Showcase: Blackstone Fortress Dahyak Grekh, Kroot Tracker by SpaceShrimp

Hi folks It’s me Cat aka SpaceShrimp again, reporting in from the Precipice with our first encounter of a hero – a hero for hire no less. More after the Mag-lift.

Dahyak Grekh was my first attempt at a hero, and I am pretty happy with how he turned out. One of my friends was really keen to use this model in the campaign, so the choice of orange was in homage to his main 40k army colour scheme. It just so happened to work out nicely and look relatively Tau-techy too. (Say that quick).

The dichotomy of primitive tribal-esque, low-tech aesthetic and the exotic high-tech armour parts/weaponry totally sells the savage mercenary for hire line.

The over abundance of leather, the jewlery and talismans, the flint-lock plistol, paints such a vivid picture of a life of a creature firmly rooted in old ways.

But looking closer, peering into the leather pouches, inspecting his eye sight, bionic ear and shin armour – all these touches divulge the fierce intellect of an apex predator who has no qualms equipping himself with whatever exotic tech he needs to hunt his prey.

The box art paint scheme for this model appears slightly desaturated – the materials are very textured, worn and frayed. I thought I would come at this model completely opposite direction so he would really stand out on the table top.

That is not to say I didn’t put weathering where appropriate. I just would like to think that a charachter like this would really care for his kit from a functional point of view. For example I wanted the leather to look “juicy” with oils that he would use to maintain it with, but still look old from use rather than neglect.

Because the model is so leather heavy (especially when viewed from behind) I knew I had to make his skin tone pop yet still look realistic and organic and fleshy. I am actually pretty chuffed with the contrast, although I might re-visit his head in the future with some additional highlights.

On the wood grain of the weapon handles I concentrated lightness on where I assumed he would hold the weapons. Again playing into the idea of making things looking worn and used, not damaged.

I really love how he towers above everything else, second only to UR-025 in height. One thing I think the model could have benefited from was some variation in colour in the lining of the cloak, just to help break up that vast area of brown. I might amend that at some point in the future.

I really hope you enjoyed my interpretation of this model, let me know what you think in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more news from the Precipice coming soon.