The Road to Hell

"I'll just look at this Trench Crusade video," I said.

"I'll do a little kitbashing for fun," I said.

"It's only one warband, where's the harm?" I said.

In a move that will surprise absolutely nobody, I've started another warband for Trench Crusade.

This time I've opted to cobble together a few miniatures to represent the fantastically named Court of the Seven-Headed Serpent, which are fundamentally the denizens of hell.

I made this choice for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the game features a holy war between Hell and humanity, and although there is plenty of reason for everybody to fight each other, I figured one of the hellish factions made for more than appropriate opposition for my battle nuns of New Antioch.

Secondly, after the last kitbash session my bits box and backlog are mainly fantasy focused, and so the demons of hell are easier to imitate than the military humans of the Heretic Legion and the Cult of the Black Grail would need Nurgle bits whilst my GW daemons serve Tzeentch.

The first model I put together is this rather simple kitbash based on a Heroquest zombie. All I did was trim it off its chunky base, clean up mould lines and give it a head swap.

The helmet is from a Bretonnian knight, trimmed of its frippery and slotted easily onto where the zombie's head was. However, removing the model's chin had left a scar on the chest, which I covered up with the noose rope from a GW zombie sprue.

In game, this will be one of the Wretched, enslaved souls trapped in Hell, who are doomed to eternal torment and to be expended as disposable cannon fodder.

Next up was a model that I've made no changes to and is actually a 3d print done using a free sample file from Arbitor Miniatures. It uses a support system the company calls Advanced FDM using resin style supports to facilitate more dynamic and interesting sculpts with less scarring.

I printed it as a test to see if I wanted to invest in more of the models, with the intent of adding it to my Rashaar or Strigoi for Carnevale as a Hybrid or Thrall. However, despite printing really well, the finished model was just too big and chunky to scale well with Carnevale.

However, upon further inspection I realised that he was about the right size to serve as a Yoke Fiend, one of the bestial servants of Hell. Whilst he probably isn't bestial enough, the scale works, so I may end up adding a horn or two later.

A more conventional looking Yoke Fiend has been easily achieved with this Warhammer 40k Beastman that I was given when I went with the family to Warhammer World last year. Whilst my daughter tried her hand at painting a Stormcast, I was kindly given the model of the month to stab at with an appalling starter brush.

Needless to say, I wasn't delighted with the outcome, so the opportunity to repurpose the model was grabbed with both hands. I needed to de-40k the model so I removed it's laspistol, holster and various grenades, replacing them with a few more fantasy bits and pieces, including a pair of severed heads.

With all of these I've used a range of contrast paints to have another go at a vaguely 'Blanchitsu' style, focusing on browns, beiges and reds. I think this is a more successful attempt than my nuns, but I've realized that I've forgotten to slap some Typhus Corrosion around their feet to grubby things up.

The final model for now is a bit of a different beast. It's not a kitbash in any way shape or form, and is in fact a single massive chunk of metal (which includes a hefty hidden 'pudding' base). The model is actually a Giant Cockatrice from Grenadier Miniatures that I have had for around forty years. 

In Trench Crusade I'll be using it as a Locust, which it looks nothing like. However, it not only fits the rules of a fast moving flying beast on a 60mm oval base, but also there are biblical references to Cockatrices being created by servants of evil, and so I think it fits into a more medieval interpretation of the Court of the Seven-Headed Serpent quite well.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with my progress so far. At the moment these four miniatures represent less than half the 700 ducat starting warband, although given that most of the other models are larger, I might be halfway through numerically.

What I like most about this project is finding homes for models that have sat unloved and put of place amongst my other projects. I'm hoping to make use of a few more similar lost souls before the end.

Acquired: -99
Painted: 147
Lead Mountain: 407