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Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/03/19 04:21:50


Post by: Veteran Sergeant



It is easy to volunteer to die. Instead, you will endure extreme pain and hardship with unflinching resolve.”

-Avitus Varro, Academy Headmaster, Invectors Chapter


Brother Gnaeus Corto, Squad Lepidus, 5th Company, Invectors

Cited for Ingenuity and Valor, Boarding Action, 999.M41


Quick links:
Primaris/True Scale Size Comparison Page 18
Perry Wars of the Roses Page 17
40K Skaven, Mordheim, Deathwatch, Tau Page 16
X-Wing Magnets, B-Wing and TIE Defender Conversions Page 15
Eldar Corsairs, Genestealer Cult, Necrons Page 14
True Scale and Posing TUTORIAL, Squats Page 12
Steel Legion (or DKoK) Ogryns Page 11
Compact Bolt Pistol and Heavy Weapons Conversions Page 7









 

When I was kid in the 90s playing RT and 2nd Edition, I had always wanted to have my own Battle Company of Marines. Problem was, I never had the money available to just flat out waste on frivolous, excessive Space Marines. However now, as an adult, I find myself better funded.

However, it would be too easy to just buy 100 Space Marines. Anyone with cash to blow can have 100 Space Marines. Nope, I'm going to convert them all. All of them. Everything in my army will be converted, somehow, no matter how small. 

Very quickly, I decided that my project would address my long standing problems with Space Marine models:

  • They are too short, obviously. Space Marines should be 7-7.5 foot super-soldiers. The GW human figures are probably just too tall, but too late to fix that; gotta make the Marines bigger.

  • Marines need to be loaded for bear and look like they could actually fight a war. So all of my figures would have ammunition pouches, grenades, combat knives, etc, in a realistic configuration.

  • All the Marines should have helmets because no good Marine would be without his helmet. It's just dumb. Encased in nearly impenetrable ceramite, only to leave you nugget exposed, and lose all the life support, communications, imaging and targeting enhancements of the helmet? Silly.


  • Also, the Battle Company had to be "Counts As", WYSIWYG for the all existing codex lists (why make it easy?).

    My last challenge was to only use Mk VII parts, but also ensure that every model had a character of its own. This of course is not going to be easy with a whopping fifty two bolter Marines in a Battle Company, and forcing them to wear helmets.
     
    So, there you go. No mixing and matching armor marks. Too easy. No bare heads. Too easy. I'm taking away pretty much any shortcuts for the maximum amount of posing and conversion challenge.

    So I set to work, with some plastic card, and a dream. A lot of these early ones are old photos of rough prototypes that I didn't fully sand, or gap fill, etc. Excuse any rough early modeling problems. At first, I wasn't sure how tall I wanted them to be. So I went with 1mm extensions to the thighs (which I thought were too short anyway) and an extra .5mm at the waist.



    The tall walking stance makes him a bit taller than he actually is, but it was a good start. Next to him are Hasslefree's McKenzie (part of my new Imperial Guard project), a 2E metal Cadian, and Sgt Bylkow (one of of my favorite Squat models). Left his weapon off for the detail.



    Decided this wasn't tall enough. So I moved up to 1mm at the waist. This was starting to give the height I wanted, but I only had about 25 or so walking legs, and they aren't cheap on EBay, and well, if they were all walking it would be a bit homogenous. So the firing stance models had to retain height too.




    So now it was time to start working on some individual models.

    This guy was posed to be pulling a grenade off of his belt. But instead of using a pre-posed hand, I cut and repositioned one of the bolter support arms, bent the fingers closed around a grenade separated from the grenade bundles.


    Bolter Marines:



    Arms have all been cut and re-positioned, for two reasons. The standard "hip firing" bolter cradle formed by the arms in stock form looks dumb. And second, I wanted some more dynamic looking poses, not just the more realistic ones.



    The metal arm is from an old Devastator sergeant.



    I always liked the old Auspex, in theory. But the bit for it seems way too big and way too clunky. So, in some of my musings (yet to be revealed), I thought about a flip up wrist display.



    Of course, un-drilled barrels was out of the question, so that was rectified. Some of the models have weird poses, but that's because eventually they will all be based. So they may not stand flat on the standard bases.


    Now I needed some special weapons. I present the shortened Assault Pattern flamers and meltaguns:



    Some more Marines:

    Mid draw. Arm cut and the the fingers bent to be around the grip of the knife.



    I have decided that the heavy weapons Marines will have the helmets with the extra targeter mounted on it. Plus, I decided the Tactical Squad Heavy Botlers will have box mags instead of the giant belt fed apparatus. Devastator Squad HB's will have the belt apparatus, but I figured Tactical Squads would need more portable weapons. This is an early version, and I have since modified the box mag to be better looking. Plus, there will be Bolter Marines from the rest of the squads who will be carrying extra heavy weapon ammo (missiles or bolter mag boxes).


    This one is the newest. A severely in-progress WIP. I wanted to inflect some more Rogue Trader era brutality to this army. I'm a huge fan of the darker, more brutal Space Marines of the old days. This one needs a ton of work, obviously, but here's the start. The Tau helmet mounted on the shoulder pad came from the Chaos tank sprue, and was clipped and filed down to match the shoulderpad contours. The idea of a mounted helmet came from the multitude of RT era drawings with severed heads. But I didn't want it to be too brutal and cross into Chaos tainted territory. I feel the Chaplain, once he's been modeled up, will be keeping a close eye on Brother Brutus.


    The severed head is a Wood Elf sorceress head, the hand is the Grey Knight Daemonette head hand. The Dark Eldar is a classic 3rd Edition warrior that we had piles of from the three 3rd Edition boxed sets we had that nobody ever bothered to assemble. The helmet is a Black Templar helmet with studs, to mix up some of the helmet appearances. Plus, I think it makes Brother Brutus look a bit more harsh and maybe a bit more unbalanced and potentially vicious.

    Part of the feeling I'm trying to evoke with this "army" is that of how I envision the Space Marines. These guys are seven foot, functionally immortal, genetically engineered super warriors. Human, but something more than human, and something a little less. I want to illustrate that they are both completely ruthless towards xenos. I plan to have not just Marines brutalizing the Eldar corsairs (that way I can utilize both Dark Eldar and regular Eldar) I've decided the Marine Company is fighting, but also abusing Eldar prisoners out of a complete disregard. But I also want to hit on the Marine commitment to humanity. Show them protecting children, or wounded Guardsmen. I've got a pretty amazing idea for an objective marker that you guys will have to wait for.


    But, it turns out, they weren't quite tall enough yet, and I was still trying to give them perfect proportions. So I added a 1mm spacer to the shins:



    Did it work? Let's ask Leonardo Da Vinci





    Anyhow, I hope this work interests you guys. I'll try to keep this getting updated now that I've committed. Sorry for some of the mold lines I didn't file, lol. Sorry for some of the legs that haven;t been filed smooth and flat where they have been extended A lot of these pictures have been taken in progress over the last couple months, being send to my buddies via email for critique. So they don't all represent the current states of the figs. But, taking new photos is way too much effort right now. But as I go along I'll try to give you guys some ideas where it is at. Right now, my Battle Company is about 25% complete. So you guys should get to see pretty much the entire evolution of it.


    Thanks for any thoughts you guys have. Especially any criticisms, ideas you don't like, etc. I'm definitely open for anything constructive or suggestions.



    Follow my Wordpress Blog for a more comprehensive look at my hobby
    http://veteransergeant.wordpress.com/

    And it's got a Facebook Page too.
    https://www.facebook.com/LeaveNoModelUnconverted


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/11 02:51:51


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Been slow going recently with my school, work, gym and gf schedule, but I did end up re-doing Brother Brutus because I got quite a bit of feedback that said it looked like he was sodomizing the poor dead guy with his bolter, and questions about where his sling was.

    Originally I had no intention to include a sling since the Marines are supposed to have mag-clamps. But I decided to see if I could make a futuristic one point rig-sling using a staple. In the real world, one point slings aren't terribly popular with operators anymore because the dangling rifle has the annoying tendency to want to smack you in the junk. But, I figure if you have a plasteel and ceramite codpiece, you can risk it. Not sold on it. May end up removing it, and going back to the mag-clamp.

    I made a new corpse too. I really liked the look of the slumped over one I originally had. It looked natural, and brutal, for a body that had just had its head hacked free, and fallen forward against the Marine before coming to rest on the ground. But I don't want the figure to be comical. I want it to be a little horrifying, or at least disturbing, lol. Really trying to capture the brutality of the Space Marines. I'm willing to have a little fun with these guys, but at the same time I want them to be intimidating like they should be.



    Anyhow, I didn't get any feedback on here the first time, but I figure I'd give it another shot. Full size pics can be found in my gallery.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/11 03:02:23


    Post by: JohnnoM


    these are looking great, what colour scheme are they gonna be?

    Also, with Givenicus, wouldnt he just have had his arm removed, and replaced with a bionic one?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/11 03:12:48


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Done some painting work, using old figures that I won't be able to use for the Tall Scale Company. They're all color tests, to see what color scheme, style and technique I want to use. But I won't post any of it here until I have finalized my decision on a paint scheme.

    And his wound is going to be current, not an old one. I just haven't decided how I am going to model it yet. Still trying to decide what kind of wound it is going to be. Essentially, the model isn't finished. He's going to end up with a horrible wound. Don't worry, the poor guy hasn't been saddled with a floppy arm.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/11 03:21:34


    Post by: ashotninja


    im loving the ideas you have for creating a personalised army, i have the same idealogy for mine when it comes to conversions.

    i agree with many points you made initialy about the marines sizes and lack of equipment... making a iconic space marine fit within the ideals of a current military is alot of work, but it will definitly be worth it.

    i also have to say how good your ideas of making them keep thier helmets on and the flip up auspex is genius.

    check this out.....
    http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss269/ninjacustom/corpssquadmember.jpg

    i came up with this guy a while ago with the same intention you have for creating yours... i didnt get around to doing much past the protoype... i put a 3 mag chest rig on him, battlebelt and put an eo-tech on his bolter.


    Overall mate, good work so far... definitly keeping up with this because this is something ive been meaning to do myself.... so ... subbed!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/13 18:36:03


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I like it. My only concern would be with the magazines up that high they would be difficult to extract from their pouches. One thing you might consider is shortening the pouches. I clip about 1-1.5mm off the bottom of the pouches so that they are slightly shorter for fitment, but also because it brings them closer in line with the length of the bolter mags (accounting for the fact that part of the mag is inside the bolter obviously).

    Otherwise, I like the paint scheme. Some of the old Rogue Trader era pictures of Marines in camo were great. There's one of some Space Wolves hiding in ambush on some Orks that I've always loved.

    Actually, your model has given me an idea. I don't know how you made the the EOTech, but it makes me wonder if I can make optics out of sprue rails in a similar fashion.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/16 00:05:07


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Here's a better picture of that Auspex Marine and his pose. He's actually tied for my favorite between him and Brother Brutus as well.



    Amusingly enough, he was just a test model to prove the auspex concept for an upcoming model in the Command Squad. I think there will be an auspex Marine in ever squad. I mean, there's enough of those useless bits lying around, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/16 00:26:16


    Post by: Perkustin


    The latest guy is very cool. Really characterful.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/16 05:00:53


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    The first of my magnetized Sergeants. He's mostly completed.


    Right now he only has three options (chainsword not shown), but I'll get around to it. His right leg has a tiny magnet to hold a bolt pistol to it for situations when it would be needed for the model. May end up giving him another tiny magnet for holding meltabombs.

    Fixed my Heavy Bolter guy too. Wasn't pleased with my sloppier box magazine.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/16 05:33:36


    Post by: grrrfranky


    Very nice work here, especially with the poses. I shall be watching with interest.

    grrr


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/17 19:57:00


    Post by: CadianXV


    Excellent work! Loving the gritty look you've achieved with the misc. parts.
    To clarify, are you adding 1mm plasticard to the thighs and waist to achieve your results? As you may have inspired me to attempt one or two of these.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/17 20:37:38


    Post by: Axlbush


    I echo CadianXV.

    What tools are you using to cut the legs? I've tried it and it just turns into a mess


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/17 21:19:53


    Post by: evildrcheese


    Loving this. Really great models, it's gonna be a sweet looking army.

    I look forward to watching it develop. Sub'd

    D


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/17 23:20:08


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Axlbush wrote:What tools are you using to cut the legs? I've tried it and it just turns into a mess
    I'm working entirely with basic tools at this point. Just exacto blades. Gotta buy a ton of them as they dull quickly with this kind of hard work. I use the old ones to cut the plastic card since it gets clipped and filed anyway. There are probably better tools, but I've got a ton of exacto blades and I'm lazy (sounds bizarre considering I put an hour or more into the basic construction of each of these guys, lol).


    To answer the other question: The legs are 1mm. The waist is 1.5mm. However, there are examples in there of 1mm. It's only a slight difference. The outer left and right models are 1mm. The one in the center is 1.5mm.



    For those asking, you can also see the difference in the placement of the cuts. I've moved to almost exclusively cutting along the hip joint for two reasons. Easier to file down, and also imperfections are better hidden by all the gear.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/20 23:39:03


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So have you ever wondered why the bolt pistols don't fit in the holsters that are on the Marine sprues?


    The answer is Games Workshop doesn't care, lol. However, the new answer is because they are holding the Horatius Pattern Bolt Sidearm. A defensive weapon, it has a six round magazine, and was named after a legendary Space Marine hero whose troops held a bridge for a day and a night against an onslaught of Orks before reinforcements could arrive.

    The Horatius pattern bolt pistol has been sliced down the center, with the inside faces filed down to make the weapon skinnier, the front sight trimmed off, and the magazine shortened. It's not a perfect fit in the holster, but it is close enough for heroic scale work, lol. I still need to decide how to give it a stubby barrel protruding, but I thought you guys might like the new figure.

    This Marine has dropped his rifle to transition to his sidearm for immediate threat engagement.


    Some detail shots of the weapon itself:


    I haven't decided whether or not to put the front sight back on or not. It's perfectly believable it could be flip up. At the same time, the Marines don't actually use the iron sights on these weapons, so hey. The front end of the weapon looks flared in the picture for some reason, but it is not that way in reality.

    The right arm is from the gunner arms on the vehicle sprue. I may bend the fingers on the left hand to "wrap" the firing hand better. The post is a close approximation of the traditional isosceles pistol stance, with the offhand wrapped around the front of the firing hand in the push/pull bracing and recoil compensation method.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/21 01:15:25


    Post by: ryanroberts


    I shall keep watching this! At last, someone with the ideas to make SM fit into the literature and hype!

    Keep it up! Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

    Have you thought about vehicles at all? The Rhino blatantly has no where near enough room to carry 10 marines plus driver!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/21 07:11:53


    Post by: Rogue Wolves


    you have some promise here, wish i saw this cool bolt pistol before i made my recent guardsmen, but dont worry, I'll just have to give it to one of my commanders instead! (im subscribed)


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/21 08:37:53


    Post by: Illumini


    This looks very promising.

    The enlargement is impressive in both its simplicity and its effect. I think that is one of the best enlargements I've seen.

    The entire body of the eldar corsair on the base is a bit much IMO. Not the idea behind it, I really love the whole humane/psychotic thing you want to show, but the body just takes up too much space on the base. I think the effect would be better if you made some amazing objective markers like a marine executing a line of kneeling corsairs or something and then just used smaller things like heads and torsos to show the theme in your miniatures.

    I am also a fan of taking advantage of the fact that half the codexes are space marine ones. Magnets are your friend


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/21 10:41:49


    Post by: Two Spartan


    Good work on the flip out auspex! Really looks ace, so simple so brilliant.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/26 20:43:24


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    ryanroberts wrote:I shall keep watching this! At last, someone with the ideas to make SM fit into the literature and hype!

    Keep it up! Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

    Have you thought about vehicles at all? The Rhino blatantly has no where near enough room to carry 10 marines plus driver!
    I have a ton of vehicles. Some assembled, some not. As far as up-scaling the vehicles, probably not. The Rhinos are slightly undersized, but not nearly as bad as the original ones (I have several lying around. It remains to be seen if they get reclaimed for this project or stay in the "nostalgia box" of old stuff). Instead, I'm going to focus on trying to give them a little character of their own. But I'm glad you like the figures. It's been my intention to make Space Marines that look like Marines in Space.

    Rogue Wolves wrote:you have some promise here, wish i saw this cool bolt pistol before i made my recent guardsmen, but dont worry, I'll just have to give it to one of my commanders instead! (im subscribed)
    It's a little out of character for a universe with giant dual wielding sociopathic super warriors, but the Horatius Pattern Bolt Pistol is one of my favorite creations so far. It will probably look pretty good in the hands of a Guard officer too. Marine scale bolt weapons always look a bit unwieldy in the hands of Guardsmen. Hope the instructions for the process were clear (not that it's terrible complicated to execute).

    Two Spartan wrote:Good work on the flip out auspex! Really looks ace, so simple so brilliant.
    The bonus is, if you are careful with your lengthwise cutting, you can use the bottom half of the "buttons" and the top half of the screen, glue them together, and stick it on a second model as one in the closed position.

    Glad you guys like this so far. I've got another four and a half guys on the workstation waiting for me to decide how to pose them. Hopefully I'll have some new figures to add soon. I've decided the next squad entry will be a Devastator Squad, and then I'll finally get around to kitting an Assault Squad. My intent is to do one as a straight Assault Squad, and a second with magnetized arms/weapons so it can magically change to a Vanguard Vet Squad (even though it isn't a popular game choice, I still want to be able to represent it).


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/26 20:56:34


    Post by: grrrfranky


    Looking good, and i may have to steal the idea. For the waist insertion, do you have any wip shots without all the extra gear?

    thanks, grrr


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/26 21:28:51


    Post by: Stealershock


    Damn you, now not only do i have to strip the 30 marines i have lying around waiting for a new paint job, but i have to put serious thought into stripping down the ones i have already painted and cutting everything up to do this to them.

    seriously though, absolutely loving this project, and i can't wait to see more of it


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/26 21:33:56


    Post by: progreen10


    Veteran Sergeant wrote:






    only joking, good work!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/04/30 00:49:22


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    WAAAAGGHH-god wrote:Damn you, now not only do i have to strip the 30 marines i have lying around waiting for a new paint job, but i have to put serious thought into stripping down the ones i have already painted and cutting everything up to do this to them.
    Sorry!


    So I decided to reclaim some old metal heavy weapons. Took a solid bath in simple green to strip the paint, and whatever madness I used to paint this guy's weapon way way back in the day was quite stubborn.

    But, in the spirit of capturing the feel of Rogue Trader, I bring a 2nd Edition las cannon.

    Cut the right arm from an assault Marine's bolt pistol, filed and re-positioned it to fit the grip of the old heavy weapons. Then I took the bracing arm from the missile launcher, clipped the hand and rotated it to properly brace the position of the lascannon.

    And here he is with his other two Devastator brothers:





    The metal lascannon on the right has a nice, weighty feel to it, but damn, is it a pain to glue it together. I had forgotten about that, lol. You get spoiled working with all plastics. Obviously the missile launcher will eventually have something under his foot that he is stepping on.

    The next magnetized Sergeant is in the works, but I haven't finished any left arm options yet, lol. He's a bit more dynamically posed than the first guy.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/05 03:55:01


    Post by: Quintinus


    Veteran Sergeant wrote:This one is the newest. A severely in-progress WIP. I wanted to inflect some more Rogue Trader era brutality to this army. I'm a huge fan of the darker, more brutal Space Marines of the old days.


    Same here. Consider me subscribed, I'm looking forward to more brutality. You also have to put "kil kil kil" on a couple guys' shoulder pads.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/05 19:50:37


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Vladsimpaler wrote:
    Veteran Sergeant wrote:This one is the newest. A severely in-progress WIP. I wanted to inflect some more Rogue Trader era brutality to this army. I'm a huge fan of the darker, more brutal Space Marines of the old days.


    Same here. Consider me subscribed, I'm looking forward to more brutality. You also have to put "kil kil kil" on a couple guys' shoulder pads.
    There was never a chance that this wasn't happening.

    I've actually been combing the old artwork in my book collections to make sure I get references to as much RT stuff as I can. If I end up making any Beakies, you can be sure one of them will get the rhinocerous horn, and if you know RT, you know what I refer to, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/05 20:15:47


    Post by: Quintinus


    Veteran Sergeant wrote:
    Vladsimpaler wrote:
    Veteran Sergeant wrote:This one is the newest. A severely in-progress WIP. I wanted to inflect some more Rogue Trader era brutality to this army. I'm a huge fan of the darker, more brutal Space Marines of the old days.


    Same here. Consider me subscribed, I'm looking forward to more brutality. You also have to put "kil kil kil" on a couple guys' shoulder pads.
    There was never a chance that this wasn't happening.

    I've actually been combing the old artwork in my book collections to make sure I get references to as much RT stuff as I can. If I end up making any Beakies, you can be sure one of them will get the rhinocerous horn, and if you know RT, you know what I refer to, lol.


    Haha of course! You also will need to give them the shark teeth on the side like in the artwork as well. I'll just post it up here because it's a really cool piece.
    Another funny reference is the "Have a nice day" on the side of the Dark Angel's bolter in the main rulebook.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/05 20:32:58


    Post by: ishkatar


    According to the style of your conversions, I think the left hand handle of the Heavy Bolter can use a more classic approach, e.g. like chainsaw grip, since the original one is rather ridiculous and unrealistic, well, at least by my taste...
    Anyway, great stuff! I like where this is going. Keep it up!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/09 21:01:40


    Post by: tinyblob


    I'm from the RT era too, and I absolutely love this project.

    This is what space marines are supposed to be. I'd love to be able to pull this off, and I'd love Games Workshop to actually move them in this direction, losing some of the pomp and ceremony that they have now.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/11 01:50:10


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I'm glad you like it so far. To be honest, the good news is, there's not a whole lot involved in this project aside from a small bits investment (Ebay has some decent deals if you look and are patient). You don't have to be a master class modeler to create them.

    That said, school is finished for the semester this week, so I should finally have time to work on this project again with regularity, assuming I don't end up spending all my free time at the beach, lol. Sadly I am not a very dedicated nerd anymore.

    The good news? I got a new toy in the mail yesterday. More good news: If it goes down the way I want it to, I think people are going to really like it. The bad news? Yeah, it's a much bigger and more involved project than anything else I've ever done, so it's probably not going to see the light for a while. :( I should have some the Devastator Squad rounded out soon, at which point I'm going to assemble an HQ so at least the Battle Company will be a legal army.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/13 23:56:01


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Been super busy, but here are a couple of new guys. Semester is coming to an end, work will have finally settled down, so I should be able to get back on the wagon.



    On the right, is Brother Lefty. Marines are ambidextrous, but there's no reason to fire left handed unless you have to. But sometimes perhaps there's a wall or something to fire around. I feel like left handedness is close to heresy though, so perhaps Brother Lefty will be under close Chaplain scrutiny too.

    On the left is my reloading brother. He's in mid action, having dropped the empty mag on the run and is moving to his pouches for a spare. Not 100% happy with him yet, so I may end up re-posing the left arm at a different angle.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/22 10:38:22


    Post by: DavyCookie


    These are fantastic, I'll definately be following this thread from now on, alot of inspiration, I'll be starting a second Marine army when I finish my Wolves and I will most definatelly be converting them after seeing this


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/22 10:48:00


    Post by: DijnsK


    great work! count me sub'd


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/22 16:08:10


    Post by: tarar2d2


    This is great work, however can i suggest that you make the reloading marine look down as if he is searching for the mag?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/22 21:37:13


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Thanks guys. As far as the reloading brother, I will probably leave him as is. After years of drilling as a Marine, I could fetch new mags out of pouches second nature. I figure after decades of drilling, the act of reloading is instinctive, and astonishingly fast. I am stuck capturing an instant of action in an extremely fast movement, lol. I won't lie, I chose the easy way out. Anywhere else in the action would have been a lot more complicated to model.

    I will have some new pics soon. Took my laptop in for some warranty work and it's too much effort to format via smartphone so I will do it tomorrow at work, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/22 22:04:56


    Post by: Imperial Monkey


    The problem with he reloading guy i think is the changes you've made to the legs. When in normal SM scale the legs look great for a charging marine, however when it comes to your conversion to true-scale the legs lose their look of forward momentum a bit...certainly from the photo there he looks a lot more upright than a charging marine would. Looks good otherwise. I like lefty - its nice to have a marine that has gone down a different path.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/23 16:18:29


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I think it is more of the angle of the picture. The Marine isn't supposed to be charging, simply walking forward anyway. I've actually created some exaggerated running poses for other models, but I didn't want that guy to look like he was going balls out. He's supposed to look calm and moving forward. If I've missed the mark on that, I'll go back and revisit the model.

    Anyhow, as promised, a couple new guys. My most recent projects have been time consuming, including reclaiming my old metal/plastic Land Raider Crusader that I foolishly, in my youth, glued the hurricane bolter sponsons on behind the side embark doors. Took a long while to fix, and my fingers hurt afterwards. But I'm a lot happier with the model now. I was never going to be able to mentally reconcile the idea of the guns having to cease firing while the squad jumped out, lol. Fortunately I finished a few new infantry models first.

    First up is my first Assistant Gunner. Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers go through a lot of ammunition. Therefore, for every HB or ML model in my army, there will be a companion model in the squad carrying spare ammunition. In the Marines we call these guys Assistant Gunners, and the job often falls to the new guy. Sucks to be the new guy when you might be the new guy for a decade or more.




    After that, I have two new "looters". The guy on the left has picked up an exarch's shuriken catapult as a souvenir. Or maybe for heretical use. Who knows? This is Rogue Trader after all.

    The second guy has mounted the skull from a Tau Auxiliary from the unit's previous campaign on his shoulderpad. The unfortunate donor was a fantasy Lizardman from the old boxed set I bought at some point and had never used. I filed off any skin detail, removed the eyeballs, and then hollowed out the underside of the mouth.








    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/23 17:06:28


    Post by: DavyCookie


    I fairly enjoy the looters, it makes a bit of sense, everyone would like a memory of a successful battle!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/25 17:20:23


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    The prototype for my custom built Combimeltas, currently magnetized to a Sergeant.





    This solution for combi-meltas will be ridiculously cheaper than buying the official bits, and I like the look of it. I think as I perfect the process,the subsequent ones should look much better. The flat top to the melta barrel works aesthetically to provide clearance for the bolter barrel. The power source is from a multa bomb cut lengthwise and narrowed. I think i may go back and shave some of the details off of the rifle like the eagle.

    The power fist was cut free from the "punching" pose at the shoulder,and reattached to a regular shoulder mount in order to achieve the less ridiculous pose, while retaining the closed fist look.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/25 20:23:45


    Post by: adamsouza


    This is a great idea.

    Are you pinning and puttying the gap between the legs or is that a plasticard spacer ?

    I was thinking of using plasticard for a similar project. I haven't been excited about Marines in years, but making tall marines would suit me. Marines and Guardsman standing eye to eye has been a thorn in my side for years.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/26 02:16:08


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Depending on the cuts and the original set of legs, some of the models will need gaps filled, but right now it is all plastic card and cement. For durability, you probably could pin them, but this is a hobby project more than a gaming project. Probably won't see a tremendous amount of table time.

    A lot of this project came from the fact that I played both IGuard and Marines for years and it always bothered me. Eventually I want to ressurect my IGuard too, with Squats! I love the little bastards. So much character in the old Squat figs. Mix in some new Guard figs too as veterans or something.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/26 08:39:40


    Post by: adamsouza


    I feel your pain. I love my Marines and Guard, but I won't put them side by side..

    You've gotten pretty good results with this approach. I will try something similar the next time I work on Marines.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/26 13:51:20


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I am hoping to have a "new Guard" model soon so that you guys can see what the size differential is with current models. My IGuard company has remained mostly untouched since 2rd Edition and was built with the 2nd Edition codex. So nearly all of its models are classic metal Cadians (or Squats, ftw). And none of them since the age of the modern plastic kits.

    However, any new Guardsmen will have to be converted too, of course.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/28 15:21:58


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    It's been asked here, and was posed on another forum, how the arms are modified to make these poses.

    Here's the example of how you can file the soft armor at the joints to fix the hand positions, or as in this case, create an entirely unique pose. The arm has also been cut at the shoulder and rotated to 90 degrees horizontal to help achieve the desired look. Left wrist was sliced behind the wrist to rotate the support hand to grip the rifle.



    So you can see the arm cuts, I'll show you the magnetized power fist from the most recent Sergeant. This arm was actually the "punching" power fist that was cut from it's shoulder piece and fit to a standard shoulder to achieve the hanging look. I have three of those fists, so I wanted some variation. Figured I'd test proof of concept and try to mod it. I feel it was successful. As you can see, nothing sophisticated here. Wish I'd taken process photos of it. I clipped the tubes free from the arm, then sliced them at an angle to make the arm fit flat to the body, but make it look like the cables were disappearing under the should pad when it was actually assembled.



    As you can see, it looks rough as hell when by itself. I'm going to finish it with gap fill and some more clean-up, but this is what it looks like when it is on the model:



    Like I've said, no need to masterclass as a modeler to achieve a solid table-top appearance. The shadow hides the detail, but that was the best I could do with awkward lighting angles and no professional light box.

    Here's a last one with the top down so you can see that with proper wrist rotation, the bolters will remain straight up and down. Wrist positioning is key, because if you just try to rotate the arms, you'll end up with odd angles. Both wrists on this model have been cut to achieve this look.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/05/30 04:35:13


    Post by: chrisyella


    Very impressive work, absolutely love the poses that you have!
    Thanks for showing how to obtain the sweet arm and hand poses

    Going from the comparison shots on the first page the scale looks spot-on IMHO and even with the marines loaded with kit they don't look cluttered. Well done!

    Subbed for sure.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/01 14:23:25


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Thanks. I think the height helps them look less cluttered. Plus, I take about 1mm off the bottom of the mag pouches to make them look less gigantic.

    Anyhow, I've been industrious (for me). I finished the first Combat Squad of Assault Marines. Back on the first page was my lone Assault Marine. Well, he's got four buddies now.








    Nothing terribly exciting about those guys, and they all need finishing touches. I was just glad to have sat down for a while and gotten some more work done. They are spaced 1.5mm at the waist and 1mm at the hips, with a krak grenade as part of their belt kit. I'd love to have krak grenades for all of the Marines in the Company, but they are a lot more rare than the frag grenades that come in every Marine sprue, so more expensive as bits. I've been salvaging them from friends who have Grey Knights and such. But I'd realistically need about 100 of them, haha. All the Marines have been clipped at various joints to create unique poses. Except the running guy. I was actually able to achieve the desired result with stock arms. If you notice the guy with the extended right arm, that's actually been done by taking an extended left arm and cutting it free and swapping the middle section to the right arm, and the reverse for the right arm, so you have a 90 degree left, and extended right, which isn't part of the normal sprue options.

    And here is my other madness. I've been wanting to do this for a while, and had to figure out the best way. I'll show him before the commentary.





    That's right folks, it's a multi-laser, lol. C.S. Goto was right all along. That, and everyone knows that Marine Special Weapons troopers can have a multi-laser on a roll of 91-00. Duh.

    Veteran Brother Anachronus has the honor of carrying the Chapter's prized relic, an ancient (Space Marine) man-portable multi-laser. A weapon no longer in common use amongst the Marines, the multi-laser has been well cared for and passed down from generation to generation of Marines. Large and unwieldy, even for Marine Heavy weapons, ever since its suspensors stopped functioning properly, Veteran Brother Anachronus stays in shape by practicing back flips during the long periods of time between battles.

    I will probably treat this as a Counts As Heavy Bolter or Lascannon since Marine-deployable Multi-lasers are probably not coming back after 20 years MIA. But it should make for an entertaining conversation piece. It still needs some work because the right arm had to essentially be constructed from three different arms, and spacered under the shoulder in order to achieve the right angle. The multi-laser itself is from a Sentinel, with the barrel shortened, the under-rail clipped off and a bolter grip inserted, plus the power pack having been cut down and fitted onto the side to look like a removable power pack. As you can see, using .5mm card and creativity, I created a spare power pack on his hip. A third spare will go to an A-Gunner just like the Heavy Bolters have.

    The Squat Standard Bearer is there because, well, he's awesome.

    The Battle Company is almost halfway done now. Well, halfway minus the closet full of unassembled tanks, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/02 10:37:06


    Post by: Axlbush


    Dude, you are right. That squat is an amazing model! Boy i miss them guys.

    Sorry, I've been following this thread for a while but not commented. Loving your work and am probably gonna use your technique to make my commander taller than his men.
    Think my favourite is the guy a few pics up with his bolter pointed down at an angle. Lovely work. How have you achieved that angle? Have you used something other than GS on the wrist?




    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/04 14:17:58


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    There's actually no Green Stuff involved in that pose. The wrist was cut in two places. Once behind the hand itself, and again right in front of the armored "wrist ring" This left the soft armor by itself, which on the stock arm, creates an upward tilt. I rotated it around to create a downward angle instead. In hindsight, a "safer" way to do this would be to cut behind the wrist ring, since it can be rotated along the arm and you don't run the risk of damaging the much finer details of the soft armor.

    I have used bits out of a ton of kits, and there are tons I haven't even gotten around to using yet, lol. But so far, the only things on these models that isn't created directly out of GW kits and sprue are the plastic card extensions.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/13 18:47:07


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    A little something different from my workbench. Because, you know, focus and efficiency has never been an issue with this project and I've got so much free time.



    Pictures didn't come out too clear, but it was a proof of concept model for an additional squad that will be added to my Imperial Guard. He's just a test model and will probably be disassembled in favor of a different set-up and Catachan legs, but I wanted to see what it looked like when done. The arms have both been re-posed, but the distinct change I made was his shortened up las-carbine because, well, the un-augmented human figures look a bit silly holding those gigantic lasguns the current plastics come with. He's supposed to be some kind of top-tier Guardsman to be represented in game as a Veteran or Stormtrooper. Perhaps a member of the command squad or an augment? I've added a respirator to him which will eventually have straps, as will the lasgun have a sling. When I was a Marine, I loved that carry and referred to it as Weak Side Samurai Style, even though traditionalists hate it because it puts the barrel into dirt if you aren't careful. With a two or three point sling, however, it's a great way to get a weapon out of the way for using your hands without taking it off completely, but maintain control of it.

    I really like this lasgun. All it needs is a new barrel, which will probably be done up with plastic tube. It will also look good in the hands of my plastic Squats. I may go full-stupid and slim it down along its axis like I did with the Horatius Pattern bolt pistol just so it matches the slimmer structure of the older lasguns on my metal Cadians.

    Anyhow, I should probably have some new Marines done soon, and I'll try to take an accounting of the existing squads and some of the vehicles. Getting closer to a finalized paint scheme too, so who knows, some of them may eventually have paint.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/14 12:50:01


    Post by: Wh40kPicasso


    Good stuff, i always enjoy someone breaking away from the stereotype. Also i agree that space marines shouldn't be FEMA workers with oversized machine guns. This isn't the UN and "we cant hear you whining, the gun shots are too loud!"

    overall, good work, love the character it gives them, as all space marines are individuals? Don't tell the Inquisition i said that!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/14 13:34:12


    Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


    Never been a fan of Imperial Space Marines but I'm all about unique and skilled modeling. The conversions you have here are interesting to look at, full of individual character, and all are excellently done! Well done all around. Subbed and will be back.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/15 14:31:51


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Wh40kPicasso wrote:Good stuff, i always enjoy someone breaking away from the stereotype.
    Thanks. Though I prefer to think that I'm breaking back into the stereotype.

    Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:Never been a fan of Imperial Space Marines but I'm all about unique and skilled modeling. The conversions you have here are interesting to look at, full of individual character, and all are excellently done! Well done all around. Subbed and will be back.
    Thanks. I agree. Space Marines are pretty bland out of the box. While I think Chaos Marines are a bit too overstated (Did I really just use the term "too overstated" in reference to 40k?) the way Games Workshop envisions them, they do often tend to be a bit more flavorful than their current incarnation loyalist buddies. Hopefully Chaos gets some new plastics soon. And hopefully without those stupid belt fed bolters. If it had been one or two bolters per sprue, it wouldn't be a big deal, but 4/5 Chaos bolters have that silly belt hanging out of them. Makes me cringe as I try to figure out A: How they load it, and B: why they only carry such a limited amount of ammunition, lol. There's no way the bolts are actually that big.


    Anyhow, I've decided to give an accounting of the project as it stands. This isn't actually all of the vehicles, and none of the vehicles are "complete" to my standards. You can see my 3rd Edition first run LR Crusader (I literally bought it the first month the model was available when its rules were only in White Dwarf and non-Black Templar Chapters were still limited to 1), which I, quite fortunately in retrospect, never painted. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos as I didn't have any better place to take pics, and had to use my phone's camera (it takes pretty good photos, but not up to such a task)




    And in a squad by squad order. None of these guys are permanently assigned to these squads, it just makes it easy to keep track of the project if I keep an organized tab of how many full units I have completed. Only have two completed Sergeants right now, so the angry pointing guy is filling in as the squad leader for the Devastators. "Kill those donkey-caves over there!"





    The 2nd Squad's magnetized Sergeant is probably getting reassigned to the Assault Squad as I think with some different arm poses, re-basing and a jump pack he'll look okay. I had big plans for his pose (was going to be stomping on some poor bastard's face), but I wasn't able to convey the movement and animation I was looking for, so he got re-done. The final effort isn't really working for me. His magnetized arms are second hand, so it may just be the arms aren't posed for that specific model. Or he may get taken apart and completely re-tasked. However, for now he stays.



    I didn't bother to photograph the Assault Marine Combat Squad because, well, they are a few posts up.

    Regardless, there's the total project progress. I've finally gotten around to playing Fallout: New Vegas (I've had it for months, lol). I don't play a lot of video games, but I loved the Fallout series back in the day (still have copies of the three original PC games). However, as you can imagine it chews at my hobby time. Sorry, heh.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/15 15:26:10


    Post by: ghostmaker


    Its funny cause that is how I did my true scale as well. Good stuff !


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/15 18:24:33


    Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


    Ah. Actually, it's not so much the modeling aspect but the fluff behind them. I'm not a fan of the Imperium. I am much more interested in watching the galaxy burn.

    However, all the points you made are valid and sensible. Chaos can get a bit campy if the modeler isn't paying attention or goes way OTT w/ spikes. And skulls. And blood. Not spattered, but drowning buckets of it. I especially love the bases with piles of corpses on them. Does the Chaos Warlord drag them around with him all over the battlefield? Ugh.

    Your True Scale is inspiring. I've seen some that look ridiculous (12' tall Space Marines, anyone?) so I've never really given it any genuine interest. This force is cohesive in appearance, full of dynamic movement, and very well done. It is making me rethink how I'm going to approach my next new project once 6th Ed comes out and I may well try my hand at this, at least on some test models. If I like it I'll keep going.

    "Death to the False Emperor" is still my battle cry but I also understand the need to have someone to shoot at. So keep cranking out those -Imperial lapdogs Space Marines and may the Long War continue indefinitely.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/16 14:13:48


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    No, I absolutely didn't want them to end up gigantic. The Black Library has been especially guilty of the Space Marine size creep. To me, I can see the advantage of some large, beastly shock troops. The problem is that size becomes a liability instead of an asset at some point. If you look at most of the tallest guys in the world, they are around 370 pounds. If you take into account the Space Marine's enhanced physiology (denser bones, denser musculature, larger chest cavity with several extra organs, etc), they are going to weigh 500 pounds or more, before armor, weapons, and ammunition. And that's just at a 7 to 7.5 foot height. The bigger that Space Marines get, the harder time they have fitting inside doorways and passages designed for humans. The heavier they get, the less load bearing structures there are designed to carry them (or, many of them at once). The larger and less efficient their vehicles are, etc. Plus, the bigger you are, the larger the target. 40K stays true to the idea that the measures will always outstrip the countermeasures. So even as impressive as power armor is supposed to be, it still isn't impenetrable, so things like maneuverability and cover are still of a paramount importance.

    So, amusingly enough, out of all the fluff stuff that 40K gets wrong when it comes to real world feasibility, they were probably right on target with the 7-7.5 foot mark. Big enough to be physically powerful to carry the kinds of absurd weaponry the Marines do, and intimidating. But also small enough to be a practical infantry unit.

    And good luck with your own. I've not tried it out on any Chaos Marines yet, so I don't know how difficult it will be with their armor, which carries a lot more detail than the loyalist ones do. But the process itself is not that hard if you use all the cheats and shortcuts I do like using the pouches to cover up the niggling details at the waistline.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/17 07:57:00


    Post by: lipsdapips


    You definately have my favourite true scale models on the entire forum. Everyone trying to get a truescale marine usually overdoes it so that either limbs and heads become disproportionate or the model doesn't look enough like a space marine anymore. What you have done on the other hand is fantastic. They still have the same look, same feel but have been made alot larger with a few subtle adjustments. Great work, definately want to see more!

    LDP


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/21 13:00:46


    Post by: thesupplydrop


    The Buzz Lightyear dude is epic

    On a serious note I really do like the idea's you have put into this, so simple but VERY effective...

    And even adding the TRUE likeness to match the fluff... You sir have a new subscriber. One that will watch with great interest.

    Keep up the amazing work,

    TSD


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/21 16:33:30


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Thanks guys. So here's something a little different. This isn't an update. Maybe a downdate?

    In case you're wondering what has been keeping me from doing any work, it's the NBA Finals (Go Heat) and this:
    https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s480x480/552905_10151063354426159_1616627817_n.jpg

    However, in the time I've allotted to the project, instead of being productive and completing the Assault Squad, I decided to whip up a Chaos Marine for Skalk and my other slimy traitorous bastard followers. This guy will eventually be a Night Lord, because the Night Lords are awesome. But he'll be a Night Lord without all the bat wings and such, because bat wings aren't scary, they're silly, lol. The hanging skull is from the Chaos Land Raider sprue, and the helmet had its topknot sliced off. His left hand was intended to be all half-clenched and threatening, but it hasn't turned out quite how I want it yet.

    Here he is with my loyalist trophy taker, as they argue which side of the Long War has the rights to take skulls and whether or not the Space Marines lost their rights by not defending the IP after Rogue Trader..


    Here he is from the other side, facing off with my re-done I Guard Vet who now sports Catachan legs mated to the Cadian torso.


    And finally a straight on shot, with two refugees from the old days of Necromunda.


    Anyhow, I'm going to try to get back to my Space Marines, and stop distracting myself.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/21 17:23:25


    Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe




    That is a great example of the actual size difference the fluff refers to between a normal man and a genetically enhanced warrior.

    Really enjoy the CSM. You should paint him Codex colors and hide him in one of your squads, see if anyone notices.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/21 23:05:15


    Post by: AnUnearthlyChilde


    I'm not sure the height is quite right on your truescale SM's as this is the correct scaling:






    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/24 02:13:59


    Post by: Battle Brother Lucifer


    Dear Veteran Sergeant, your blog has inspired me in my continuing work on my crimson fists, I redid my wip tac squad and geared them up like your marines, and borrowed the wrist-auspex
    pic in spoiler, so as not to jack your thread
    Spoiler:


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/24 15:04:06


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    AnUnearthlyChilde wrote:I'm not sure the height is quite right on your truescale SM's as this is the correct scaling:

    I'm not so much worried about getting them 100% anatomically correct. I'm just trying to make them a bit more "epic" looking compared to the rest of the figures. They need to be about a head taller, or just over. They are pretty close, and I've tossed around the idea of adding another .5mm or 1mm at the lower leg/foot, but so far haven't pursued it. Though, the problem with Marines as they are posed without modifications to the feet or hip joints, is that they are slightly squatting instead of standing straight up.

    Of course, the problem with that picture is that its own scale is off slightly. The 7'6" mark isn't where it should be based on where the 5'9 mark is.

    Battle Brother Lucifer wrote:Dear Veteran Sergeant, your blog has inspired me in my continuing work on my crimson fists, I redid my wip tac squad and geared them up like your marines, and borrowed the wrist-auspex
    pic in spoiler, so as not to jack your thread
    Spoiler:

    I like it. Glad the wrist auspex thing worked for you.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/24 15:10:46


    Post by: Battle Brother Lucifer


    It almost didnt, I sliced the viewscreen wrong on the first 2 auspexs and had to scrounge another

    Also, I love your cadian sergeant


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/25 04:14:06


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Well, the good news is that you might be able to use the screwed up ones as "closed" auspexes.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/27 14:08:10


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So, this project has evolved... again.


    Originally I wanted to stay away from any "advanced" modeling techniques for the time consumption. But, apparently my ability to keep at this project has little to do with the time used rather than the time allotted. Unsurprising.

    So, since time isn't really an issue anymore, I decided to see what can be done with the standard legs, but re-posed entirely, rather than just extended and shifted slightly. I took a set of standard, wide-stance legs, and cut the feet free. After filing the the soft armor at the hips, I came up with a taller, closer together stance. The test model happened to end up as one of the Special Weapons troopers from my Assault Squad.

    Here you can see how he measures up next to one of the Marines with the "running" legs from the Assault Marine sprues.



    And here his is next to the classic Cadian who has served in a lot of my scale comps:



    I will probably start doing this with more of the figures, even though it will actually require some green stuff sculpting, and more than basic gap filling. The bulkier pouches for the flamer fuel tanks/plasma coils/melta canisters were made with sprue and .5mm card for the flap, and need a bit of work, but the model itself isn't really finished.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/27 20:19:22


    Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


    Your technique looks solid. Really like the Raptors... er... Jump Infantry.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/29 14:12:09


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Here's a big update. First, the Assault Squad, minus a Sergeant, is done. 9 troops, two with magnetized special weapons arms.




    And second, finally there is an HQ option, a Librarian.


    This guy is a true bits mish-mash. Sanguinary Guard front torso, Grey Knights PA rear torso, biker helmet, Severin Loth arm, command squad leather belt, two different sets of legs combined, GK book bit with =I= filed off. GK Nemesis Falchion mounted to the Assault Sergeant arm, 2nd Edition Backpack, loose bolt pistol.




    I had been struggling with what bits to make what command models out of, and I finally just decided "Screw it, enough pussyfooting around" and made him up. I've had the parts for this guy for a while. Hopefully you guys like him. I'm relatively pleased with how it turned out. Originally the legs were going to be for the Multilaser Devastator, but the stance didn't work with the way I had to pose him. As a commander/sergeant model, he was given an antenna helmet to show an upgraded comm suite for coordinating actions. Couldn't decide which one to give him, so he got the unaltered Biker helmet since I decided the others were too jumbled for a Librarian figure.

