I may have been too slow for Tzaanuary, so let's pretend my deadline was for the start of Tzaapril!
Let's crack on with these blue meanies!
These are the Tzzangor from The Silver Tower set. As is right and proper for a Tzeentch unit, I have very conflicted thoughts about them.
I love the models, they may be my favourite lot from a box set that is filled with many strong contenders. That said, I was so deterred by painting them, they stopped me in my Silver Tower tracks for almost a year.
I mean, they looked good - but there's inhuman skin, beaks, claws, feathers, horns, armour, weapons, amulets, gems and good deal of other stuff going on. Not to mention the wide possibilities of colour schemes. And the base models were so good, I didn't want to stuff them up.
The release of the Disciples of Tzeentch battletome proved just the kick I needed to shake off that slump and crack on with them. That said, the colour scheme I eventually chose was the standard 'Tzaangor Blue' (or 'Cult of the Transient Form' to be precise). I may have gained courage, but still lack imagination.
These finished three are the standard models from the Silver Tower set, and the colour recipe as follows (it's a laundry list, so feel free to skip down to the good stuff):
There are certainly more paints to list for gems etc, but damn, these are a riot of colour!
The next three Tzaangor are some kitbashes from the Silver Tower set. It would hardly be appropriate to have anything consistent from Tzeentch.
The weapon swaps look effective enough, although they're not as easy as the old interchangeable heads, torsos and weapons of yore. But that's a more than fair trade-off for a better individual model - after all, no-one's making horde armies from these.
I still can't get over how these models have soaked up practically every colour on the palette and still retain their uniformity. They've been sitting on my painting desk next to some half-finished Khorne troops (all red armour and bronze trim) and the contrast between the two is fantastic.
I always felt that Tzeentch and Khorne were more diametrically opposed, rather than the canon Khone/Slaanesh, Tzeentch/Nurgle split.
But enough chaotheology - here is the trio of converted Tzaangor. At a glance, I do sometimes forget which is the original mould and which ones are kitbashed.
However, these six were not sufficient for a tabletop game of Age of Sigmar. I needed to bring them up to their minimum of 10 models, and get some command units in there.
Although there is a new Tzaangor kit out there (and I've not written off getting that too), the aesthetic is slightly different (fewer damn details, for one) so wanted to convert more Silver Tower miniatures.
Fortunately, some bright spark appears to have purchased a stack of Sliver Tower sets and is flogging off the components on eBay. He seems to have done very well, considering I got the last one from '120 sold', although it does raise the question of what he will do with 119 extra Doomseekers.
The brayhorn was simple enough: replacing his weapon with the horn from Chaos Warriors. I've added a shot of the rear view to illustrate just how much is going on with these models: spare weapons! More gemstones and amulets! Extra feathers?
The best choice for the Icon Bearer was the Greatblade model, though I put his back foot on a couple of skulls to raise the inclination of the banner pole. A goblin spear haft gave some extra height, and the Chaos Warrior icon tops him off.
As well as the conventional command groups, the unit can also have a Mutant. The box set mutant has its head splitting in half, which is both awesome and difficult to see how that would translate into an extra attack ('what is the sound of one break pecking?'). I went with an extra arm, donated from a Gor, which gives a more straightforward rationale.
And finally the Twistbray. I was planning to just transplant some bigger Chaos Warrior horns onto the champion, but decided to go full potato and replace the top half of his head with the skull icon from the Chaos Knights.
You can't see from this angle, but the lower half of his beak is still below the mask, so it came out pretty nicely.
And so completes this wee unit of Tzaangor. I love the look of them, and I had a blast painting them, but since each one took more effort than a lot of character models I've previously painted (easily twice as much as the Magister model for example), so I won't be adding to them any time soon.
That said, they gave a hell of a first impression on their debut battle, so who knows where the winds of change will blow?
Let's crack on with these blue meanies!
These are the Tzzangor from The Silver Tower set. As is right and proper for a Tzeentch unit, I have very conflicted thoughts about them.
I love the models, they may be my favourite lot from a box set that is filled with many strong contenders. That said, I was so deterred by painting them, they stopped me in my Silver Tower tracks for almost a year.
I mean, they looked good - but there's inhuman skin, beaks, claws, feathers, horns, armour, weapons, amulets, gems and good deal of other stuff going on. Not to mention the wide possibilities of colour schemes. And the base models were so good, I didn't want to stuff them up.
