Tuesday 5 October 2021

Rogue Trader style Chaos Dreadnought fan sculpt.

Just a quick update to show something I purchased off of e-Bay. I will be posting a proper update later in the month.

As many of you are aware, I am currently sorting through my Rogue Trader era Chaos Space Marine Legions with an aim to have a 10,000 point army for each of the nine Traitor Legions, taken from the Slaves to Darkness and Lost and the Damned books, as well as relevant White Dwarf articles of the time. I will be only using miniatures from the time, although I am using some of the more modern bases as I was never happy with some of the bases at the time, and some of the basing was also a little erratic then.

Whilst browsing Twitter I read a tweet concerning fan sculpts, and saw a fan sculpted Chaos Dreadnought, sculpted in the same style as the original Citadel one from 1989, originally sculpted by Alan Perry. The fan sculpt was sculpted by Drew Day Williams, who has sculpted some items for a small company named Troll Soup  https://www.trollsoup.com/ . He also has sculpted a some resin tributes to the original (non-Chaos) Space Marine Dreadnought, the Imperial Robots range, and a metal sculpt based on the Siege Robot artwork from the Rogue Trader rulebook, all of which seem to sadly be no longer available. I purchased the Chaos Dreadnought from a seller on e-Bay whom I have dealt with on many an occasion. Here is the link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294378893019?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

The miniature is made of a good quality resin (no Finecast nonsense!). Size wise it is a lot larger than the original (see the photographs below), as were the other of Drew Day Williams resin sculpts. It does make for a very imposing miniature. The detailing and closeness to the original is superb. It is a very similar looking sculpt to the original, but with crisper and clearer casting. 

Quite what I am going to do with this lovely behemoth I'm not sure. As I am planning to have the Legions composed solely of 1987 to 1991 miniatures (except for the bases) then it doesn't fit, but it is nice have, and will be fun to paint. I am considering selecting one of the nine Legions to include this and the fan sculpted Siege Robots, and well as anything else I might acquire. Alternately, I might use them as the basis for a tenth 10,000 point army, perhaps representing a composite Legionary force, or one based on the late rogue Trader era  'World Eater Ravagers' list.
Enjoy :)

Chaos Dreadnought fan sculpt.
It is mounted on a Citadel 60mm round plastic base.
Size Comparison with the original Chaos Dreadnought and a (converted) Chaos Legionary.
The original Chaos Dreadnought is mounted on a citadel 50mm round plastic base.
Left side with the claw.
Rear view with the very organic looking exhaust/power pack.
Right side with the heavy plasma gun.
Pre-assembly size comparison with the original Chaos Dreadnought sculpt.

Next update will be more basing and showcasing of the Chaos Legions. I am still not getting around to any painting at the moment (I'm still renovating the house and working), but I am basing up a lot of Chaos Legionaries. Last week I based scores of Chaos Daemons, and the week before over 100 Rogue Trader era Chaos Terminators. This week I am working through their less armoured Power Armoured brethren, as well as Jet Bikes/Cycles, and Chaos Steeds.

13 comments:

  1. Really impressive miniature and from the photos it looks very well sculpted. Among other things, your post inspired us to see the other sculptures by Drew Williams for Troll Soup miniatures, and there are several funny trolls, with a lot of personality.
    Returning to your Dreadnought, we can't wait to see it painted. And if it fits well with the Citadel miniatures of the Eighties, make an exception and include it in the ranks of one of your legions: after all, the important thing (at least in our opinion) is that it is in the oldhammer style!
    One last observation: we are so jealous you are busy with work and renovation of the house, and you manage to base so many miniatures ...

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    1. It is very well sculpted, and would be a shame not to include it in any of the Legions. I might make an exception and have the Dreadnought and Siege Robots in one of the Legions.
      The Trolls look great. I have no personal experience of the miniatures, but they do look fun.
      Thank you, I have just been sitting down at the end of the evening and milliput-ing bases, quite relaxing but quite mucky work!

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  2. What a great find Lee, and looks in perfect keeping with the original, could you not field it as a demonically possessed dreadnought, which would then account for the larger size ?

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    1. That's a great idea. I was considering the practicality of using it as a Daemon Prince. With the old Rogue Trader Dreadnought rules I could also work out a unique profile for it.

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  3. Wow, that dude is big. I used to own three of the original dreads back in the day. Sweet memories.

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    1. It is pretty big, I was surprised when it arrived and I assembled it. I like the old style Chaos Dreadnoughts, very organic and wired, they fit into that Slaves to Darkness era nicely.

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  4. Ooo, that's a whopper! It looks like a really well-made and detailed sculpt, and after checking out the site I might pick up a couple of their trolls. They're also good models and have a lot of personality, they're almost a throwback to Oldhammer minis.

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    1. The sculpting is very good, and the resin is a good quality. Although I knew it was bigger than the original, I was surprised.
      The Trolls look great. I haven't bought any, but they are on my list of things to buy at some point.

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  5. Oh, I love it so much. I managed to get a loyal Dread by Drew, and it's also fantastic, so I'm thrilled to see what you do with this one :)

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    1. I didn't get around to getting one of the loyal Dreadnoughts, which was a shame, but I am happier with the Chaos one for the Legions. I am not sure what colour scheme to go for yet, but I won't be painting for a while I 'm afraid as I am still sorting out the rest of the armies.

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  6. 10k points per legion, absolute madness in that objective. Kudos if you reach it.

    The dreadnought is awesome. I have been tempted to get the loyalist and definitely will get some robots for a small RT/Horus heresy force. But not that far as 10k points!
    Maybe you can magnetise the arms and use them as some of the FW additions to the Horus heresy line like the Deredeo or the siege dreadnought for the tenth army or the Iron Warriors.

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    1. 10,000 points per Legion is quite a crazy thing to do, but it's achievable. I do have a good couple of hundred Renegade miniatures, as well as a lots of loyalist Mark VI ones to add.

      It's surprising, by the time you add a few thousand points worth of Daemons, a few tanks (750 points for a Land Raider, 400 points for Vindicator, etc) and the Terminators, then you are well on your way to 10,000 points. A Robot Maniple can be about 1,000 points.

      I am going to keep the miniatures to of the time, so will avoid Forge World and other more contemporary miniatures. I feel that by doing that I am keeping true the old 1980's feel of the armies.

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    2. Yep, I forgot the point cost of some demons and the vehicles which can increase the amount by a lot.
      I imagine that you'll keep only oldhammer miniatures (or the like, as with the siege robot or the droid maniple). My suggestion was more as using the concept but use this huge dreadnought and convert the siege hammer or some dual autocannon for use it as the more "modern" types of dreadnoughts.

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