    That puts the Battle Company at 41 Marines strong plus three Rhinos, a Razorback, LRC, Predator and Vindicator (Assembled (mostly because I bought them that way, haha). There are more vehicles still on the sprues, lol). I'll probably either whip up the Assault Sergeant next, or start on the second Devastator Squad. However, the fact the army is officially viable for the tabletop(even if perhaps not 6th Ed optimized yet) is kinda cool.

    Oh, and I've got great news for RT fans, and it isn't just that I saved a bunch of money switching to Geico.
    An image apparently taken from the 6th Edition book:


    The Squat ban is officially over. I doubt they will be new models or a codex, but it's nice to know that the "We Don't Mention Squats" stupidity is finally over, and hopefully that erases the absolutely stupid "Ate by mysterious mid-galaxy Tyranids" unofficial story is gone too.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/29 16:04:00


    Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


    SQUATS!

    Sorry, but that got me excited. Space Dwarves rule!

    I'm picking up my 6th Ed book tonight from my FLGS and taking a crack at it Saturday night.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/30 13:19:38


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Yeah, the Squats being officially acknowledged again made me pretty happy. I don't know why, lol. It isn't like they're going to get new models or rules, but I always thought the whole "We Don't Ever Mention Squats" thing was a rather childish response to a disappointed player base whose models were made entirely obsolete because the guys at GW were too lazy to give them rules. I mean, it would have been incredibly simple just to give them a WD codex that made them a sub-list for Imperial Guard (that's all they ever really were. Same tanks, same basic weapons and armor) and would have kept 90% of their model range usable. I mean, that's essentially what they've done with the Sisters of Battle. Though, perhaps the response to the SIsters is the result of "lesson learned" in regards to how they handled the Squats.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/30 13:24:32


    Post by: AnUnearthlyChilde


    That said GW did the same with Chaos Dwarves, but in the end, they got their own showing as a Forgeworld list... so it isn't that unlikely we'd get new models... plus the Demiurg were a way to reintroduce them to the game also... so they have options... and the squat homeworld was officially eaten by a Tyranid splinterfleet. which is what gave birth to the Demiurg, as a distant reletive to the squats which is why the demiurg became independantly advanced from the squats and the Imperium.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/30 13:51:08


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Actually, it was never "officially" eaten by Tyranids because it was never actually in any official material. The developers got tired of being hassled by Squat players and it was mentioned once by Jervis Johnson that the Tyranids ate them, lol. Except the Squat Homeworlds (there were many of them) aren't really near any of the Tyranid Hive Fleets and other members of the design team have since said they'd never heard anything of the sort. The "Et by Tearnidz" can be loosely translated to "Go away, stop bothering us about Squats" from guys who were tired of having the same discussion over and over.

    Hopefully this is GW's way of apologizing for flippantly dismissing Squat fans. And since there was really never any official mention of the Squats being eaten, it doesn't even retcon anything. The funny part is, I was never a huge Squat fan back in the day. They grew on me as I got older, probably because nostalgia makes everything look cooler. I'd love to see them get a more modern treatment. I mean, all of the factions were a bit silly in Rogue Trader, even the Space Marines. If they got rid of the walking trash can Exo Armor, and perhaps made the bikes and trikes less silly and more modern (or just dispensed with them), they could bring them back. The reason people look back and say "The Squats didn't fit" is because the only version of the Squats that exists is the RT one. They never got grimdarked like everybody else did. But anyway, I don't want to turn my plog into a discussion of Squats (only because this isn't the place for it).


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/06/30 14:18:50


    Post by: AnUnearthlyChilde


    Any publication that is made by GW is classed as offical canon, as such it was printed in an issue of Fanatic when it was still in print that their homeworld was Devoured. It was a splinter fleet of Kraken that ate them.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/04 13:54:25


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Okay, here's my latest work, some new Sergeants.

    First, I finished the Assault Squad by adding its Sergeant. The jump pack was an Ebay purchase that the previous owner didn't take much care in assembly and I'll have to fix later, but otherwise, he's pretty standard except for the Dark Angels power fist and the Sanguinary Guard legs. I modified the legs to lean a little less far forward by filing the base along the bottom to be a different angle. The arms are both magnetized, though the fist is the most dynamic option so I took the pictures with it.




    Sorry for the poor image quality. Not sure why these two didn't turn out too well.

    The second model is a Veteran Sergeant who will probably be part of the Command Squad, or a Sergeant for the 1st Squad (which will be Counts As Sternguard). He's a mish mash of bits like the Librarian. Wolf Pack legs, FW torso from the Red Scorpions Honor Guard, antenna head (vehicle sprue?), Commander sword arm with blade from the High Elf Archer command sprue (looks like the Roman Maintz pattern gladius/spatha).

    Here he is with that combi-melta from the other Sergeant.

    Storm Bolter arm and standing next to the Librarian:


    Just how tall is this beast?



    Yes, they're on the same level and the sword cuts at a regular Space Marine's throat. The metal standard bearer was stripped to be used as a test model for paint schemes.


    As far as the Stormbolter, that's another of my creations. I don't like the fact that all the Stormbolters are only usable with one hand. Makes sense for Terminators, but there should be models for regular power armored Marines. So I present the Cerceus Pattern Stormbolter:



    Box mag cut free and moved back. Rear of bolter extended in order to accommodate the new position for the pistol grip. Piece of sprue cut and filed to fit as a forward grip. While the model is one-handing it for dramatic effect (and because the arm is magnetized for easy swapping), this weapon can now be used with the standard left arm support hands were you to want to put one on a "regular" model.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/04 18:09:52


    Post by: evildrcheese


    The ASM are looking great, dare I ask when these beauties might see some paint?

    D


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/04 18:34:03


    Post by: Commander Cain


    Amazing conversions! Glad I stumbled upon this blog, it may just inspire me to get cracking with my own marine army!

    That IG vet has inspired me so much I may just give up on what I was painting and start putting some more guard together right now.

    Subbed! Keep up the great work.

    Cain


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/05 21:33:40


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I'm glad to have derailed all of your projects Cain. Glad you've enjoyed it so far.

    For those interested about paint, I finally have a color scheme I like, and even a background and name for my chapter. That was nearly as hard as assembling them. The count is up to 44 assembled Space Marines (out of the 110 to 115 that will be necessary).

    Number 44 being this guy:


    Obviously, he's a bit of a departure from the others who are modeled to appear to be completely functional, no nonsense Marines. However, the company needs a Standard Bearer, and I decided that I'd key in heavily on the Greco-Roman imagery of the Ultramarines, of whom this chapter will be Successors of. He's a true bits mish-mash like the Librarian. Sanguinary Guard torso front (with blood drop icons filed off. The central chest one needs a little work to round it out still). Sanguinary Guard laurel head. Space Wolf pelt torso (Roman legionary standard bearers were often draped in pelts). Standard Bearer pole arm. The chainsword arm is magnetized. The legs are standard Marine legs cut and re-posed to give him the lurching appearance.

    The standard itself was a bit of a challenge. I knew that even with the somewhat dressed up nature of the character, that I didn't want a banner. A giant flapping flag is a hindrance and liability on the battlefield. So, again drawing inspiration from the Romans, I decided to make a Space Marine styled imitation of the classic Roman aquila/signa. The top is actually from an ancient Goblin Spearman. The "U" is the Ultramarines standard pole top with a hole drilled through it. I had to file the tip of the pole down slightly to accommodate it. The Aquila is from the Rhino sprue, with a second set of wings glued to the back to give it texture on both sides. However, I was at a loss as to how to imitate the discs. Then, inspiration struck and I turned to an old standby. Bits of sprue. Cut off carefully, they become perfect circles (well, to the limits of science obviously) and just thick enough for substance. These ones were cut from Landspeeder sprues. The original thought was for the standard to double as a weapon, and while it does to an extent, I may decide to go back and redo it a little.



    And here he is with his two Standard Bearer buddies:



    He has the wolf pelt back because of the pelts worn by the classic Roman standard bearers. I'm figuring I'll paint it up as a lion pelt or something as soon as I figure out how to do that. Having the lion's head draped over the helmet seemed like it would be impossible to do right, so I abandoned it early, opting for the laurels head instead, since that's another classic Roman image/icon and it's actually associated with Standard Bearers in the universe already. I chose the torso front because it had all of that other laurel iconography too. This guy's definitely in "parade dress" but hey, these are seven and a half foot tall genetically modified psychopaths. They can do that if they want.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/06 11:36:40


    Post by: Wh40kPicasso


    Love the bearer. You sure put a lot of thought into it and that's what gives your marines a character of their own. Lookin great so far, and btw what is the color scheme you have decided on? please tell me its not ultra smurf blue...? x.x


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/07 17:02:31


    Post by: ghostmaker


    Keep up the cool work !


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/07 18:19:12


    Post by: calgar 2.5


    Wh40kPicasso wrote:Love the bearer. You sure put a lot of thought into it and that's what gives your marines a character of their own. Lookin great so far, and btw what is the color scheme you have decided on? please tell me its not ultra smurf blue...? x.x


    So we're sticking with Ultrahate even though Dark Angels are now the posterboys?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/07 21:05:24


    Post by: Wh40kPicasso


    Hey, i don't hate the ultramarines, i just think they look kinda preppy. Don't get me wrong, all space marines are BA's, but the bright blue and gold says preppy to me! plus rowboat girlyman is a poon.

    P.s. Oh and Great job Veteran Sergent so me and calgar 2.5 don't hijack your post! U know i got love for your space mahreens!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/07 21:11:15


    Post by: AnUnearthlyChilde


    Wh40kPicasso wrote:Hey, i don't hate the ultramarines, i just think they look kinda preppy. Don't get me wrong, all space marines are BA's, but the bright blue and gold says preppy to me! plus rowboat girlyman is a poon.


    So getting sigged



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/07 21:29:30


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Haha. It's fine. I don't care as long as the discussion doesn't get carried away. If anything, it gives people a chance to see the blog who might not have and offer feedback I might be able to use.

    Actually, I think poor Guilliman is the least understood of the Primarchs (as in misinterpreted). He's actually one of the more complex of the Primarchs when you analyze his motivations and actions. Some of them are the result of a fluff that was constructed before the primarchs were, but it ends up making Guilliman a pretty interesting dude. The 1d4chan rants are amusing, but they shouldn't be taken too seriously as they're actually pretty flawed since most of the stuff they blame Mat Ward for was actually created by Rick Priestley and crew twenty years ago, lol. In the end, somebody had to be the one to put the Imperium back together, somebody had to be the best. Seems kinda pointless to hate the Ultramarines for being chosen. After all, the other three "Big Four" chapters (Blood Angels, Dark Angels and Space Wolves) have gotten more than their fair share of spotlight. Only Crimson Fists fans should be irritated. Their chapter went from the cover of Rogue Trader, to being the successors of a chapter that wasn't even in Rogue Trader.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/10 20:58:07


    Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


    Veteran Sergeant wrote:Only Crimson Fists fans should be irritated. Their chapter went from the cover of Rogue Trader, to being the successors of a chapter that wasn't even in Rogue Trader.


    QFT, and I've wondered about that more than once. GW needs a fluff historian, not a history re-writer.

    Standard Bearer is AWESOME! He could be leading Roman Praetorians!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/07/11 14:12:47


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Well, it's that there are really 2 eras for 40K. Rogue Trader, and "modern" 40K, which started with 2nd Edition. Fluff and other such from the pre-2nd Edition days has to be taken for what it is, lol. Who knows why they chose the chapters they did when they consolidated the fluff for 2nd Edition, to be honest. There was the "Big 4" of BA, DA, SW, and UM in 2nd Edition, and it's remained that way. The Crimson Fists falling in prominence has always seemed a little strange to me, considering how much stuff they were featured in during the RT days, and how little the Imperial Fists were, by comparison. /shrug. If you started in 2E, you might haven't even known who the Crimson Fists were. Somebody should find Rick Priestley and ask him, haha.

