Two Wulfen, painted

With the upcoming Thousand Sons releases, it looks like it's high time I returned to my Space Wolves. They're going to need reinforcements soon. Luckily, I had already started last week (actually much earlier, but I had these two finished last Sunday). Should probably also get to work on a pack of Long Fangs, but all in good time.

 I had originally planned to make the pack look like they had just been changed by the curse, while still wearing most of their original equipment, but the Wulfen models don't really allow for that, as they are wearing pelts etc. over their black carapace, as well as pieces of armour specifically made for their changed physique. I then decided to use one of the Blood Claws pack markings shown in the Codex to be a part of Ragnar Blackmane's army in the battle for Alaric Prime, but switched the yellow in their marking for white, to fit the Wulfen scheme.

 I don't want my packs to look too homogenous, as their members are recruited from all over Fenris, so I decided to paint the chainsword wielding Wulfen with a slightly darker skintone than the other one. I used Reikland Fleshshade for shading this model, but I have to say I prefer Seraphim Sepia for most lighter fleshtones.

 The Wulfen with the improvised weapon was given a lighter fleshtone of Kislev Flesh, shaded with Seraphim Sepia and highlighted with Kislev Flesh again and finally with Flayed One Flesh. I also painted the Great Company badge on his knee, as his left shoulder pad couldn't really display it with all the studs. The Blood For The Blood God was added to the improvised maul after the model had been varnished.

The smaller backpacks seem to fit the Wulfen just fine, and I may choose to use some to model one more pack from the previously lost 13th Great Company in the future. I expect I'll put that off at least until the next Horus Heresy book from Forgeworld is published, though.
This pack still needs three more models, however. I'll continue working on it once I've finished sculpting a few more Wulfen heads.

Two Wulfen

When the Wulfen returned in the first War Zone Fenris, they were described being the lost battle-brothers of the 13th Great Company in the aftermath of the burning of Prospero. However, it was also made clear that the contemporary members of the Space Wolves chapter started to fall to the curse on their return, and I wanted to explore this aspect of the curse. Blood Claws are the warriors most suspectible to the curse, so I decided to convert a pack of Wulfen who until recently were just a pack of Blood Claws under Ragnar Blackmane's command.

 Unlike the 13th Great Company, who had 10 000 years to craft their weaponry, and were granted access to the Chapter's armoury, I decided that a group of whelps who have surrendered to the curse would not be given much in the way of hallowed relics of the Chapter. I imagine them having been outfitted with just some armour better suited for their altered physique and not much else.
I took one of the model's hands off a Thunder Hammer and used it to fit a chainsword in his hand. I also used a standard power armour backpack with the model. I also attached two normal shoulder pads to display the model's pack and Great Company markings. The most work intensive part of the model was to sculpt him a whole new head. I also decided to sculpt a tall mohawk, using similar structure to the one included in the Space Wolves Pack sprue.

Having sculpted one head with a closed mouth, I wanted another one with slightly parted jaws. The backpack came from the Mk.VI armour, as did the shoulder pads. I decided the model should have an improvised club, and glued some pieces of resin sprue to the base, with some iron wire through them to represent rebar.

I aim to get these jolly fellows painted by next Sunday.

Fifth Wulfen, painted

Units of five models tend to not be all that useful. Smaller model mass means fewer attacks in assault and fewer wounds the unit can absorb before being wiped out. However, with the Wulfen, I feel like five-man packs is the way to go. If I have ten models, splitting them into two packs and using them as a Murderpack formation makes more sense than having one large pack that will be shot at by everything in the enemy army.

 I decided I wanted at least one of my Wulfen to have dark skin. The variance in skin tones helps make the pack look like it consists of individuals, instead of copies from one template.
I considered painting the skull's helmet in winter camo at first, but decided against it. The skull has clearly been on the ground long enough to be picked clean, and while it's impossible to know how long the winters are on whatever planet my bases represent in any given situation, the dark green is suitable pretty much anywhere.

 The 13th Great Company shoulder pads still work, which is good, because it would be a problem if they stopped working before the pack was done. The dark skin was painted by starting with Rhinox Hide over black undercoat, painting that Doombull Brown, shaded with Druchii Violet and finally highlighted with Gorthor Brown.

