Pistol Wraith (Cryx)

Last month a miracle happened: we had a Warmachine match! 😲

I am still impressed we've managed to assemble the game but definitely - my Cryx is hungry for more!

We played the latest edition - no back strikes, 360 degree line of sight, boosted warjacks etc. It was fine as game played after such a long break, but I think earlier version was much more "hardcore" so hope to dig out old rulebooks and give it a try. Anyway it was such a fun I decided to save some Cryx stuff from pile ov shame and the winner waaaaas... Pistol Wraith 👻

I remember that model was a blast when Escalation supplement was released - both as model and gaming unit. It was deadly on battlefield and I still consider it as one of the best and most characterful miniatures from Cryx line. There are some brilliant examples of painted miniatures in the webspace so my gaming model is no match for them, but I still like it and had lots of fun working on it. As for a base I used spare pile of skulls from screaming skull catapult and some placcy heads. I can actually imagine it haunting old battlefields, unable to leave unburied, restless bones. Or something.

So here it is. Hope to see it in action anytime soon.

Below: pistol wraith about to scratch Deathjack right between where it's eyes should be:

Here: some target practice in the city park with Mechanithralls:

And below - the only pic from recent game I've managed to get: Slayer and Reaper helljacks supported by Deathripper bonejack about to launch a charge against enemy Juggernaut (that was exactly the very same model I painted - I've almost cried while pulling it's arms off and ripping hull apart... Almost... 😁):

And next: something heavy... 🤖

Deathjack (Cryx)

One more Warmachine monstrosity just got crossed off the list. Toruk be praised for that!

When it was still in work-in-progress stage I was seriously afraid I might just put it away back into pile of shame - assembling was pain in the ass already, not mentioning the painting ahead. But all in all decision was made to give it a chance. Just like in case of Lich Lord Terminus model was painted dismantled, and assembled before washing / weathering. Still pain in the ass but I was the only way to get it done.

As for color choice I wanted something different then "classic" Cryx colors. It's rather striking models so I thought painting it bright should make it even more eyecatching. When painting was more-less finished I wanted to give a try to some OSL (head, arms, skulls) but it turned out such undertaking, having only blood red and some medium yellow, might have been not the best idea 😁 I think I might get some much more striking colors and re-do the glowy bits.

Since it's big model it was first sprayed with solid layer of standard, matt varnish and then airbrushed with Vallejo matt to make sure it's gonna be matt: not glossy, not satin, no shit like that. But after everything dried it turned out there's "frost" / "mist" on the whole piece, so everything had to be sealed once again with Revell matt. No idea what was the reason - my guess it's because of damp air (spray was used in the cellar) but have no clue really... 🙄

So here it is - ready to kill for Toruk!

And some scale shot. Sure to make it "correct" I should bring out infantry from Warmachine line, but oldie Necromunda models are slightly smaller, so the overall effect is even better. So here you can see Deathjack about to devour notorious Karloth Valois and his re-animated minions...

Deathjack (Cryx)

This year I've been painting mostly Warhammer Fantasy stuff so the plan is to shift to something different from cute and vivid Chaos stuff. Washing-off container was full of models, but arm of Deathjack emerging from paint stripper was clear sign what strikes painting desk next.

This thing is painting and assembling nightmare. I know that not only pinning all those metal bits was one, fuc#ing pain in the ass, but also it's the third Deathjack I've been working on... Yup - apparently I am kinda sadomasochistic 🥴

I was pretty sure some pics of other Deathjacks were posted somewhere on early stage of blogging, but I must have been wrong. The only photos available now are the ones on CoolMiniOrNot: model from ~2007 and model from ~2010. Back days we used to play Warmachine a lot, but after the game fever worn off and true life kicked in, the game was dropped and I sold most of my Cryx collection. Some years later it turned out my buddy was getting rid of remains of Warmachine stuff and I was lucky enough to get some badly assembled and thick-coated models. It was actually the same guy who managed to assemble Cybertronic Eradicator Deathdroid's legs wrong way so as you can see - it was serious case 🤪 

As for and model - it's big, metal, heavy and pain in the ass to paint. As you can see compared to Warhammer Inquisitor (or whatever the hell this guy's job is) DJ is probably larger then dreadnought. As for Inquisitor - I got it during one of Chest of Colors miniature exchanges long time ago (thanks again TMZ!). Because the model has lots of hard to get spots, decision was made to paint the parts first and assemble them later - just like I did with Lich Lord Terminus. Should work...

The only thing to consider now is choosing colors. I don't think it's gonna be gaming model ever, so it doesn't have to stick to original Cryx aesthetics. I am thinking about bright armour plates (baige? bone? grey?) and dark metallics (brass? tinny tin?) with some glowing effect, but that's just the idea. I want to make the right decision, paint it and NEVER EVER PAINT THE 4TH ONE 😁