+ inload: Toll the Great Bell Thrice! +

+inload: Toll the Great Bell Thrice!+

+I have a soft spot for the Adeptus Mechanicus. They're such a unique creation, and because they've never had a large tabletop presence, the background remains relatively vague. This in turn allows space for imagination and creativity in creating fun models. 

+This simple conversion is based on a Warmachine figure, a Menoth Warcaster called the High Reclaimer. Some simple cutting and trimming has allowed me to mount a metal backpack from an old Games Workshop techmarine and replace the head of his axe/halberd thing with a cogged axe. It's a simple change, but in combination with some chequers and painted details, I think he'll come out recognisable as a techpriest of sorts. A lot of the details – the hood, the dehumanising mask, the robes – already suggest a Mechanicus member to me.+

+The crucial difference between the Mechanicus and other minor groups in 40k, like Zoats for example, is that they have a very distinctive aesthetic that's unique to them. If a model has a broadly human silhouette, a red robe, and mechanical additions, chances are that it'll be recognisable as a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus.+

+Sometimes conversions just suggest themselves, and this simple one is just such an example. The grotesque, dehumanised look of much of the Warhammer 40,00 universe – where facial features, limbs and even the torso of the human form is distorted, defaced or altered – really strikes a chord with me. It suggests decay, a fall from grace, and both spiritual and physical suffering. It's dark and bitter and vicious – very fitting for a galaxy at war. I wanted to include some asymmetry in the model, and the hunched pose made a backpack an obvious addition. 

+The unbalanced arm and jagged, blocky zigzag shape is static but aggressive, and it neatly echoes the more organic sweep of the cable, weapon and arm. The cabling on the right stops the model feeling unbalanced by the huge servo arm, which is presumably why it was sculpted on the original model.

+Annoyingly, I seem to have scraped the undercoat on his hood, so I'll need to re-prime him!+
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