will a tech priest go?’
Can’t wait to see more of the Thorn Moons crusade 🙂
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This is amazing price of work and have to agree with previous comments that this is one of the best on Iron Sleet. I like how you cut the height down from the original kit, gives it a very creepy vibe. The transition from the lower to upper carapace works so well. What did you use for the upper part, necron bits?
Overall, this is an amazing creation. Can’t wait to see what you have next.
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Cheers Andy! The upper part is (and I kind of hate to give it away because then you see it..) the genestealer torso from Deathwatch Overkill 😀
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Cool miniature! How did you paint the weathered armor?
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It’s a landmark model! The kind of piece that makes me incredibly proud and happy to be part of this Blog with you guys. It’s also a really really beautiful statement about things to come. The Green shade is also eerily similar to bunch of my XX Pilgrym models (https://ironsleet.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/img_2036.jpg?w=2800) – love that ghosty, velvety look and the impact of the metals against it. All kinds of storylines shaping up here.
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In hindsight, especially the robe has much to thank Pilgrym for. It’s almost a combination of my House Dessicum warband (still no pictures of it anywhere!!) and the XX you mentioned. Let’s keep this evolving into something new!
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Insane conversion and beautifully painted. Love the whole desolate air of winter about the mini too!
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thank you!
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Another classic snd definitive 40k model skitters from the explosively talented barsetting fingerthorns of Toni. Brilliant basing movement and coloured conversion .
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hey man love this model, could you tell me what kit you got the overlapping plating that is on the back of the neck under the cowl from , its amazing ❤ love ur work
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Hey, It’s a genestealer from Deathwatch Overkil
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