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Writer's pictureBlaxkleric

"I Want Fifty Legions Of Sardaukar On Arrakis At Once!"


"This is genocide... The deliberate and systematic destruction of all life on Arrakis."

These four 28mm scale Sardaukar were sculpted by "Big Mr Tong" and can be downloaded for free as part of a ten-figure set of STL (Standard Triangle Language) files from his "Patreon" subscription service. Based upon David Lynch's vision of the Emperor's elite warriors as first seen in his 1984 American science-fiction film "Dune", the miniatures were produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer.


The models were primed in "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and heavily dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. Their belts were then 'picked out using a thin line of "Vallejo" Steel Blue, and their lasguns with Gunmetal. As a final touch, each figure was mercilessly marinated in "Citadel" Nuln Oil (so as to recreate the smoky black appearance of their survival suits as seen on the Silver Screen) and their distinctive green face-visor fabricated using a combination of "Scalecolor" White Alchemy and the "Citadel" Contrast paint Warp Lightning.

"Big Mr Tong" WIPs - These Sentry Robots are ready for their metallics to be applied

Alongside my third submission for the Thirteenth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC), I have managed to progress another five-figure batch of Big Mr Tong's 28mm scale Sentry Robots. I've actually painted ten of these miniatures before, back when I didn't own a 3D printer, yet unlike the ones I bought from “Twisted Pinnacle 3D” on "Etsy", none of the hand-weapons broke off the models during their clean-up.


As a result I wanted to make the quintet stand out a little bit from the others, so looked to Gary Nelson’s 1979 American science fiction film “The Black Hole” for inspiration, and found it with Hans Reinhardt's scathing criticism of Maximillian's security forces following Doctor Kate McCrae's rescue from the Cygnus' Hospital - "Your crack unit, outwitted and outfought by some Earth robot and that antique from storage!"

"Alternative Armies" WIPs - Three Retained Knights all ready for shading

This has caused me to start 'picking out' the metallic panel on the back of their heads in preparation for pigmenting them with "Vallejo" Gunmetal and somewhat awkwardly designating them as part of Maximillian's aforementioned elite force, This detail is actually visible on all the Sentry Robots seen in the film (along with some side plates) but was something I never bothered to pick out on my original ten figures,


Lastly, a clumsy spill (or rather splodge) of "Vallejo" Heavy Red has given me some considerable incentive to finish three (more) 15mm Retained Knights by “Alternative Armies”. In the past I've completed quite a few of these 'beaky' sculpts from the company's "The Ion Age" range to use as proxy space marines, so having had my accident, I quickly dusted down a trio of previously-started (not) Blood Angels, and put what paint I could save to immediate good use...

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planetmut
Jan 14, 2023

The Sardukar are great minis and you've painted them really well, their visors in particular look superb done in that metallicy green. More Black Hole minis? I feel almost bad telling you about them LOL! They're spot-on to the movie's robots and I've added them to my Etsy faves after seeing the great job you've done on yours.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Jan 14, 2023
Replying to

Thanks Matt. I've got a fair few more Sardaukar to come, as I need fifteen for my homemade rules campaign. The beauty of these Sentry Robots is that unlike the ones I got from Etsy, these ones don't have broken laser-guns!! LOL!!!

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undercoat2670
Jan 09, 2023

Those Sardukar look great. The Lynch Dune movie has some great imagery, but for me the Sardukar in the newer version are far superior. Sorry. Those sentry bots are fabulous, but where are Vincent and Bob? Great to see some Blood Angels. They are the best Legion/Chapter after all!!!!

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Jan 09, 2023
Replying to

Cheers Undercoat. I wouldn't know about the new version of the Sardaukar as I haven't been able to watch more than five minutes of the latest movie despite repeatedly attempts - love the Lynch "Dune" too much I guess.


Big Mr Tong hasn't done BOB or VINCENT yet, or any of the other characters from "The Black Hole" for that matter. But if/when he does you can expect to see them.


I've just found a trio of partially-painted (not)Crimson Fists on my painting table, so they'll probably be the next 15mm figs from "The Ion Age" to appear. 😉

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Dai Dead
Dai Dead
Jan 04, 2023

Very nice Dune sculpts and Sentrybots! And a happy accident offers an opportunity to get some more 15mm beanies down too! Not a bad hobby session I think :)

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Jan 04, 2023
Replying to

Thanks Dai. Certainly getting a lot done currently. I've worked out a hobby schedule and some personal challenges/goals - which are really help motivate me. 😁

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wsd50
Jan 04, 2023

Nice work all round mate, the black Sardaukar, well they are black...need I say more!

Good save on the 15mm beakies too, and I've never noticed that about the sentry robots, I'll have to keep an eye out next time it's on.


Cheers Roger.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Jan 04, 2023
Replying to

Cheers Roger. There certainly appears to be a chemical reaction which takes place between the "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil when the shade is thrown on liberally, as the models all have the slightly smoky look to them - at least to the naked eye.


Yes. I didn't spot the silver plates on the back (and sides) of the Sentry Robots in The Black Hole until I started looking at the costumes more closely prior to painting my first batch of figures. But as Big Mr Tong has gone to such effort to sculpt the panels I thought I should at least try to pick some of them out on these guys. 😀

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wargamesterrainworkshop
wargamesterrainworkshop
Jan 04, 2023

The Sardaukar turned out great Simon, just like the original film reference, nice progress on the sentry robots, and good use of the spilled paint to basecoat some of you Ion Age models.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Jan 04, 2023
Replying to

Thanks Dave. That's five Sardaukar done with ten more to go. Plus the Sentry Robots are now all finished, submitted for the AHPC, and should feature in my next posting.


I've usually got quite a few models littering the outskirts of my painting table, so it was a pretty straightforward decision to quickly dust the three Retained Knights down and get a second coat of "Vallejo" Heavy Red on them. It's just a pity that I'd already picked out the black base layer for their weapons, otherwise I could have used them for the AHPC.

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