Hellraiser Crew (Part 1) - Planning Stage

So lets get the practical part of this project under-way...

Firstly lets look at potential Lead Cenobite/Pinhead,

I'll be swapping the right arm for the one holding the puzzle box (Lament Configuration stand-in) and filling the holes that normally take the 2nd set of arms. I'll also need to fill the gap that the backpack locates into as I'm obviously not going to be using it. After careful examination I have determined that I can remove the technological bits around the feet without damaging everything else so that he's standing on the ground. The only issue is the head which will have to go...but I currently have no idea what I'm going to replace it with...all ideas are welcome.

Next up is the Female Cenobite,

This is going to be a bit more tricky to adapt. The hair has got to go but unfortunately there's a lot of it and it obscures some of the detail...the head needs to go as well. This is one of those circumstances where I'm going to just have to give it a go and if I fuck it up...well I fuck it up...

The rest of the crew,

All the ranged weaponry are on a separate sprue so I just won't be using them as the generic models all come with close combat weapons. I may need to swap a few of them for more pointy weaponry as the big clubs are not quite the look I'm going for. I obviously will not be using the backpacks and need to fill the holes. I'm also considering leaving the heads as they are on some of them though at least one of them will have the head of the following guy...

...as I think it would make him into a fairly decent 'Chatterer'.

As a last minute whim I include this model in my order as it had a similar vibe to what I wanted (as long as you don't use the head) and I'm going to need some differentiated models for when I decide to use them as 'counts-as' in my Malifaux crew.

Though I have the basic idea in my mind I am still unsure about what to use as heads on many of them so am open to any suggestions you might have.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Hellraiser Crew - A Minor Update.

My stuff has arrived....

...no time to do anything with it today as I'm off to work (Night Shift this week) in about twenty minutes...

Some Stuff Crossed Off the 'To-Do' List.

Well I've got some bits and pieces from the 'To-Do' list done...unfortunately the bits for my Hellraiser crew have arrived at Titan Games so I'm about to get massively distracted. I also apologise in advance for the quality of the following pictures but the lamp I normally use is currently unavailable...

Collodi, the Puppet Master...and Pals...

And some Totems,

The very useful Grave Spirit,

and the occasionally useful (if your Nicodem) Vultures.

He can take two but they only do one model so the only way I could differentiate them was to angle the necks in opposite directions, the neck being the only part that comes separate.

Some Drowned.

I was hoping to have them all under-coated but unfortunately the British weather has decided that pissing it down with rain is the  way to go...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Malifaux Tasks...My 'To Do' List...

So as soon as my stuff arrives I'll be diving headlong into my Cenobite Crew for Malifaux project and will as per usual de-prioritise absolutely everything else in true wargamer style, lol.

With that in mind I need to get as much of the rest of my stuff done before the distractions start. I have a lot of nearly finished crews on the go that are missing one or two signature models and my OCD requires them to be done ;-)

The 'To Do' List (In no particular order).

The Resurrectionists.
Nicodem.
1) Rafkin, the Embalmer - He's based and under-coated but that's it. As I also use him with McMourning I really need to get him done.
2 + 3) Vultures - Still in the blister packaging. I have other models that can do similar jobs in the crew but I decided a while ago to buy all the masters personal Totems if they had such a thing and Nicodem can take two...so two is what he's getting.
Seamus.
4) I bought the alternative sculpt of Seamus, the Mad Hatter on a whim...

The model is in this exact pose...described by someone at my FLGS as 'a bit rapey'...

...but as I have the normal model I can put the painting of the alternative model on the back burner.
5) Grave Spirit - I've been using a proxy for this for some time so I should really get it assembled and painted...a plan that has been somewhat scuppered by the fact that I can't find where I put the bugger. I may
have to build my own or purchase another now.
Molly.
6) Necrotic Machine - I 'rage quit' assembling it but fortunately a friend of mine heroically leapt to the rescue and assembled it for me. Since I rarely use Molly it's not really a priority but in the interests of completion I'll need to get it done.
McMourning.
7 - 11) Canine Remains + Zombie Chihuahua - Assembled and under-coated but as yet unpainted. I use one with Leveticus to kill off in order to summon a second Hollow Waif and they get used with Nicodem on occasion so I need these done as well.
12) Miss Pack - I personally think that Nurses aren't that useful but I have the limited edition one and I suppose I should do it some justice with a bit of paint.
Misc.
13 - 14) Night Terrors - They're always useful and I use them so often now that it's embarrassing that I'm yet to paint them...

Guild.
Lady Justice.
1-5) The whole starter box... - I've been using the 'Nightmare' version for a while...

...but it's a bit confusing when I do demo's so I need to get the normal ones painted up. They're all under-coated and based but have (as yet) no paint on them.
6) Miss Terious - Assembled and under-coated but in need of painting...

Neverborn.
Collodi.
1) Collodi - assembled, based and under-coated but needs painting. I intend to use him with Leveticus at some point so I really need to get him painted.
2 - 8) The rest of the starter box - I've done fuck all with this lot so this is more a 'get started' than 'finish off' project.

Arcanists.
Colette.
1 + 2) Mannequins - The showgirls are done but my slightly more creepy converted versions of the Mannequins are yet to be painted.

4 - 6) The Oiran - They're also 'showgirls' so they really need to be done as part of this particular crew. They need painting but the basing and under-coating has been done.
7 and onwards) I'm missing quite a few models to complete this as a themed crew so this is going to be the last thing I do. I'm missing the Mechanical Doves, 2x Coryphee packs (I'm not pissing around with magnets so I'll make 2 Coryphee and a Coryphee duet) and I suppose I should get Angelique, Mistress of Ceremonies also.

There's also a massive pile of new releases that I dare not even go near for fear that I'll become even further distracted....and to be fair there's people at my FLGS that have even more stuff to do than me, lol.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Hellraiser Malifaux Crew - What to Count-As?

So I've had a couple of e-mails and some nagging from certain people about what I'm actually going to be using my Hellraiser crew to 'Count-as' if or when I use it in actual games. When the idea first occurred to me I must admit that it was the conversion project that interested me and I hadn't really considered how the models would translate to use on the tabletop.

I suppose we should start by looking at the actual Hellraiser characters and see if anything leaps out at me. Lets start with the 'originals'...

Lead Cenobite/Pinhead

Though it's never explicitly stated in the background material the actor Doug Bradley who plays him has stated that Pinhead is supposedly stronger than other horror characters such as Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. Regardless of his strength level, his preferred method of attack is too summon hooks and chains which mutilate and eventually tear apart his victims. Rather helpfully this means I can represent him with a master (He's got to be the master really...until I get around to building Leviathon...) with either melee abilities, ranged ones or some combination of the two. Additionally, Pinhead is highly resistant to damage and direct assault, being able to resist both gunshots and energy weapons. He also has magical powers he uses for creating objects out of thin air, teleporting, creating explosions at distances and deceiving opponents with illusions. He is capable of creating other cenobites from both living and dead victims which means I could use a summoner to represent him as well...I'm not narrowing this down much am I, lol.

So if I'm going melee I'll probably go with Lady Justice or possibly the Viktorias as the 2nd one can be Pinheads enforcer 'Chatterer' or the demon Angelique which he considered an equal. McMourning could represent the close in dismemberment of the enemy and the summoning aspect of that character could be the summoning of more Cenobites. Seamus, the mad Hatter is also a possibility as he has some command abilities, summoning, is somewhat hard to kill and has the entirely appropriate 'Slit Jugular' ability.

Chatterer I/II/III

Chatterer is generally seen as being Pinhead's 'Right hand man' and is quite often seen physically attacking and restraining victims for the other Cenobites. He presumably has the same chain summoning abilities as the other Cenobites so I'm not limited to purely melee characters to represent him in my crew.

Which model I use him to count-as will depend on which master I use Pinhead as. If I'm going with Lady J he'll probably be the Judge, if I go with the Viktorias he'll be either the 2nd Vicky or if Angelique gets that job he'll most likely be one of the named characters from their starter box (Taelor, Johan or Bishop though there are other options I suppose). In a McMourning crew he'd have to be Sebastion and with Seamus he'd be Sybelle...unless I can think of something better...

Butterball

Rather embarrassingly I forgot about this guy in my previous article. If I'm going to use the four 'main' cenobites as individual characters then it looks like I'll be going down the 'counts-as vicky's' path...however there's no reason why this guy can't be something generic like a Death Marshall, Rotting Belle, Punk Zombie, etc. In fact the more I think about it the less I think it matters overly as they bear no resemblance whatsoever to any Malifaux characters anyway really and this guy in particular doesn't do a fat lot in the films other than lick his lips occasionally and forget to duck...

Female Cenobite.

