40k Forgeworld: Space Marine Crimson Minotaur Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought Build

Mortis Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought

Dreadnoughts are great. Unfortunately they don't seem to be hugely competitive in shooty, vehicle hating 6th edition. Still this does not change the fact...dreadnoughts are great. My desire to field one of these classic beasts led me to find the most competitive choice available, which just happens to be one of the prettiest too. The mortis dread is a scary gun platform with the armour of a predator, BS5, a 5+ invulnerable, skyfire when not moving and 2x kheres assault cannons for a total of 12 rending shots! Phew. Dreadnoughts are great.

Building and Posing Tips

Forgeworld kits generally are far more flexible in how you can build and pose than Games Workshops normal plastics. It opens up a world of options but can also lead you into trouble. There are far more ways something can look bad than look good! With that in mind, here are some tips on how to go about your Contemptor build:

• Assemble any none posable parts, guns, engines, torso etc.
• Do some research! Google images for other dreads & infantry. (Copying is helpful!)
• For a run pose, study running figures (Space Marine Vanguard legs are good examples)
• Don't be too ambitious - simpler poses will be easier to pull off well.
• Dry fit everything. Use blue tac to assemble your pose without glueing. This is essential.
• Take your time! It may feel like it is taking ages but once it's done it's unchangeable!

I think keeping it simple is the key. From what I learned assembling Tau XV9s and XV8s is that it is all too tempting to create super dynamic poses that look great in isolation but then altogether in an army on a battlefield they can look a bit odd. It's easy to make them look chaotic and lose army visual coherence.

Once I had the pose I was happy with I took photos of the position, glued the minimum amount in place then unassembled the parts to keep them separate for spraying and painting. I have built up a ruined urban rubble style base from spare parts and bits of metal. Again, this is kept separately as I will be spraying this Chaos black whilst the Contemptor itself will be sprayed Mephiston red.