Helmawr gangers

Patrick Landmait, Jefferson Murdoch and Steve Taylor

Just try and guess what we have on today's menu... Oh good ! You've been following then ! Yes , more Helmawr gangers indeed !

I had planned to blog a ganger after the other but for once painting happened faster than blogging (can't really complain here) so here are three new entries for the gang !

They are all different in styles and definitely are something different from the previous members. I hope you'll agree they go together quite nicely.

Just try not to think about this song if you can... (from 1991 like confrontation)

So who are our new candidates then ?

The first model on the left is the Limited Edition Clan Hive ganger. Although he is not specifically named a Helmawr ganger or anything, he does sport the skull spider (on his belt and gun) the other Helmawr gang models wear so I guess hat makes him part of the crew unless this is just a distinction for nobles of the Hive... (that and his clothes and even hairstyle do match with others too). Whatever he's supposed to be, I think he is just perfect along the Helmawr gang leader (in the middle).

Second in the middle is the Helmawr gang leader. That one came in blister with the Ash waste nomad and tech leaders and was only available during a Games day in the US (if I understand things correctly).

This model is highly detailed and requires some proper preparation before getting in the ring. The many areas to paint mean you'll have to think a little bit about how and where to apply your colours especially if you plan on using a limited palette. You can see Ed Gladdis' excellent version on his blog. Just prior to starting mine, I tried to refrain checking his own version to avoid being too influenced but it seems I couldn't help painting the familiar the exact same way (apart from eye colour). I really like his asymetrical pants and socks and the general choice of colours.

Taken from Ed's blog : the work of Shaitan

After giving it a thought, it occured to me that maybe both Edward and myself just let our youthful heart express itself in our interpretation of the familiar :

Come on, no shame in loving Pokemons

There are of course others Helmawr ganger models but those were unreleased and let's face it, I'm not able to afford a full gang of unreleased models ! I've already had tremendous luck getting my hands on my beloved venators, so I think I'll just try and bulk up the unit with cheaper alternatives to those they do look like splendid and enjoyable models though) :

All pictures taken from the Collecting Citadel Miniatures Wiki

The third man is a fairly simple kitbash I did to get along with my other leader. I just sculpted a sort of powdered wig over a mix of Empire and imperial guard bits to have a promoted Imperial guard veteran acting as mercenary/bodyguard.

From a previous episode

Painting wise, you can see that I stayed in the same palette as previously with the creamy whites, deep reds and dark greys. The added checkers here and there and gold jewels help to tie all that little bunch together and somehow give a slight nod to the Blanchitsu genre.

The plastic bodyguard wasn't particularly hard to paint and though my reluctance to painting plastics still stands, I have to say it wasn't that a chore.

As said before the leader in the middle was a bit tricky and though I did schedule my painting by first applying all basecoats, I had hard time not coming up with tone against tone clashes (actually had to introduce grey into the mix to cope with that issue without adding another colour).

Rehearsals before the full backal

Being a ganger in Necromunda is not always a piece of cake let's face it. On the other side though, being a ganger associated to a noble family or under the authority of the Lord commander of the system you live in does come with some compensations. 

That's at least what Patrick tries to focus on when times are tough... Steve has known the horrors of war and he has endured atrocities that would have left most men shattered so nothing actually gets to him now. No, the real issue is not the fighting, violence and danger which are part of the job and of the fun actually... the main issue is having to cope with the lunacy of officers like Jefferson Murdoch. Oh, Jefferson is not complaining about results, he gets them at all cost (often the cost of a well placed bullet or power axe swing) and Patrick and Steve do provide results, Jefferson does have a real talent for making complicated situations simple. No, the real issue is that every simple thing becomes complicated like when he starts focusing on his hair being big enough or not (in the middle of  gunfight), his shoes matching with the rest of his outfit and all or that time when he insisted on taking a selfie over a pile of scavvies' corpses... in the very depths of the underhive...

But then again, lunacy is not reserved to nobles and gangers from lower levels probably have to endure as much stupidity as he. At least he can do his job in a relatively disease free and comfortable environment (and the booze, drugs and girls are of far better quality up here). Another good thing is, their boss Piers Gaveston probably wouldn't mind a change in the chain of command as long as he got his results...

Thinking about that song won't help either

Finally, a group shot of the gang so far. There are still 4 members awaiting the final touches to join and amongst those, 3 will be a sort of rank and file of well equiped but less characterful individuals acoompanied by the master of intel... all the other members will be plastic kitbashes built on similar sources as the first.

Oh yeah we're nobles and we're moving in... - Oh my, there goes the neighbourhood...