Though she could be a generic Cenobite counting as something cheap in my crew I'd quite like her to represent a female character or failing that be an individual named 'unique' model. Depending on crew choice this makes her Sybelle, Taelor or failing that a Ronin, Female Death Marshal or Punk Zombie?

As I've mentioned her several times in this article we should probably look at Angelique.

Angelique

This beautiful creature...ahem...is portrayed in the film in which she appears as being at the very least Pinhead's equal. She also is more aggressive than the aforementioned Pinhead who often uses persuasion and intimidation rather than outright violence in order to get his way. With this in mind having her and Pinhead as a Vicky each would work quite well. If I went with the Lady Justice idea it would probably make more sense for her to be Lady J and for Pinhead to be the Judge.

If the selected crew has anything that can be represented by a dog of some description then I can include the Chatterbeast as a Guild Hound, Canine Remains or similar.

Of course there's no reason why they have to represent a dog at all...they could easily be Night Terrors or any other fast moving, cheap(ish) minion.

Other Cenobites

The original four Cenobites (with the possible inclusion of Angelique) will form the basis of my crew and any 'extras' will be modelled as whichever other cenobites I like the look of rather than being prioritised based on their relative importance in the books, comics and films. The upshot of this is that your more likely to see a version of the Female Bound than Pistonhead or Camerahead, lol.

None of this is cast in stone though. If some-one comes up with a brilliant suggestion then I'll be more than happy to consider it as your thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Hellraiser Crew - The Plan...

The models I need are on order from Titan Games. So here's the plan...

Firstly I'll be using the following model as a basis for my Lead Cenobite/Pinhead.

Two of the extra arms will be going but I'll keep the one with the box and the one with the knife. The backpack will be going and I'll be swapping the head for something that's easier to stick pins into, lol. He may need to be standing on a pile of dead bodies or similar to disguise the stuff on the base that isn't very 'Hellraiser' ;-)

The Female Cenobite will be created using this lady,

If I can remove the hair without completely destroying the model then I will otherwise I'll turn it into a length of chain or alternatively I'll just have to live with it. Regardless of what I do with the hair I'll most likely be swapping the head for a Daemonette one like this...

...as it should be easy to remove the hair from as the Female Cenobite was bald.

For Chatterer I'll be using one of the Wracks models...

...with the majority of the flesh painted the same colour as the clothes so it looks like a skin-tight outfit rather than actual skin (there might be some flesh showing as bloody strips which I will most likely have to sculpt on afterwards) and the head will need swapping...possibly for this guys head...

...with the rivets filed off and the tubes painted as cabling...if they survive the removal process that is, lol.

The rest of the rank and file will be created using the rest of the Wracks...

...with the skin parts painted to look like clothing and some additional mutilations in the form of cuts and slashes added to them with a scalplel and/or grey/green stuff.

I'd also like to do the dog-like creature for which I may use a Chaos Warhound as it has the appropriate broad chest however I'm not sure about the scale once I stick it on a 30mm round base...

...there is a leaping one that might fit on the base better but I'm still not entirely convinced.

So that's the general plan at the moment. Flying bone dragons, engineers and giant black light emitting gods will have to wait till further into the project as I think I've created enough work for myself already, lol.

Thoughts and comment are (as usual) most welcome.

Hellraiser Crew - GW Models?

It was suggested in the comments section of this article that some of the GW Dark Eldar range might make good pseudo Cenobites for my potential Hellraiser Malifaux crew...I think he may be onto something...

Head swaps are going to be required, a gun will need removing here and there and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about those extra arms but most importantly the style is right...

Pinhead?
Obviously I'd need to add the aforementioned pins...but even so...

The gun would need to go on the 2nd one but that box he's holding could easily be the Lament Configuration box from the film and with a bit of mutilation and/or swapping to the head area he could easily be my 'Pinhead'.

We also aren't short of potential candidates for the other Cenobites either...

 Female Cenobite?

The Rank and File?

The scale isn't far off and once they're on the correct bases I think they'll do the job nicely. I think I'm going to just get on with the project and worry about what they 'count-as' once they're built.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Hellraiser Crew for Malifaux - More Thoughts

If I'm going to look at doing this then there are a obviously two primary issues...

1) What models to use?
2) What to have them 'Count-as'?

Models to Use.
Malifaux's models tend to follow either a Steampunk or Cowboy template as well as a few other archetypes that fall in between but they're not big on sadomasochism and though they are fine with leather...it's more cowboys in dusters than gimp outfits...

