Hekatrix Prototype: Agonizer and Blast Pistol WIP

This weekend I began working on my Skaven Hekatrix squad leaders.  While I am happy with my "Agonizer", I had to request assistance with my "Blast Pistol" experiments...


Having already reached the hobby goals I had set for the month of January, today I found myself thrilled to be getting a jump start on next month's projects.  The first item on the menu, are five Hekatrix squad leaders for my Wych squads.  These models needed to be a bit more imposing than the Clanrats I used for Wyches, so I chose to start with the Stormvermin body.  This frame stands a bit taller than the clanrats, and the "head-on" pose is a bit more confrontational, and less sneaky than the simple infantry.  Let's start with what worked.

After trimming down the shoulder muscles on an Ork Nob buzz-saw bit, it was fairly easy to sculpt a ball-shaped protrusion to insert into the model's shoulder-socket.  I had initially expected this minor conversion to require some putty work to fill gaps, or further trimming to adjust the scale of this weapon.  An Ork Nob is a bit larger than a standard Ork, and a standard Ork is larger than a basic Skaven.  However, I think that the trimming I did, which turns the Nob bicep into the Skaven shoulder, to be pretty effective.  As for the buzz-saw itself, I think it is more than sufficient at representing a power weapon that can wound literally anything on a 4+.

Now let's talk about what didn't work.  As you can see from the first picture in this post, I am representing the Hekatrix blast pistol with an Empire repeating hand gun.  I like the flintlock aesthetic of this weapon, and the Gatling-style barrel gives the appearance of being able to fire all barrels at once, shredding whatever armor is in short-range.  Whenever I build a model with a gun, I like to use my pin-vise to drill out the barrel a tiny bit, and give the illusion of a hollow tube.  Personally, I think that a flat muzzle can really ruin the effect of a miniature, even with a tiny blob of black paint added to represent the opening of the barrel.  Unfortunately, these Empire hand guns have such thin barrels, that my own drill bits were too large to work.  I tried drilling directly down the center, just to test the effect, and the photo above was the result.  I have already replaced this handgun with another, and will drill out each barrel correctly.  By my measurements, the bits I need will be smaller than 0.024 of an inch.  Luckily, my father has offered to lend me a few bits he used to drill out carburetor jets.  Having a family member who has scratch-built automobiles can come in handy!

When the drill bits arrive in the mail, I will post my continued progress on these Hekatrix models.  However, don't think that I will be waiting idly for the mail!  I will post my finished Asdrubael Queek model later in the week.  I think photos of my Warplock Haemonculus will have to wait till next week.  It feels great to be ahead of schedule!