Blight drone discharging itself for good behaviour

Written by

Posted on 12 Comments

ADBDBA32-960F-4B77-B59D-F37B685DCEA6

The blight drone (greater blight drone now) is one of my favourite models. Forgeworld really spoils the followers of Nurgle and this model is no exception.

I saw this model first hand at Warhammer World, painted by Mark Bedford. It was so different to everything else. So different from everything else Nurgle at the time too. That intoxicating mix of daemon and machine that when done right is mesmerising. Not just daemons, very much 40k daemons. Here’s that one from the display cabinet.

1F33D480-4575-4E8D-A1B2-4719591DA3DF
Official blight drone model on display at Warhammer World – painted by Mark Bedford

Posting it up here I’m looking at that rust, it’s phenomenal. The tank trap is a cheeky touch too as the drone obliviously flies over it. But the sewage discharge I thought was an amazing effect. Just this side of too filthy for an actual model. Also gives a great illusion of flying as it also acts as the stand. I don’t know how he did it but I knew I wanted to do it too.

Here’s my effort…

E7A764E7-8C98-4E69-B691-B15F67A3C1FA

I was aiming for a bit of a rusty ship wreck look for the paint job on mine. I was really into that look at the time.

The discharge part was made with a bunch of thin wires shoved up a hole I made in the tail. This was to give it enough support. One wire bent but I didn’t think that would be an issue.

2508B73A-65FC-4A2E-91E5-A959D68E8D5D

I also made wires that rebounded back upwards for the splash effect. On the ends of those wires would be a hard wire tip which would be hard to disguise. So I decided to put green stuff maggots on the ends of those and in the main stream too while I was at it. The left most maggot in the pic below is spinning off balled up as part of the force of the discharge.

C51EAA20-030F-4CFA-8F79-7D3D1CBCF8BB

The maggots were painted first. I then used a hot glue gun to make the discharge itself. I inked it afterwards. It is opaque and you can just make out the wires in some places although this also reads as ‘stringy bits’ 🤢.

I added a bit more cabling hanging down and the oil drums to the base. I’ve borderline overcluttered the base and ruined the illusion of floating I worked hard for. But he’s finished and I’m pleased with him.

Here are some of the gw concept designs for the blight drone model for interest…

23579E37-2AC9-4AEF-AE88-26CAA2B581B5

I find concept sketches really interesting. I was considering making more blight drone with some variety. Although now the bloat drones are out I can alter them. A three eyed one is also present in the pic at the top of the article and seems like a must.

12 comments

  1. I really love this model you have, and i remember discussing the glue gun idea with you. It was the first time either of us had tried anything like that but when i saw your model done… I bought a glue gun.

    I dont feel its over cluttered, i like the idea of it hovering through a sewer system only to burst forth from a dilapidated access point on unsuspecting loyalists. We like a nice ruinous tabletop so the detritus on its base seems apt to me.

    As usual, a fantastic paint job. The focus of that gloop however… I think i prefer it to the display model! It less uniform which makes it seem more gross and viscous, and also i think your splash is more appropriate. Don’t get me wrong, i love the original model, i remember staring at it in the Imperial Armour book. But as that other stream is smoother it looks like is coming out faster and if anything the splash should be bigger. My only suggestion, which i only make as this model turned out so well, is should you ever do another flyer with a goop stream, you bend the wires backwards slightly as this would convey motion. Not easy as you would need stronger or more of them to retain stability. Just i though as both of these versions suggest hovering rather than flying. Just an idea.

    Seriously though, one if my favourite of your Nurgle models to turn up on the table… More so if im not your opponent. ; )

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Cheers bro,
      Good idea with the bent wires to convey motion. I may well try this all out again on the bloat drones.
      The blight drone does have propellers so can hover to do the discharge. This would be the decent thing to do, he is a daemon of nurgle but he’s not a monster.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I know he CAN hover, in fact thats what i imagine it doing, i only mentin it because you said about the base and encouraging the illusion of flight. It really is a great model and paint job, easily equaling its insparation.

        Like

  2. The rust on the carapace looks soooo good! The discharge is ace, too. I never tried doing something like this with a hot glue gun, I’ve only worked with water effects till now, but I should really give this a try for my Nurgle stuff.

    Keep the awesomeness coming dude 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you Kaffeesaurus,
      I hadn’t done anything like this before. The hot glue gun seemed like the easily accessible way of attempting this. I bet the official blight drone uses water effects. That’s something I could look into to take my models to the next level.

      Like

      Reply

  3. I would suggest a hear gun too, not the big hair dryer types but the small ones for electronics. In addition to being really useful for fixing the warp in resin minis, its fantastic in conjunction with the glue gun. I also havemt tried water effect resin but i was able to manipulate the gluegun glue quite well after cooling, which gives you quite a lot of flexibility. Im not saying its a perfect substitute as they will have very different qualities and there are some fiddly complications with the glue gun but its certainly useful, fast and adjustable.

    Like

    Reply

      2. I know what you mean about that. I personally find it frustrating when I compare the amount of time I spend looking at rust with my ability to replicate it. On this one I went all the way past orange to yellow.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment