Voodoo Cryx - Dr. Death

Hello gentlepersons of the internet, today we're going to be discussing my slowly growing alternate army, Cryx. As you know, I like my armies to have a unique feel. I thought long and hard about what to do with my Cryx while still keeping them close to their badass origins. I chose to center my Cryx forces around the dark and mysterious concept of Voodoo. I'm still working on the details and color choices, but some suggestions may be required.

Like all good things, It starts with a Deathjack.

Despite initially knowing nothing about Cryx, It became apparent that Deathjack was too good to ignore. He was my first purchase and probably the only one I ever needed. His stats, point cost, and shear volume of abilities place him in the rankings for best Jack in the game. Like some coked out Frankenstein, I decided to rip him apart, mash pieces together, and reassemble him into my version of a voodoo-machine gone wrong (or right?). The result is a model that will represent my entire army as the Papa of Voodoo himself, my Witch Doctor Deathjack:

Now you may be thinking, "Wait a golly gosh darn minute! Deathjack has 2 open fists, not some shaman magic stick!"Fear not! Years of conversions that some find "distracting" has led me to consider alternative design features. Because of this, Deathjack features a magnetic wrist section for snapping between full-on voodoo badassery and hilariously massive robot hand.

So If you're anything like those hard-ass tournament junkies that can't appreciate someone's creativity in a hobby that encourages it, now you too can enjoy what I've created.

You'll notice that I've stripped away some of Deathjack's original design features. The most obvious of which is the head. While Deathjack's head is awesome in it's own right, I wanted something that screamed Voodoo. The resulting design was taken from an old GW Warriors of Chaos standard I had lying around tweaked with some extra bits. 

A lot of traditional tribal voodoo mask feature skulls and feathers. Since feathers would look kind of silly on a robot, I decided to go with iron protrusions reminiscent of feathers instead.
I included more chains throughout the model as ornamentation  similar to old bone charms and jewelry worn by tribal Witch Doctors. I decided against including one of Deathjack's signature pieces, the so-called "skulls of hate" which originally come in the form of 2 cartoonish skull shoulder pads that I did not care for. I chucked these out and replaced them with my interpretation of "skulls of hate," a ritualistic pile of skulls topped with candles. To me, this tells a better story and immerses the model in my Voodoo world.

Skulls of Hate (Actual hate sold separately)

Another of Deathjack's staples are his 2 spouting exhaust funnels of death and  his massive shoulder-neck-plate-crest-majigger (if unfamiliar with this scientific term, reference Deathjack image at top of post). I've completely fucked with these pieces and i'm prepared to get some hate for it, but I wouldn't hack apart a $55 model if I didn't think it would look decent. I moved the massive neck-plate to his back providing a shell-like feature that helps bulk him up in the back where he needs it, and less on his shoulders that are already huge. Moving this piece exposes a fine piece of detail that most probably don't even know Deathjack has- A SPINE! Once I discovered this design feature, I knew I couldn't cover it up.

I ended up moving almost all the pieces designed to go around his neck to the back, providing him with some extra protection back there. I choose to attribute this design choice to his 360* front arc. Since his ass is now well armored, he can't easily get stabbed in the back by bad guys (or good guys. or girls. or other giant flailing demon robots).You'll also notice I shrunk his 2 massive smokestacks down to 1 moderately sized exhaust pipe. With fewer emissions, Deathjack can focus more on murdering his enemies and less on murdering the environment. What a good guy.

Deathjack: Now made from 70% recycled demon souls!

So there you have it my friends, Voodoo DJ. I still have A few things I want to mess around with before he's complete but I can't start painting him until I nail down my paint scheme. If you guys have any painting suggestions, I would genuinely appreciate it. That's all for now, stay tuned!