# Dreamforge Games Leviathan Mortis



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

Well after a long wait it finally arrived. I purchased one of these suckers as part of the pre-order. 









There were some delays but the wait has been worth it.
First up was the usual resin prep. Bath in dish washing liquid and a scrub to remove the mould release. After a good rinse then it was on to a towel to dry and some preliminary clean up and test fitting.
























In these photos some of the assembly has been commenced. Each of the assembled legs shown in the photos consists of 11 components and the torso has been commenced with the pivoting shoulders completed. 

Last night I got a bit of time to spare and did a heap more work. Basically completed the assembly of the main leg sections with only the ankle armor, toes, toe armor and the upper hydraulics to complete. I have taken these photos with the model standing alongside my current warhound titan and my scratch built reaver. Please note that the reaver is a little shorter than the standard size. There are some oblits around the feet of the warhound for comparison.
















I have got the torso mounted on the spine and the pelvis although the belly hydraulics still needs to go on. Currently the gorget/chest armor, the head and the back/upper armor are only sitting in position and still have to be glued. The mauler claw is only partly completed.
At this stage the plan is to use this as a Khorne lord of battles. CCW and the deathstorm cannon(gatling). The bloodletter battle head weapon stats cover the twin cannons mounted in the chest.
Alternatively it is the right size for a warhound but i will have to do up an alternative weapon for the right arm. The great thing is that the arm weapons are easily changed as the kit is designed for them to be easily swappable.

So far my impressions are all good. There is a lot of flash on the kit and quite a few bubbles. Most of the bubbles are confined to non critical areas. Although there are some that will need either filling or can be cunningly disguised as battle damage. The flash is all very thin and not an issue at all. Generally all the parts have cleaned up very easily. Poseability is excellent although posing the ankle joint is tricky. The quality of the fit on the torso pieces and armor is truly excellent Absolutely no problems at all. So far building has gone very well. Tonight, the gatling.


----------



## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

I've seen these things before and they are so cool. Shame they have no other models and these ones are so expensive. They have no game system to use them in yet right?

How you thinking of painting it up? And are you going to use it in 40k games (some homebrew datasheets perhaps?)


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

40k definately. Chaos/ Dark Mechanicus. There is a gw datasheed for the khorne lord of battles that is a pretty good fit.


----------



## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

Very nice looking kit! I look forward to seeing more.


----------



## WarlordKaptainGrishnak (Dec 23, 2008)

oooh shiny. Looks nice shaantitus, look forward to seeing the painting begin on him. His head reminds me of this CSM head;










Look forward to more mate


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Sweet looking kit man! I look forward to following your progress on this one.


----------



## qotsa4life (Dec 31, 2009)

Nice work man. I look forward to playing with/against this beast.


----------



## SGMAlice (Aug 13, 2010)

I was wondering when some one would get one of these.
And, with your past work on scatch building Titans, its good to see its you Shaantitus 
I will keep an eye out for progress.

SGMAlice


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

Did a bit more work. Got the gatling together and the mauler claw assembled. Completed all the remaining bits on the feet and mounted the chest cannons and the torso hydraulics.
Torso hydraulics are very tricky. To be honest some blutak is almost a requirement to hold the clevises in place while you size the rods. The mauler claw is a masterpiece of poseability too. The finished piece is very nice indeed. 
The gatling is fantastic and huge. It is actually bigger than the one I scratch built for my reaver and would look good on it too. The only problem with it were some casting imperfections on the inside of the ammo feed. It is a very complex casting and this particular part is well out of sight so it is not a serious issue.
As you can see from the photos I will have to go over the model at the end to fill the joints in the middle of the various flat pannels. But it will be worth it in the end.








The main problem I see with this model is how I am going to pimp it out with some fully sick chaos bling.


----------



## Alexious (Apr 13, 2009)

Interesting work.. look forward to seeing it finished.


----------



## SGMAlice (Aug 13, 2010)

That Gatlng Cannon is impressive indeed. Coming along nicely 

The only area's you can Chaos-ify are the crotch, chest plate and head, maybe the 'Power Fist' and Gatling Cannon. Eight pointed star on its forehead? The 'Fist' looks just like the FW one so doesnt need much; maybe some trim and the Gun can be done the same way.
Legion markings on the chest plate, skulls in a few places. No plates on the legs so you may have to get creative there.

SGMAlice


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking really good mate!!! That thing looks like a beast to assemble.


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

Actually alice the chaos star on the forehead is the best idea yet. I have the fw brass etched chaos symbols that will do the job there nicely. I might put some skeletal remains roasting in the braziers that go on the back.(In the promo photo. I have yet to fit them.) there is also the ankle guards which might provide a good location.