My first pack of Wulfen is now done, excluding transport (though the Land Raider Crusader or the Stormwolf could fill that role very easily), and I think I will focus on other stuff before starting on a second one.

Wulfen Pack Leader, painted

 Slowly but surely, I keep building up my Wulfen pack. The pack leader is arguably the most important challenge of the project. The standard model's goofy looks embodies much of why the Wulfen models are ridiculed, and my goal with the Wulfen is to distinguish the models enough from the originals to get rid of the goofiness, and at the same time keep them recognisable.

One of the more central ideas behind this model was the juxtaposition between the old Thousand Sons helmet on top of his power pack and the new(er) one on the ground. I wanted to give the impression the Wulfen had been fightin Chaos for millennia.
Other than that, the model was a fairly standard Wulfen. I did paint him pale and redheaded, in an effort to display the same variety of fleshtones and hair colours as the 41st millennium Space Wolves.

 In addition to the helmet driven through with a combat knife and the bone rack, I painted the Chaos Marine helmet in Black Legion colours, to show that the Wulfen hadn't forgotten who the archtraitors were (you could argue that the Word Bearers are the true archtraitors, but I'll let the Ultramarines worry about them -- if their Codex is so great, let them prove it).

 The Wulfen pack is now 80% finished, or 90%, if you consider the modelling part to be equal to painting. I haven't decided on a transport for these guys yet, but I've been considering adding a Godhammer pattern Land Raider to the Blackmanes for a while now. I may yet choose to kill two birds with one stone.

Wulfen with Frostclaws and Stormfrag Auto-Launcher

I'm still working on the paintwork of the Wulfen pack leader, but decided to go ahead and finish modelling the pack. I have some (vague) plans for when I finish the whole unit, and to do that, I have to get on with it.

 The model is one of the two of the unit that have not had their poses significantly modified by heating, the other one being the model armed with the thunder hammer and storm shield. The only non-standard part of the model is the right arm that was actually promarily intended for an axe, if I recall correctly.
The skull in a helmet on the base came from a Chaos Space Marine banner.

I wanted to add some extra flavour to the model, so I quickly and simply sculpted a small pelt on the left shoulder pad. Although it's reasonable to assume any organic matter would have decomposed in the 10,000 years since the Wulfen's disappearance, the models have a few pelts and wolftail talismans as standard. I suppose that can be adequately explained by the Warp, the 40k universe's magic.

Once I finish painting this and the pack leader, I'll have to decide if I want to make another pack, or rather, how much I'm willing to put time in modelling another pack. If I was in the habit of being reasonable, I'd just assemble the other pack and try to make it unique by using the five other heads in the kit and possibly by using a different type of left shoulder pads. More likely, I'm going to end up spending months sculpting new heads for the whole pack and probably a whole lot more.

Wulfen Pack Leader

Like many others, when I first saw the new Wulfen models, I wasn't really sold. When designing werewolf Space Marines, they went for the flatfaced Wolfman type, which I never really liked that much, but more importantly for me, it seemed like GW continued with their style of making models that can only be assembled in one way. Of course, the typical multipart Space Marines are unusually easy to design to be modular, and it doesn't work as well with Wulfen, as they don't have armour plate covering most of their bodies, but looking at the newer Space Wolf character models, the situation doesn't seem to have improved. That's not what this post is about, though, so let's not go there.

 The standard Wulfen Pack Leader pose is, in my opinion, just awful. I can think of no situation where his "who wants a hug?" pose would make any sense, excluding him actually offering to hug someone, which would be just sad, considering that no-one would probably take that offer from a space-werewolf who hasn't showered in 10 000 years. So, I heated up my oven and reposed the torso to hunch over a bit. His loincloth seems to have lost a little detail, but nothing major. To direct attention away from any damage, I glued a medallion from the Wolf Guard Terminator kit next to it.
I hadn't glued his arms or head on at that point, so those were safe.
After reposing the body, I glued on the arms so that they looked like he might actually be fighting, or at least about to fight, with them. I used plenty of green stuff to fill in all the gaps.
Another thing I wanted to redo was the trophy rack. Xenos skulls are nice and all, but this was supposed to be a reminder of the Chapter's past, so I took a Mk. II helmet and remade it into a decorative Thousand Sons helmet. I imagine the Pack Leader having fought him during the burning of Prospero. To tie it in with the "current" 40k universe, I glued a post-heresy Thousand Sons head from the Thunderwolf Cavalry kit on the base.