    Ultramarines hate has always amused me though. I mean, even though they were touted as "The greatest of all Space Marine Chapters" on the back of the 2nd Edition Codex: Ultramarines, they've been, traditionally, the weakest list because GW never packed their codex books with exotic, undercosted unit types and overpowered SCs. And since GW decided it was a better marketing decision to rename it to Codex: Space Marines, they even lost their own codex (even though C:SM is still Codex: Ultramarines since the fluff and painting guides remain about them). I mean, at some point, GW had to choose a "flagship" chapter to be the poster boys. Since they had four well established chapters, the Ultramarines were the only ones that were generic enough. The UM don't need any additional explanation. They don't have fangs, or hoodie bathrobes, or fur. If you know what a Marine is, in the real world, if you imagine one 38,000 years in the future, the Ultramarines fit that bill. Square jawed, short haired Big Guys in Big Armor with Big Guns (BGBABG). Funny enough, before Mat Ward, people just complained that Ultramarines were "boring", so the Ultramarines hate is far older than the most recent codex. It's just evolving, driven by a small, angry minority who apparently think that their favorite color of plastic toy soldier needs to be the "best". I think my favorite bit is the quip in the 3rd or 4th Edition Codex: Space Marines which has a poke at the fans who were complaining about the Ultramarines in one of the fluff bits. I don't have the books with me, but I'll post it when I can find it.

    Anyhow, someone on another forum asked how they stack up, scale wise, with the standard vehicles. Please don't give me a hard time about how sloppy the Predator is, heh. This one was a pre-built EBay rescue on the cheap, so the clean-up work will be worth it. Plus, the side weapons hadn't been glued on, so it makes for easy magnetizing.



    So here's the model next to a Predator (balanced on bases for a more accurate height comparison). I mean, yeah, they look a little too big, but, then again, they always do. I should have included an unmodified Marine, but as you can see that the changes in height don't throw off the comparative scale that badly. Real world APCs are pretty cramped, and you have to duck coming out the doors. So while, yes, a 10 or 15% increase in Rhino size might help, it's not that bad. I can't bring myself to even contemplate modifying all of the company's vehicles too, haha. For the sake of my sanity, they're going to stay standard in size and the modifications or conversions will be cosmetic (or magnetic) in nature.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/09/11 19:30:10


    Post by: Imperial-Fist


    .....I'm in love with the 31mm style, my Imperial Fits might have to get an upgrade


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/09/13 20:41:16


    Post by: evildrcheese


    I know you've said you're not interested in doing true scale vechicles, but I'll leave this here anyway

    http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/398049.page

    The standard bearer looks wicked by the way.

    D


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/09/15 15:57:08


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Yeah, I've seen that thread. I'm a fan of the True Scale vehicles. The problems are thus: Many of my vehicles are already assembled and disassembling them is a lot more work and dangerous than disassembling the Space Marines that I have, lol. That's just a lot of work. I have a hard enough time sticking with assembling these little bastards simply because at least an hour of work goes into just the basics for each guy. It's a lot of back pain being hunched over tiny plastic models for somebody like me who humped heavy packs, body armor, ammo, etc for so long, heh.

    Glad you guys have enjoyed the project though. I really like the Standard Bearer too, even though he's a little outlandish compared to the more no-nonsense look of the rest of the army.

    The good news is that the project isn't dead. I do think about it from time to time. I just haven't have the time and motivation to work on it. I have my full time big boy job, school in the afternoons and evenings, my compulsive gym habit, a new girl (who I haven't been willing to expose to my hobbies as I'm a closet nerd), and well, it's been summer and I live in San Diego near the beach, lol. One of my buddies has expressed interest in doing something crazy like actually play 40K, so maybe I'll get motivated. After all, I have a few hundred dollars in unassembled plastic models in the closet right now, haha.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/09/18 21:44:23


    Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


    I've always thought the Rhinos were *way* too small. The NEW Rhino would fit the RT Space Marines (barely), but the new buffed out models make the Mk I Rhino look like a golf cart, and the current Rhino is still a clown car. The closest they have come to getting it right is the Land Raider.

    Models are looking good.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/09/18 21:59:00


    Post by: Mr.Malevolent


    Some amazing work in this thread!
    I myself have always felt the scale for everything is way off anyways. Keep up the amazing work.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/10/15 02:19:36


    Post by: Rysgame


    I am now completely ashamed of my Marines... You are surely a truly skilled modeler good sir.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/10/15 18:06:17


    Post by: evildrcheese


     Rysgame wrote:
    I am now completely ashamed of my Marines... You are surely a truly skilled modeler good sir.


    I often feel like that when lurking at Dakka :(

    D


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/10/20 14:36:18


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Don't feel too bad, lol. If you saw some of my first Marines and earliest conversions, you'd feel better.

    Fortunately, most of them have long since been lost to time, or stripped of paint, so there's little evidence. I'm glad you enjoyed the blog though.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/10/22 19:43:28


    Post by: evildrcheese


    Did you see my link to the TS vehicles on the previous page, I know you hacve no interest in doing vehicles, but wondered what you thought anyway.

    When we gonna see some paint btw!

    D


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/08 21:18:41


    Post by: Squigsquasher


    I'm normally not a fan of "true" scale Space Marines, as they often end up looking too big, or like completely different models. These, however, are perfect. Incredibly simple and still recognizably Space Marines. Thumbs up!

    Incidentally, how big are they compared to, say, a modern Cadian?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/16 03:19:11


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     Squigsquasher wrote:
    I'm normally not a fan of "true" scale Space Marines, as they often end up looking too big, or like completely different models. These, however, are perfect. Incredibly simple and still recognizably Space Marines. Thumbs up!

    Incidentally, how big are they compared to, say, a modern Cadian?

    I dug these guys out for you. As you might notice, I keep tearing that poor Guardsman apart and putting him back together, lol. This was his last form before I had to put the project on hold. Though he's probably coming apart again to get kneeling legs, haha. And, apparently I wasn't careful when I glued his hand back on, haha. Poor bastard.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/16 13:03:17


    Post by: Squigsquasher


    Thanks! If I ever do a SM or CSM army I might try doing this, it looks like a really simple conversion.

    Have you done any Terminators?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/16 15:31:35


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    It's not terribly complicated, it is just time consuming. Depending on how involved you get (I tend to manipulate every part of the model to some extent), it's probably about an hour to an hour and a half per Marine to assemble them.

    As far as Terminators, I have a few sitting around that I was going to do. But I don't plan to make them significantly taller, maybe 1mm taller than the Power armored guys at eye level. See, the Marine in the TDA is still just a Marine in a suit. He would be bigger and bulkier, but probably not significantly taller unless the poor bastard is getting stretched out. As such, the Terminators were less of a priority. Especially since the original plan was to do a Battle Company, which of course, has no organic Terminators.

    We'll see though. I'm slowly but surely warming up to the idea of restarting the project at the encouragement of some buddies, but it will have to come later as for reasons both good and bad, I'm just too busy.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/16 17:02:16


    Post by: Samurai_Eduh


    While I applaud the effort of this project, I do have one critisism. Something about the proportions of the models look....off. Especially looking at the waist area of all of the models. It is fairly obvious that there is a huge gap between the torso and leg pieces. It makes it look like the marines have an abnormally long abdomen compared to the rest of the body. Just my two cents. I look forward to seeing some paint on these guys.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/16 22:09:14


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Samurai_Eduh wrote:
    While I applaud the effort of this project, I do have one critisism. Something about the proportions of the models look....off. Especially looking at the waist area of all of the models. It is fairly obvious that there is a huge gap between the torso and leg pieces. It makes it look like the marines have an abnormally long abdomen compared to the rest of the body.


    No, that's definitely fair. It was a modelling choice based on time allotment. It's actually only noticeable when they are blown up to five-ten times actual size, or if you were to pick it up and look really closely at it. I did move the belt-buckle down on some of the models to avoid the old-man golf pants look, but I deemed it to be way too much effort when it is almost totally invisible on 95% of the figures.

    If you really wanted to do it "right", you'd have to green stuff the extra tubing, and cut off the belt buckle. I decided that was a wasted effort for my purposes, and covered the beltline with grenades and pouches (the pouches were part of the plan anyway). A lot of the perspective problems you may have are actually optical illusions based on your knowledge of what the "naked" and unmodified model looks like. In real life, the pouches sit above the belt line on most modern combat rigs anyway.



    Though some of them actually have a belt buckle modeled underneath so that the gap isn't as noticeable from a low angle. Honestly though, the proportions on standard Space Marines are so hideously bad, I figure this is a small complaint, haha. The average human is 8 "heads" tall. My guys are around 6-6.5 heads tall. So you can imagine how bad the proportions already are.





    On the second picture, you can see how it looks from the side. The width of the "belt" is increased somewhat, but it's covered almost entirely by the pouches and holsters except at the back of the model where there is no detail to make that look that odd. I dunno, it's all a matter of perspective. you expect the belt buckle to be in a certain place, which is why it may look odd. Ultimately, I made the choice to compromise on the minor detail by covering up the pesky details instead of changing them. Kinda lazy? Yeah, lol. But hey, I was planning to finish 100 of these guys and it became obvious very quickly how much effort that was going to be, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/18 14:46:42


    Post by: BurstFire


    Amazing thread. Really cool to see a Marine's version of Marines.

    I'm actually planning on doing something similar... but I'm taking a shortcut. I've bought Chapterhouse Studios' truescale kit.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/18 15:09:58


    Post by: worldwarme


    Love it when other army guys show their stuff. Always getting it right.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/20 17:04:52


    Post by: JbR of the Endless Spire


    You are legend... that is all...


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/20 17:12:02


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Okay, so I decided to see what it would look like if I lengthened the legs another 1mm. It was something I always wanted to do (to keep the real world proportions of lower and upper leg), but had decided it was too much effort.

    But, because I'm fascinated by this project and completely unconcerned with finishing it (apparently), instead of new models, you get new, old ones.


    Oh dear God, they're getting bigger!



    Sadly, the older plastic on the leg of the guy on the left sheared instead of cut clean, so he'll need some cleanup on that leg with green stuff, but overall, I'm actually pleased with the outcome, even if I am not pleased that I now have to pull apart and redo forty something models.

    I guess the good news is, I don't have to change the name of the thread. Because they're now just 31.5mm, instead of 30.5mm. So it's still accurate.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/22 03:19:58


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     BurstFire wrote:
    Amazing thread. Really cool to see a Marine's version of Marines.

    I'm actually planning on doing something similar... but I'm taking a shortcut. I've bought Chapterhouse Studios' truescale kit.

    Thank you. Yeah, my "return" to 40K has been balanced by trying to reconcile 40K with my own vision what it should be, haha.

    Sadly that involves way, way, way more projects than I have the time or patience for. So, for now, it's thinking up cool conversion poses for Marines, and then seeing if I can actually make them happen. Went through a ton of pictures of real world soldiers, and a ton of the old Rogue Trader era artwork, which was so much grittier than the more modern stuff. There are a boatload of ideas I've had that it has turned out I'm not skilled enough to pull off. But, then again, I have not really tried actually sculpting yet. Maybe I'll be good at it. Who knows?

     worldwarme wrote:
    Love it when other army guys show their stuff. Always getting it right.