----------



## Silens (Dec 26, 2010)

I dislike the model as a whole, personally, but I think some aspects of it are great. I like the feet, for a start.. They just look more alive than the other ones. I also like the power claw; I think these would make good additions onto a Forge World titan. I don't like the huge shoulders much and I can't say I like a single part of the giant skull face. This WOULD make a great starting point for a large-scale Terminator, though.


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

I like the skull myself, there is an alternative head that is marketed as the Crusader. Similar style to a GK helm.

Made some more progress. Started adding some chaos iconography and as usual I just cannot build a model the way it was intended. I just have to mess with things. The kit came with the claw, the reaper scythe and the vulcan(orded in addition to the standard kit.) I allways intended to use the mount for the scythe for the construction of additional weapon arms. The blade was up to that point unnecessary. Rather than leave it I decided that I wanted to mount it on the back of the claw hand. It seems to have worked reasonably well. Thanks to SGMAlice the icon on the forehead certainly looks the part.


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

It needs spikes, it looks too smooth. Coming along nicely though, I have liked this model since the first time I saw it.


----------



## Klomster (Oct 9, 2008)

I don't think spikes is the primary thing it needs.

It needs chaos arrows.

Although, sikes never hurt............ wait....


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

I have not yet persued the spike option although i have a plan for that. I have however commenced painting. Only base colors so far and plenty still to do.
















In this form he is ready to roll as a Khorne lord of battles. I have a game with it on sunday.
As you can see i had some issues with a fuzzy spray coat. Not the end of the world on a model of this size.


----------



## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Good start man! I can't wait to see this painted up.


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

My son watches the cartoon 'The avengers' quite often. This is 'The Red Skull'.


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

I was about to ask you if that was your inspiration.


----------



## Azkaellon (Jun 23, 2009)

So this thing is what...the size of a FW warhound?


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

That is about right. Around 10-11inches


----------



## papa nurgle (Jan 11, 2010)

SO MUCH AWESOME:shok: That is going to look brilliant!


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

Bit more progress. Not much but it was enough to use it in a game. Where it performed brilliantly, destroying more than three times its points value.


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

looks great!, i have to admit i do like that model, generally i think the stuff many indie companys put out thats clearly designed to fit with 40k fails miserably, but that walker could have walked out of the furnaces of mars and no one would bat an eye lid, FW should consider hireing the sculptor as hes got a talent for that type o thing.


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Looking top titties. Keep it up! Still says it needs more icons though.


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

I do have a spike mod planned. There will be a central row of spikes down the centre of the top of the torso where the red stripe is and across the top of the shoulders too. I think that should be enough. There will also be charred skeletons in the top of the furnace stacks.


----------



## Oakley (Aug 19, 2011)

Looking great there! It would work well and go with the flow of a chaos army, or something of the like. To be honest though, I prefer the Leviathan Crusader. It can be used with Space Marines, Grey Knights, anything really, and I prefer the helmet to the (No offence) ugly head of the Mortis.

That's just my personal preferance though, the Mortis still looks great and is an amazing model, good luck with painting!


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

I like ugly. Reminds me of me.


----------



## humakt (Jan 2, 2008)

This model does look awesomely hugh and imposing. I do like the colour scheme you have chosen.


----------



## Digg40k (Sep 7, 2008)

It looks really good, I like the feet, he looks like he has just bought some new cool trainers.


----------



## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Man that thing is wicked looking. I was stoked to see how this would end up when you started, and I am not disappointed! (I can't wait to see it done and polished)

I feel like it might be a touch too tidy for the feeling of the old chaos epic stuff. I think the spike treatment will really help, but I feel like it needs something else too. They're all really baroque and covered with sculptural decorations. I shelled out moderately serious cash for the Armorcast Cauldron of Blood and Cannon of Khorne, and they recreate a lot of it, though they are _Too_ slavish to the epic models, and end up being kind of simple. It might just be in the painting phase . . . runes and sigils or something inscribing the armor might do it. I'm thinking the inscriptions on Grond in Return of the King . . . 










Cheers,
Kreuger

edit: I'd rep you for this but I've repped you too recently.


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

After a very long time there has been some progress. I have added some of the spikes and chaos trophies to the KLOB(Khorne Lord Of Battles) as he is now referred to. It is not too overstated and seems to work so far. It has been used in several more battles and does one of two things, Either gets into the enemy lines and is absolutely devastating, or draws a stupendous ammount of enemy fire and therefore helps the rest of my army. Loads of fun either way. I have also started doing the washes on the feet and ankle guards anlong with the basecoats on most of the model. I still have to get around to putting the burnt corpses and flames in the two brazier exhausts.


----------