As customary by now, I glued a Mk. II shoulder pad on his left shoulder and cut some chips on it. The trophy rack behind the helmet came from a ForgeWorld Space Wolves Dreadnought.

At first, I was planning to leave his right shoulder bare, but ultimately sculpted a tri-layered shoulder pad on it.
There's also another Chaos Space Marine helmet hanging from the power pack, to show that at no point after the Heresy did he stop fighting the oathbreakers.
 I may yet continue to add little details to the model before painting, depending on how long it takes before I manage to buy another undercoat spray bottle and how bored I get in the meantime.

Wulfen with a Great Frost Axe and a Stormfrag Auto-Launcher, painted

For once, I'm getting a new unit completed at a fairly decent pace, considering the book only came out last month. With any luck, I'll have my Wulfen unit done by the end of March. Knock on wood, though.

 I wonder if I applied too much spray paint on the model's face, as I seemed to have more trouble getting a clean, detailed paintjob than the previous two. Might be because my spray paint can is nearly empty, and they often act up towards the end. Other than that, though, the model ended up finished in a fairly standard, by now established Wulfen fashion, with a wunjo-rune as the pack marking, a skull on the base and everything as usual.

Still liking the GC marking on the shoulder pad.
I wanted to paint the Great Frost Axe in predominantly cold colours and then contrast those with a bright, fiery red gem in the center. For this effect, I added some Nihilakh Oxide prior to drybrushing with Sycorax Bronze. The oxidisation also works with the fluff, as the Great Frost Axes are supposed to be ancient relics, and the bronze decoration would have somewhat oxidised in 10 millennia, to say the least.

With this model done, I'm 60% through my Wulfen. I still have some work to do to finish the pack leader, and the other model left still needs something to make it a little more interesting.

Wulfen with a Great Frost Axe and a Stormfrag Auto-Launcher

I'm continuing my trend of giving my Wulfen the Stormfrag Auto-Launchers. Points-wise, they're cheap, especially considering the total points costs of the models, and having enough of them might offset the low ballistic skill of the Wulfen. The current plan is to give one to everyone in the pack except for the pack leader, who would be the only one with a trophy rack instead. This would help distinguish the pack leader from the rest, and would also mean that the pack won't be left without assault grenades after one unlucky challenge.

 I glued the auto-launcher in a more upward position than on the other models. This was partially to get the right effect, but also because of the guy's wild head of hair, which would have gotten in the way if the launcher was too far forward.

 I glued a couple of pieces of cork to the base, and a skull from the Thunderwolf Cavalry kit. The intention is for the model to seem to be running on rocky ground.

I gave the model's backpack one of the medallions on chain from the Wolf Guard Terminator kit, and glued a wolftooth necklace to the shoulder pad. The latter took some green stuff to get a proper fit.
I'm hoping to get the model painted fairly soon, though I have another project underway (well, I always have way too many of those), so I don't know which will the next post be about.

Wulfen with a Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield and Stormfrag Auto-Launcher, painted

The reason I often leave the pack leaders for the last is that it takes some trial and error to get the right feel to a pack, especially if the models are something I haven't modelled or painted before. This was shown true of the Wulfen, as well. I'm much more satisfied with the way the second model of the pack turned out than the first, and can only hope to continue the upward trend.

 I left this model's hair a lot reddish-browner than the previous one's. One could argue that the Wulfen are approximately 10,000 years old and should all be old and grey by now, but it should be remembered that time in the Warp has little meaning. Also, Njal Stormcaller is a few centuries old, too, and has not gone grey at all, so there is a precedent. Additionally, the whole curse of the Wulfen thing is one huge unknown variable, and finally, Warhammer 40,000 is not exactly hard sci-fi, and things generally tend to work the way they do because shut up, that's why.

 I came up with the idea of a quartered design for the Storm Shield, and have to say I really like the way it turned out. This would be a lot more difficult to pull off with some of the other models for Storm Shields, but the regular diamond shape at the shield's center gave me an easy way to divide it into four equal pieces. The colours were chosen because of their association with the Wulfen through their pack markings as well as the 13th Great Company badge colours.

Speaking of, still liking the GC badge on the left pauldron. It works well as a method of  tying in the otherwise chaotic pack.