     JbR of the Endless Spire wrote:
    You are legend... that is all...
    Thanks guys. Though I hate to think of myself as legend. There are some truly legendary modelers and painters in this hobby. I'm just a guy with a lot of patience, a few good blades, and some extra cash for bits. The question is, will this army ever actually see the table? Or paint? Haha. Maybe.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/11/24 11:27:42


    Post by: Gerner


    I dig these. I will be following this for good ideas.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/12/03 05:13:22


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So I have finalized my color scheme for them. So they might not have much paint yet, and no finished models for display here because I have very little free time, but they have plan, lol.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/12/03 07:33:10


    Post by: prototype_X


    Very nice, I've never seen that before so I'm going to assume it's custom. Looks very grim,a perfect match to your models themes. I like the chapter symbol, are you going for a Ultramarine successor?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/12/03 10:31:25


    Post by: J-paint


    Looks awesome here man, I am definitely subscribed, been gawking at the nice pictures. Your true scaling is jsut spot on in my opinion, keep it up.

    My personal favourite by the way have to be the auspex (inspired) the roman style standard and the multilaser, such a shame no more multilasers -.-

    Keep it up, and we need paint! (the colour looks really lovely.)


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/12/03 11:01:29


    Post by: ArbitorIan


    Great project - this is the first time I've seen a tru-scale conversion that's simple enough that I might actually consider copying!



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2012/12/04 03:29:28


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    prototype_X wrote:
    Very nice, I've never seen that before so I'm going to assume it's custom. Looks very grim,a perfect match to your models themes. I like the chapter symbol, are you going for a Ultramarine successor?

    Yeah, it is a custom, using the Space Marine Painter from the Bolter & Chainsword. They are indeed Ultramarines Successors (What gave it away?). They were originally just going to be Ultramarines because I'm a jerk and I wanted to make an Ultramarines Army that people were forced to like. I think they get way, way too much undeserved hatred. But, ultimately I felt like I was planning to take so many liberties with the fluff and the paint scheme, etc, that they would just be Ultramarines because I said so, and put a on their shoulder. So I decided that it might be more fun to make them a more ruthless Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines. I kept the , stuck a pokey bit through it (which you can see reflected on the Standard Bearer), made the blue darker, and added some black. My buddy hates the color scheme. He says it will be too dark, but there's no such thing, and I feel like it will help enhance the little details like the skulls and trophies. Yeah, if I ever get around to painting them.

    They went though more than a few names. I originally liked The Spears of Ultramar, which was so awesome I found it had already been done. I've had three different Chapters of Marines over the years, across the tabletop and the Dawn of War games, so I played around with names. Ultimately I wanted to have some kind of hunter imagery, so I went through that list, but they all ended up sound like something I would have thought was awesome when I was 15. I'm not a fan of Latin names, because Low Gothic isn't actually Latin, and nearly all of the names of Chapters are in English and saying War Bunnies in another language still says War Bunnies. Latinizing (which usually ends up in awful/hilarious mistranslations when you put it into a Googled translator) is just sorta cornball. But, I looked at the Praetors of Orpheus, and realized if I used a Roman title, it would be very Ultramariney. So I chose Venator, which, very simply, means Hunter in Latin, but more 40Key, what with the Inculcators and the Execrators and the Excoriators... or the Libators, which as far as I can tell, means "Drinkers", lol. But Hunters is too overused in Space Marine chapter names. So I decided, in a nod to some angry trolls on this forum who tried, spectacularly unsuccessfully, to troll me in another thread, I named them the Invectors. Invective being "Insulting, abusive, or highly critical language". Sounds very 40Kish, is an aside joke, and thus amuses me. Maybe I'll make some Angry Marinesish conversions like one beating an Eldar to death with his own arm. That could be fun.



    I don't usually like to cross promote sites, but here's the Index Astartes article I wrote up in for them on B&C. I dropped in some historical and pop culture references all over the place in that article, so people may have fun finding them. I wanted to have a little fun writing it (adding the Kil Kil Kil to the shoulderpad of Brother Galerius up there), and infuse it with some of the fun and character that I've used as inspiration, as well give it some throwback flair, while disguising it as a serious "modern" 40K piece of fiction.

    Index Astartes: Invectors


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/01/15 03:51:32


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So I dug these guys out again, and finally started work on my latest project. It's not far enough along to post pictures of it yet, but it's gonna take a while to plan it out and execute. This is a doozy of a conversion, but it has the potential to my favorite project yet.

    Here's a teaser:



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/01/15 05:12:49


    Post by: Red Corsair


    omg... old school speeder pilots meet a Valkyrie?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/05/17 01:35:53


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Sadly, I had to shelve the project for a while again. Just too much going on. Was doing too much traveling and then the weather was really nice all winter, and then work picked up, and now suddenly it's almost summer, and a bunch of other awful First World Problems.

    The project above was the start of my StormVulture, which was going to be a heavily modified Valkyrie converted to have a magnetized front end and weapons to be either a Vulture or a Stormtalon. I got about halfway through it, completing the wings/tail assembly and the weapons before I had put it away. Yep, the pilots are the old 2nd Edition Landspeeder pilots who have the most epic and awesome Space Marine vehicle crew helmets ever. I actually have three sets of those guys sitting around, just because I had this delusion that I was going to complete three converted Valkyries, including at least one Valkyraven.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/05/17 02:39:08


    Post by: iheartlargeblasttemplates


    Good stuff and perfect scale!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/05/17 10:46:23


    Post by: Muzzah


    Great work, i may have to do some converting with my unbuilt marines
    Have you put in any thought about replicating the process over to Terminators?

    In the pic where youve added more plasticard to the legs. the guy on the left looks like hes checking out that leg wound you gave him


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/05/28 17:43:41


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     Muzzah wrote:
    Great work, i may have to do some converting with my unbuilt marines
    Have you put in any thought about replicating the process over to Terminators?

    In the pic where youve added more plasticard to the legs. the guy on the left looks like hes checking out that leg wound you gave him

    I have a process planned for Terminators, and a small supply of AoBR's to try it on. But I haven't gotten around to trying it out yet.

    My thoughts on Terminators is that they shouldn't be too much taller than regular Marines, because after all, there's still a Space Marine in the suit, and he has to fit in there, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/05/29 04:24:02


    Post by: Hive Fleet Lazarus


    I just found this thread and have decided to completely rip it off for my own marine chapter. Mostly just the way you extended the marines legs and waist, it gives them a much more superhuman feel. Also the shortened flamer looks a lot better. You might have mentioned this before but the waist extension, without the belt of gear, is it noticeable or no? Just wondering if it required any greenstuff work around or not. Good luck with the termi experimentation.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/05/30 17:08:09


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    If you're not going to load them down with gear, you will need to sculpt extended cabling/plating on the torsos and relocate the "belt buckle". Since the gear was always a part of my plan, it worked out that the gear covers up a lot of the "imperfections" in the process. I basically decided it was way too much effort to relocate the belts when the detail was getting covered up anyway.

    In fact, the idea of loading them down with gear came before the decision to make them Tall Scale. So it was really just a pleasant time-saving side effect. I just happened to see a somewhat similar Tall Scale plog, and realized how much better the proportions looked once they were done. And thus, suddenly there was well over an hour's worth of effort invested into just the very basic assembly of a single Marine, lol.

    If you're going to leave off the gear, there will definitely be greenstuff work required.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/06/19 23:02:29


    Post by: GarretAsh


    Sir i just want to congratulate you for your amassing work , i "play" around building customised marines and guards and I know the amount of work you have put on then and they are wonderful , the Sternguard veteran and the librarian are just amassing , i am currently working on vanguard veterans and i hope they will be as cool as yours.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/06/26 17:32:18


    Post by: Master Azalle


    I will be the first to admit while I am someone new to Dakka as a member, I've been following this thread and can't wait to see your marines painted up.

    I've always thought it a little odd that the Imperium's Finest went to battle with just one magazine in their bolter, I love the realism and the dynmaic poses you've managed to achieve and can't wait to try some of them myself!

    I, as I'm sure many of us here, look forward to your next post!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/06/26 17:58:27


    Post by: Largeblastmarker


    Shut up and take my money.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/07/08 02:25:06


    Post by: Qaszx 123


    What you said about them not being enough heads tall, I think that has to do with some weird 'X proportions look best' type thing. Mortal Kombat characters have disproportionately huge heads, Barbies have huge heads, I think it look just fine to have your marines with huge heads. Really not that bad, those helmets are probably fairly thick. IF you DO make an unhelmeted one, just make him have a small head and it will all be perfect.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/07/18 17:23:27


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Thanks guys. I'm glad you enjoyed them. I hope to find the energy and time to take this project back up.

    My life is a very complicated drinking game, and the fact that I don't *play* 40K very often means that this project falls behind everything else I'm doing (work, writing, surfing, training and running Tough Mudder, ladyfolk etc). And it's very time consuming so it's hard to just break the stuff out, work on it for an hour, and then put everything back away.

    But don't worry. I'll get back to it eventually.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/07/18 22:49:25


    Post by: Big H


    Mate , loving your work , funny how you have the same hates as me when it comes to "Games Workshop" style marines.

    Check these bad boys out , Anvil Industries Black Ops are well worth a look !

    http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/505804.page

    I've a soft spot for helmets off , but always fit one to the belt kit.

    I will be stealing the auspex idea !



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/20 18:14:51


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So, I bring you something new. He's still a work in progress, but I figured I'd give you an advance shot at the process.



    I wanted a 2nd Dark Eldar knife from the current models, but it turned out I didn't have one, so he got the rather vicious looking Chaos Marine knife instead. The knife on the left leg is a 3rd Ed OG DE knife.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/20 19:10:40


    Post by: Master Azalle


    Great to see you back online! awesome work as always


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/21 03:55:53


    Post by: Kolath


    Hey, I just wanted to say that I stumbled across this blog from the picture in your signature in a post on the SM news thread. These conversions are awesome! I wish I had the sweet height enhancements you do. But at a minimum I am definitely going to try some of these kitbashes.

    I look forward to seeing more!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/23 16:50:17


    Post by: HoeJarris


    This blog is awesome and I'm glad that I found it in your Sig!
    I've always thought that true scale with terminator legs looks a bit off unless done right, I tried it once and it looks wrong in terms of the legs and bodies, but what you have done looks really cool!
    I remember seeing this in an old White Dwarf and wanted to try it but never bothered, I also love the realism with all the pockets and mag pouches!
    Looks great!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/26 00:51:18


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Hooray, story time. My intention with these models is that they should be a snapshot from a believable, actual 40K battlefield. That they tell a story about that Marine, just looking at him. That's why I avoid the traditional heroic poses 40K models often get. It was a big part of why I had this idea for the previous Marine, but made him drawing the knives rather than having him wielding them. For now, you can tell the story about where he got those blades for yourself. But here's a bit of short fiction on his pose. Usually I try to avoid writing any kind of "action porn". It's really not that exciting to write, and it almost always does no justice to the abject horror and brutal reality of actual combat. But I really ended up liking this model and tried to figure out what was going on with him. It turned into this little vignette. Hope you enjoy it. Maybe I'll put some more of these together.



    Bogdan heard it first. With a shriek, a gunship dropped out of the thick morning haze
    hanging over the battlefield. The shriek became a roar as its vectored thrust engines
    kicked to life and stabilized it into a hover which drowned out his warning to the other
    troopers in the entrenchment. It tilted slightly, shifting right and the twin underslung
    rotary cannons spun to life, methodically stitching fire along the length of the fortification.
    Bogdan threw himself to the ground and scrambled on his elbows and knees towards
    the closest bunker. He was splattered with gore as the stubber gunner Yaro's torso
    came apart. Dirt and pulverized rock pelted him from the opposite direction as the back
    wall of the trench was chewed up by the fusillade. His vision, already limited by the
    eyelets of his respirator mask, tunneled down to the salvation of the bunker's entrance,
    and he barely noticed as he crawled over the shattered and pulped bodies of his
    squadmates. Then, as quickly as it had come, the gunship's engines spooled up again
    and it shrieked off. The cacophony had left his ears ringing, and he couldn't hear
    anything except the dull scraping of his body against the ground and the heaving breaths
    inside his mask.