The release of the Disciples of Tzeentch battletome proved just the kick I needed to shake off that slump and crack on with them. That said, the colour scheme I eventually chose was the standard 'Tzaangor Blue' (or 'Cult of the Transient Form' to be precise). I may have gained courage, but still lack imagination.
These finished three are the standard models from the Silver Tower set, and the colour recipe as follows (it's a laundry list, so feel free to skip down to the good stuff):
- Skin: Calgar Blue base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Lothern Blue drybrush
- Horns, hooves and claws: Zandri dust base, Agrax Earthshade wash, Zandri dust drybrush
- Claws and beaks: Averland Sunset base (wet-blended), Agrax Earthshade wash
- Feathers: Screamer Pink base, Carroburg Crimson wash
- Dreadlock/tentacles: Druchii Violet wash, Lothern Blue blend
- Mail kilts: Celestial Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Nuln Oil wash
- Cloth kilts: Celestial Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey layering
- Armour and shields: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flesh wash, Golden Griffon drybrush, Ahriman Blue layer
- Shield bosses: Kalabite Green base, Nuln Oil glaze
- Weapons: Ironbreaker base, Druchii Violet wash, Stormhost Silver drybrush
- Weapon hafts: Charcoal Grey base, Celestial Grey drybrush
- Tongues: Pink Horror
The next three Tzaangor are some kitbashes from the Silver Tower set. It would hardly be appropriate to have anything consistent from Tzeentch.
The weapon swaps look effective enough, although they're not as easy as the old interchangeable heads, torsos and weapons of yore. But that's a more than fair trade-off for a better individual model - after all, no-one's making horde armies from these.
I still can't get over how these models have soaked up practically every colour on the palette and still retain their uniformity. They've been sitting on my painting desk next to some half-finished Khorne troops (all red armour and bronze trim) and the contrast between the two is fantastic.
I always felt that Tzeentch and Khorne were more diametrically opposed, rather than the canon Khone/Slaanesh, Tzeentch/Nurgle split.
But enough chaotheology - here is the trio of converted Tzaangor. At a glance, I do sometimes forget which is the original mould and which ones are kitbashed.
However, these six were not sufficient for a tabletop game of Age of Sigmar. I needed to bring them up to their minimum of 10 models, and get some command units in there.
Although there is a new Tzaangor kit out there (and I've not written off getting that too), the aesthetic is slightly different (fewer damn details, for one) so wanted to convert more Silver Tower miniatures.
Fortunately, some bright spark appears to have purchased a stack of Sliver Tower sets and is flogging off the components on eBay. He seems to have done very well, considering I got the last one from '120 sold', although it does raise the question of what he will do with 119 extra Doomseekers.
The brayhorn was simple enough: replacing his weapon with the horn from Chaos Warriors. I've added a shot of the rear view to illustrate just how much is going on with these models: spare weapons! More gemstones and amulets! Extra feathers?
The best choice for the Icon Bearer was the Greatblade model, though I put his back foot on a couple of skulls to raise the inclination of the banner pole. A goblin spear haft gave some extra height, and the Chaos Warrior icon tops him off.
As well as the conventional command groups, the unit can also have a Mutant. The box set mutant has its head splitting in half, which is both awesome and difficult to see how that would translate into an extra attack ('what is the sound of one break pecking?'). I went with an extra arm, donated from a Gor, which gives a more straightforward rationale.
And finally the Twistbray. I was planning to just transplant some bigger Chaos Warrior horns onto the champion, but decided to go full potato and replace the top half of his head with the skull icon from the Chaos Knights.
You can't see from this angle, but the lower half of his beak is still below the mask, so it came out pretty nicely.
And so completes this wee unit of Tzaangor. I love the look of them, and I had a blast painting them, but since each one took more effort than a lot of character models I've previously painted (easily twice as much as the Magister model for example), so I won't be adding to them any time soon.
That said, they gave a hell of a first impression on their debut battle, so who knows where the winds of change will blow?
Nice work! Liking the icon bearer particularly. I'm a Tzeentch fanboi through and through, and these are so much better than the current set of pink horror sculpts. And they're a wrecking ball on the battlefield, I can see why more would be tempting.
ReplyDeleteCheers! These models are as Tzeentchy as it gets. Not quick to paint, but definitely worth it. I suspect the Silver Tower sculpts are superior to the box set Tzaangor - but since they're on my list too, I guess we'll find out.
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