Wulfen with Frost Claws and Stormfrag Auto-Launcher, painted

As painting projects, The Wulfen are fairly different from other Space Wolves miniatures. There are few areas of smooth armour plate visible, and the transitions to fur on their elbows, heels etc. offers a challenge not seen on most other miniatures.

At first, I was going to paint the model's hair as blonde, but wasn't really satisfied with the way it looked. I may try it again with some other member of the pack, but considering that the Wulfen have lived for thousands of years, most of them have probably gone well gray.
As the first member in the pack I've painted, I had to choose a pack marking. I decided to go for the runes again, using a white wunjo rune on a red field. The white-and-red pack markings go well with the established 13th Great Company badge of a red wolf's head over a white crescent moon.

 Speaking of, I like the way the model's darker gray left pauldron with the ancient symbol turned out. It does the job I hoped it would, and ties the 40k army in with their 30k counterparts I also like the gray tufts of fur around the heels etc. 

The backpack looks like a fairly standard 40k Space Wolf backpack, which helps with the tying the past in with the present part. I somewhat wish I had used a little more imagination with the basing part, but the relatively open base doesn't look bad, it just doesn't really catch the eye, either.

Wulfen with a Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield and Stormfrag Auto-Launcher

I haven't quite yet finished painting my first Wulfen, so I'll show another member of the pack. As much as I like the look of the bare clawed Wulfen hands, I'm planning to give all members of at least this pack weaponry, and after briefly thinking it over, I decided to have at least one of each weapon.

This model was probably the least converted of his pack. The arms and his pose are all standard, with the only deviation from the assembly manual being the switched head and having the heavy, unwieldy thunder hammer hanging low. I also posed the head in a little more extreme position and gave him a pauldron on his left shoulder, to go with his pack.

The increased survivability provided by the storm shield made this model an obvious carrier for the second Stormfrag launcher. The short length of chain was added for the model's decorative elements.

All of the Wulfen legs have one leg raised high up, which leaves plenty of room on the base.  I added a couple of pieces of cork on it to make it look a little more interesting. I'm considering also adding some shrubberies and/ or roots to the bases of the other pack members.

Wulfen with Frost Claws and Stormfrag Auto-Launcher

It's not March yet, but I managed to get my hands on a Wulfen kit earlier than I hoped. Unsurprisingly, I started working on it pretty much immediately. The kit itself is pretty nice, with high level of detail and relatively large number of various options. There are alternative ways to assemble models to those shown in the instructions, though it takes some trial and error to find them, unless you're willing to use green stuff, which I am. 
A video by TemplarsCrusade01 on YouTube was what actually convinced me that I could start with the kit and end up with something distinct. Had I not seen that, I'd probably have been more conservative with the way I ended up posing the models.

 The starting point for the model is Wulfen #2 from the assembly manual, but after gluing the torso to the legs, I heated the model in my oven for a short time (heating plastic models for reposing them is pretty risky, and ending up with a ruined, shapeless lump of plastic is a very real possibility) and twisted it to the shape I wanted. I also repositioned the arms slightly, and used green stuff to fill in the gaps. The end result ephasizes the Wulfen's speed and ferocity.
Finally, I added a short piece of chain for decoration, gluing a wolf skull from my bits box and one of the medallions supplied in the kit on it.

 I decided I wanted the Wulfen to tie in my 40k and 30k Space Wolves, latter of which will be started at some point in the future. To this end, I decided to give all the Wulfen in this pack at least a Mk. II left shoulder pad. In the book, the Wulfen are stripped of all the remaining pieces of their power armour, which I didn't really like. So, I elected to ignore that particular piece of fluff and decided that my Wulfen would be otherwise re-equipped, but keep the shoulder pads bearing their ancient Great Company badges.

The thin pieces of cabling didn't survive the conversion process, so I resculpted them. The Wulfen's foothold piece of ground warped slightly during the heating and reshaping, so I used green stuff to fill in the gap.
Generally speaking, I'm pretty satisfied with the model. I may add a couple of wolf teeth to the chain over his chest and other stuff like that, but nothing major, as I'm pretty impatient to get these painted. I'd expect I'll have my first pack modelled and painted in a relatively short time, and am pretty sure this one won't be my only pack of Wulfen.