WIP: Death Guard raptor and warp talon

Death Guard raptor

Today I'm looking at two work-in-progress projects for my modest Death Guard force. The two models featured in this article are finished in their own right, but represent 'test pieces' for their own five-man squads. The image above is of a chaos space marine raptor, the fast attack infantry of the legion, equipped with jump packs. While the rest of his squad will be equipped with the traditional close combat armament of swords and pistols, this one carries a melta-gun, capable of burning a hole in anything within range.

My original plan was to include one squad of raptors. It would feature five close-combat armed models (melta-gun notwithstanding) and would be a simple addition to the army. To some extent, this remains the plan, but a moment of inattention resulted in the accidental addition of a whole other squad.

Death Guard warp talon

I never intended to include warp talons in my army. What happened, however, is that I liked the look of the lightning claws so much that I had a pair painted and glued to a torso on the assumption that I could include them in a regular squad of raptors. A quick look at Codex: Chaos Space Marines told me that apparently this was wrong. Rather than pulling apart the model I'd just made, I instead bought another box and decided to do a squad of each (the boxed set can make five models for either squad). I've yet to paint the rest of either squad, though quite a few bits are undercoated and ready when time permits. I don't know when that will be, but I'm really pleased with the test models.