With that said though, they do have a few that might be suitable with a little conversion work. Obviously any models with guns will need them removed and any close combat weapons will require changing to scalpels  cleavers, serrated knives, etc.

Though I'll be removing inappropriate guns, I can justify ranged weapons due to the that fact that Cenobites have occasionally been shown throwing bladed weapons or similar and Pinhead (and others) have been shown summoning blades on chains over a considerable distance.

So conversion work is something I'm not going to be able to avoid...but to be honest I'd already realised that, lol. Here's a few potential Cenobite substitutes...

She already has the leather and the mutilations and adding blades should be easy.

The one in the middle is most suitable but if painted appropriately I think the others would also be fine.

Not sure about the above two. They certainly have the surgical tools but they're not really the right look...maybe if I painted them black and glossy they might work...

My usual 2nd choice for Malifaux miniatures is Freebooter Miniatures though they tend to be a bit more 'pirate' than 'gimp'...but...

With the nurse outfit painted black and the cultist's hooves made to look like boots they might be okay...but nothing really leaps out at me yet.

Counts As?
Given that most of my Malifaux picks were from the Resurrectionist ranges then they might be a good place to start. Seamus has his 'bag of tools' and his abilities are somewhat appropriate (Slit Jugular for example), McMourning is also an option due to his tendency to lop bits off his victims but neither are exactly melee experts so we might need to think of something else...

If I'm looking at Melee specialists with secondary ranged abilities then I should probably look at Lady Justice and her Death Marshall's. Lady Justice as Pinhead, the Judge as Chatterer and the Death Marshals as the other Cenobites might work though it might take a bit of explaining to my opponent first, lol. I could supplement those with a couple of Ronin as additional cenobites as they're better in Melee. The other option is to go with the Vicktorias, some characters (Taelor, etc.) and the aforementioned Ronin.

Whichever option I pick is going to require a lot of conversion work and a twenty minute briefing session with any-one I have a game against...hopefully it will be worth the effort...if I can be bothered to put that effort in that is...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome...though if the past few posts are anything to go by I probably won't get any, lol.

Nicodem Crew - Completed

Mortimer leant absent mindedly on his shovel while his master studied the piece of yellowing parchment in his hand. After several more minutes Mortimer finally decided to ask the important question that had been on his mind..."Can I start digging yet?"

Nicodem looked up from the paper as if noticing his servant for the first time "Not, Yet" he said in measured tones "I'm looking for something in particular...several something's in fact..."

"A corpse is a corpse" said Mortimer who's grasp of the finer points of Necromancy were somewhat limited "It's not like we're short of them at home..." Nicodem contemplated whether to simply ignore his servant's ramblings but after a moments consideration decided that an explanation might shut him up for a while.

"That building over there" he said waving his hand vaguely in the direction of a severe looking building "Was once an asylum for women with mental disorders and this is where the inmates and staff were buried after the massacre..."

Mortimer became more interested "Massacre?"

"Yes" continued Nicodem "It seems they were due to be visited by an individual claiming to be a rich businessman wishing to sponsor their institution..." he paused for a moment as he finally figured out the irritatingly poorly designed plan of the institutions graveyard "Who he actually was is unknown...but the next visitor found the staff, security and inmates had been brutally murdered, hideously defiled...and in most cases both...there were also a great number of young female inmates whose bodies were never found..." Of course Nicodem had more than a passing knowledge of the work of other resurrectionists and could make a damn good guess about the culprit...

Nicodem stopped abruptly "Enough chatter, we have work to do". Mortimer knew from bitter experience that this meant he had work to do. The Undertaker began to gesture at particular spots amongst the improvised graveyard. "Security guards were buried over in that far corner...I need...three should be enough...a couple of the staff from that area by the tree..." he paused for a moment and briefly referred back to the parchment "...and as many of the others as you can fit on the wagon..."

Mortimer walked briskly to the first spot on the list and began to dig...

Nicodem, the Undertaker.

Mortimer, the Gravedigger.

Punk Zombies.
Those once entrusted with the security of the asylum had kept a rudimentary knowledge of defence that could be exploited by a necromancer with the skill to enhance it...

Mindless Zombies.
Those staff and inmates of the asylum that had survived the massacre with their bodies intact were still of some use...even in their mindless state...

The Staff...

The Inmates...

I suppose technically the crew really requires Nicodem's Vulture Totems and Rafkin, the Embalmer to really count as 'complete' but this will do for now ;-)

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.