Finished - Nurgle Helbrute

I was so excited about getting my Nurgle Helbrute back from Greg at Cranky Old Gamer that I primed and painted him up in record time. Greg did everything that I asked for. I wanted a central eye rather than a face, eviscerated intestines, smoke stacks like Typhus and Nurgle symbols all over. I lost the Plasma Cannon for the Helbrute kit in the mail and sent a Space Marine Devastator Plasma Cannon along as a substitute. Greg made a good call and went above and beyond to buy a CSM Plasma Cannon. Classy move. He sculpted everything perfectly and just as requested. 

I especially like the way he took extra effort to integrate the three circles of the Nurgle symbol into the details. You can see it in the smoke stacks and in the subtle details on the leg armor. 

Modeling

I didn't have to do much to the mini in ways of converting. Greg did all the heavy lifting. I did want to give him an awesome base though. I have several metal Dreadnought front plates laying around and since they are never going to get used on Dreads, they make great basing material. I used one on my Thousand Sons/Tzeench Helbrute and it turned out well. For the Death Guard/Nurgle Helbrute I wanted to take it to the next level. Death Guard and Grey Knights have a tenuous relationship through Nathaniel Garro. There is also a fair amount of animosity between the Death Guard and Grey Knights. The Death Guard hate everyone but perhaps the Grey Knights edge out enemies out by a hair. 

I wanted to make the Inquisitorial I in the face plate to mimic the Forge World Grey Knight Dreadnought. I used the back banner bit from the Grey Knight Terminator box as I have plenty hanging around. I also had the I from the Preacher with the bones in it but decided against it. I also used a Grey Knight shoulder shield on the front plate but the foot of the Helbrute covers it perfectly.

To properly use something as basing material, you have to file it down to prevent it from looking like you just set it on the base. I went a step further and actually cut into the base so that part of the Dread face plate would be beneath the level of the base. It is hard to tell from the photos but I think it come out well. That did mean dremeling away a bunch of the metal face plate that was below the base. That took forever and resulted in a pretty bad wound. Maybe Papa Nurgle will appreciate the blood sacrifice. 

Painting

Nothing new here. I painted this guy the same as the Nurgle Rhino, Daemon Prince of Nurgle and my Death Guard Marines. 

Summary

I love all the sculpting that Greg did, the uniqueness of the model and the wargear selection. I don't know if you have picked up on this yet, but I love all the sculpting work that Greg has done. The best parts are the subtle details that only someone with a deep knowledge of 40k would know to do. I don't know that I have ever seen a a Nurgle Helbrute or Dreadnought like this one. They are all very different from each other but this one is special. I picked the wargear to match my Death Guard Aspiring Champions. DG is big on boots on the ground and the best equipment possible. That to me means Powerfists and Plasma Pistols. I also opted for the upgrade to a Combi-Bolter on the Powerfist too. 

Things I dislike are the greenness of the mini, the lack of face and the lack of posing options. The mini is too green. I have seen people try to paint the "skin" parts of a Helbrute in fleshy tones or at least in a alternate color to the armor but I don't feel like it turns out well. I could have done that here and to some extent I tried to paint it a different tone of green but I don't know that it turned out well. Even though I requested a central eye rather than a face, I feel like maybe it was a mistake. The yellow eye looks ok but the lack of face is unsettling and maybe not in a good way. The arms only go into the chest one way. you can't even rotate them. There is one position you get and that is it. I would have much preferred a ball and socket joint to make positioning more dynamic. 

Value

The Helbrute kit, the real kit and not just the Dark Vengeance one, retails for $54. All the conversion work and extra bits like the Plasma Cannon are valued at $40. The paint job is about a 7/10 for me and valued at $35. Total replacement cost is $129. I am not going to list a trade value because it is mine. My own. My precious.