The Wreck of the Saint Erasmus

 

Finally a finished project to show off! I started a small Cities of Sigmar force last year with the release of the box set, and here's the first thing ready to blog about. Read on below the jump for more about the Wreck of the Saint Erasmus.

I was taken with the lore for Misthavn, a gloomy City of Sigmar in the Realm of Shadow made out of sailing ships moored together, populated by smugglers and pirates. So that's what I opted to do with the Cities of Sigmar starter set. I'm still painting up all the models from the box set, with a few small conversions, so I have nothing to show there yet!

Instead I finished a big centerpiece model (rare for me, as I prefer rank and file models). I love the Hurricanum/Luminark as some kind of scenic wizard's contraption on wheels. I had all the pieces for a Celestial Hurricanum and a good idea of how to make it Misthavnish. Instead of a celestial orrery, it became a shipwreck still bearing the flames of St Elmo's fire (St Erasmus is another name for St Elmo). The Battlemage's "Chain Lightning" spell is ideal for this, and we can pretend the Hurricanum's bound spell uses gloomy balefire instead of comets.

 I asked around about the size of the Idoneth shipwreck kit at first, but it sounded too big (I haven't seen one in person). Instead I got a hold of some Gargant bits including the excellent shipreck part. This turned out a little smaller than I expected, so I arranged the build to be more like an enshrined remnant than an entire shipwreck on wheels. The sidings from a Sisters of Battle tank helped make the chassis look more ship-like.

And of course the main part is the mast, which I scratch-built from a bamboo stake that came with a potted houseplant. It was so durable it was difficult to convincingly split the end where the top is meant to be broken! I even built a mounting for it from the plastic cylinder of a ball point pen (including a smaller ring inside the bottom of the tube for the bevelled end of the mast to slot into more snugly). The mounting is supergled into the chassis, and the mast can be inserted into that very snugly or removed for storage. The flame on top is a Nighthaunt piece, and the shrine metalwork is another Sisters of Battle piece.

The shadowy Battlemage herself is the Lumineth Cathallar, who I previously bought soleley to use her bowl of smoke as a Necromancer's hat. I've had the rest of this incredible model in my bits box since then, unsure what project to use her in. She's perfect for this build because she evokes a ship's figurehead while still getting to be a flesh-and-blood living character herself. She attaches to a small plank in the ship's prow through a pin in her feet, and I plan to build an alternative 32mm scenic base that she can slot into to act as a separate Battlemage (the Hurricanum can also be fielded without a mage).

The ship's crew are two cloaked figures, more of whom will be showing up elsewhere in this Misthavn project. I think of them as an order of suspicious ferrymen with an almost priestly role in the City. Both of these got anchor tattoos from the generous Cities of Sigmar transfer sheet. I scratch sculpted barnacles using greenstuff, and it was as tedious as you might expect. I'm thinking of maybe looking for sequins or something that I could simply glue on instead.

Screenshot from the videogame Blasphemous

I must acknowledge the influence of the level "Mourning and Havoc" from the game Blasphemous. A level of wrecked ships glowing with the blue flames of St Elmo's fire. What a cool design! This was very much on my mind while I worked on this project.

Finally, apologies for the slight blurriness of the photos! I'm without my tripod at the moment.

Hek