    But then he felt them. A rumbling series of soft thuds that were definitely not his heartbeat.
    He rolled over onto his back, pushing himself halfway up to lean against a sandbag
    which had toppled to the ground against the revetment, and saw the first of the Space
    Marines vault into the trench. Their armor was a dark blue, with black arms and a black
    chest plate which sported a dull silver eagle across it. A head taller than the tallest man
    he'd ever known, the Space Marines were massive. And they had come out of nowhere.
    Had a transport landed under the cover of the gunship? Bogdan froze, his eyes wide as
    he watched them move. The closest one was coming towards him. Emblazoned across a
    banner on its shoulder armor in Low Gothic scrawl was the word “Punish.” Horrifically, it
    stomped down on the head of Radomir, who had been trying weakly to pull himself along
    the floor of the trench, his left arm missing just above the elbow. Radomir's head
    disappeared under the massive boot, and Bogdan could only see the blood and gore
    which splashed out above another corpse which had mercifully blocked his view of the
    carnage. But he could feel the force of the boot as it connected with the solid ground of the
    trench floor.

    It looked at him, and he knew he was about to die. Bogdan's mouth opened and closed
    without a sound as the towering warrior moved towards him. It was only then that he spotted
    the two wicked looking blades attached to its thighs. Sword sized blades that the Marine
    carried as if they were just knives. Its left hand reached across its body to draw one of them
    as it approached.



    With guttural cries which sounded muffled and far away to his damaged ears, several of his
    fellows charged out of the bunker, Wenzel streaming ignited promethium at the Marines with
    his flamer. However, the approaching Marine ignored the gout of fire, charging straight into
    them, burying the blade into Wenzel's gut. It pierced all the way through him and Wenzel's
    mouth opened up as if to scream, but instead only fountained blood. The Marine dropped the
    massive bolt rifle to its side, right hand flashing down even as flames licked across its arm, to
    seize the other blade, which glinted with an otherworldly sheen. It was slightly curved and of a
    manufacture Bogdan had never seen before. The Marine's left arm swung around in an outward
    arc, the inertia tearing Wenzel's body free of the blade, nearly bisecting him in the process and
    scattering blood and entrails. The body bounced off the side of the trench, contorting
    gruesomely around the massive wound as it fell to the ground. Almost simultaneously, as
    another soldier's point blank las fire scored the armor on the Marine's chest, a sweeping
    backhand slash with its right arm sent that soldier pirouetting to the ground, his rib cage opened
    up from armpit to armpit, and arm partially severed. The right side of the Marine's torso was on
    fire, and yet it seemed to pay the flames no heed. The third trooper was caught by a downward
    stroke from the Marine's left blade, driving him to his knees, chest cleft to the nipple. The Marine
    ducked into the bunker, and out of Bogdan's view. He was all alone.

    As the kneeling trooper toppled into his lap, Bogdan recognized him as Cibor, and could feel the
    man's lifeblood pumping out to soak through his trousers. A second Marine, his armor charred by
    fire but no longer ablaze, looked down at him, and clomped right past to follow the first. Then a
    third. His ears were still ringing, but he could feel the reports of gunfire and explosive impacts he
    could only assume were the Marines firing their bolters. There were only two Marines left in the
    trench. They were both on one knee, one studying some kind of picter mounted on its left arm.
    Bogdan's eyes darted around. Even if he could will his limbs to move, the only weapon in reach
    was Cibor's lasgun, but it was pinned underneath his body. The two Marines rose to their feet,
    and walked in his direction. The first moved past him, and Bogdan's heart raced. They hadn't
    noticed him. He was going to live.

    The last Marine swerved only a half a step toward him, and a deep, tinny voice emerged from the
    vox caster on the front of its scowling faceplate.

    “Traitor scum.”

    The Marine's left boot caved in Bogdan's chest, striking the right side below the plane of the heart
    and lifting him up. Air was forced out of his mouth, mixed with blood in a gust of reddish froth, and
    none rushed in to replace it. Bogdan slumped back down, suffocating as his lungs refused to work.
    He blinked a few times, mouth agape and leaking blood. He stared numbly at the dancing flames
    atop the corpse of one of his friends which had been set alight by Wenzel's flamer until his vision
    began to blur, and eventually went dark.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/26 03:42:32


    Post by: wolfmerc


    Wow, i like the dark gritty attitude of the short story you wrote, humanized the (what i assume were) cultists a bit, and turned the tables to make it look like the marines were the harsh ones. Nice job!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/27 05:16:06


    Post by: Largeblastmarker


    I never knew boots were such powerful weapons. I liked the story!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/31 16:12:46


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I'm glad you guys liked it. I thought it would be told better from the eyes of the rebel, not the Space Marines. Space Marines, as much as they are fun to cut apart and put back together, aren't the best characters. At least if written well. No emotional range.


    Anyway... I dunno. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'...  :blink:
     



     


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/08/31 23:12:28


    Post by: MajorStoffer


    The resemblance is....uncanny.

    At any rate, I wanted to say I love what you've done converting all the marines into something significantly more believable than the usual squat-stance, idly holding a bolter. I made a halfhearted attempt at modifying some of my own marines, but nowhere near as comprehensive.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/02 01:17:11


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So I've decided to finally get started on the 1st Squad, which will be "Counts As" Sternguard.

    Metal Deathwatch bolters on them.





    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/04 02:30:27


    Post by: Largeblastmarker


    Those bolters look absolutely tiny on the models tbh, but it really makes them look bigger.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/04 06:26:34


    Post by: SBG


    Loving these conversions. Great work!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/04 18:08:25


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Thanks SBG.

    I actually kinda like that the weapons are small. Makes them a bit more "carbine" looking. Dunno.

    Anyway, people have asked about tutorials on the posing process. A lot of the earlier models were "Let's see if this works". There have been quite a few failures too. I'm going to have to pull apart a lot of the old models when I upscale the legs. The inability to ever consider the modeling process "finished" is why they aren't painted. I'm too concerned I'll want to make changes to them, or create some fundamental new process for the construction. Plus eventually I want to correct some of the minor flaws. When I pull apart some of the models, I can show a bit more of the process.

    Here's a picture of the "before" on the knife guy, so you can see what the model is reduced to. Though I hadn't done the second cut on those legs when I took the picture, and you can't see the torso modification. This was for a conversion challenge on another site, where they just wanted to see the "before" picture of it.



    Here is one of the more popular models. I added red lines to show where the cuts were made to achieve that pose.



    The soft armor on the right wrist was cut free at the wrist ring, and behind the hand. Once free, it was rotated, and then reattached to the arm to create a downward angle instead of the upward one. Thus the original soft armor sculpt is retained, and there's no need for green stuff. The left arm is cut at the wrist (behind the wrist ring is easier, but either way works), and then rotated so that it matches the new angle of the weapon.


    Automatically Appended Next Post:
    Oh, and check it out. I actually played 40K. Not with my models, but hey.

    Experience the adventures of Alpha Legion warlord Kaldor the Grossly Incompetent as Veteran Sergeant Plays... DARK VERNGERNCE!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/04 18:46:19


    Post by: Soul Samurai


    Just saw this thread. I'm surprised by how a little extra height in the lower body makes your Marines look so much better than stock! When do we get to see some painted?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/05 09:47:25


    Post by: sluggaslugga


    I'll keep a keen eye on this thread.
    Fantastic job!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/06 18:59:42


    Post by: Feasible


    I've always wanted to do something like this....I think this might be the day. Inspiration yo. Keep it up -Feasible


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/07 16:04:49


    Post by: GrimDork


    Wow, awesome post Sir!

    I got about halfway thru, cutting into my limited hobby time, going to have to come back and admire the rest of your work. With only 10-20 marines done to date, I may have to go back and "fix" them before its over.

    Going to be getting a batch of Mantics corporation enforcers soon, and I'm pretty sure they're going to make stock marines look gimp in the height department...

    Thanks to your efforts (and similar projects) there may be hope for my poor marines yet! Thanks for taking so many pictures and the time to describe your process. Consider it potentially stolen! eerr uhh borrowed. Sir. yes, that.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/09 12:38:14


    Post by: maciek


    Awesome conversions. I like big marines.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/10 15:23:31


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I completed a Sergeant for the Veteran squad. He's magnetized at the shoulders, but unfortunately most of the pics came out blurry because I didn't notice a smudge on the lens so you only get to see the one weapon option, lol.

    He's 1mm at the shins & hips, 1.5mm at the waist like usual.

    Sword is converted from the High Elf Archer command. Legs from Space Wolves Pack. Head, not sure. One of the random heads with an antenna that I use to mark leader models who have fluffy upgraded communications.





    Clamped to his belt, Veteran Sergeant Marcus carries with him a bronze helmet with a
    black stripe from a suit of Mk VII power armor. When asked about it, he will only reply that
    it was taken from "a traitor."



    Thanks for the comments guys. Now that I have "finalized" the process for these guys, it means I get to cut apart the other forty of them and redo the legs...


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/10 20:09:08


    Post by: deadmeat85


    Man if I didnt already have 100 marines built and 30 painted, I would so total do this. Can't wait to see some paint on them.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/10 20:30:04


    Post by: livanbard


    odyssey indeed. Count me in your list of idea thieves!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/14 15:27:03


    Post by: Jadenim


    A) I really like this conversion; simple to achieve and very effective. I actually think the change in proportions is more important than the height increase for the look of them.

    B) Dammit, but I'm really tempted to restart my own Ultramarines chapter using this technique; fortunately I haven't finished many yet, but I'm really pleased with the ones I have and it'll be heart wrenching to redo them. I need to figure out if I can live with a few midget marines...


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/14 15:44:12


    Post by: inmygravenimage


    Very cool. Also, best name for thread ever.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/18 02:26:41


    Post by: Malganess


    Great job bro, these minis look fantastic


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/09/28 14:22:37


    Post by: Feasible


    Beautiful. Once they're painted up, I think they'll look a lot like Sternguard.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/10/11 10:02:04


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Very impressive. A shame I had not noticed this before I assembled my first two CSM squads. But I will definitely do this on my Chosen, as they are unlikely to ever stand next to my normal CSMs anyway. This won't work with Raptors, I think, due to how their legs are designed. But adding length in this way will much help counteracting the thing I like the least with CSMs, their ridiculously massive horns.
    Tons of thanks for sharing this brilliant idea.

    /curtsy



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/19 19:22:41


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Go for it. Detail textures on the legs can pose a problem, but you can file it off, or cover it up.

    Massive horns are my biggest problem with the Chaos Marine models, lol. I think only around 25% of the parts in the current Chaos Marine kit are even usable for me. I bought a box of them off of EBay thinking I'd assemble some antagonists for these guys.

    Yeah, I think there are enough parts for me to make like 5 guys out of 20. The heads are awful in the CSM kit, the bolters with the belted ammo are stupid. I am probably going to give them to a buddy if he decides to resurrect his Chaos army. Guess I could swap in some alternate heads. It's just irritating that so much of the kit isn't usable unless you want silly looking models.

    I think the Chaos Marine kits would be better if they were more obviously "legacy" armors, and more obviously piecemeal from more modern designs. In my opinion, the best way to do Chaos Marines is probably to order MkV kits from Forgeworld and then do some mixing and matching with the plastic kits, assuming the scale is the same. I've heard some talk that the FW kits are slightly smaller? As if Marines needed to be any smaller, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/20 15:36:01


    Post by: carlos13th


    The poses you have converted are so much better than the standard wonky stance space marines that make no sense whatsoever. These guys actually look like they are in a fight. The other guys look like they are trying to do stretches.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/20 21:52:39


    Post by: wolfmaster1234


    I like the idea of having the knife on the back might have to borrow that.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/21 00:39:34


    Post by: Rennoc215


    Magnifique! I wish that I had the patience to do true-scale marines. Perhaps I should start those.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/21 18:23:33


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     inmygravenimage wrote:
    Very cool. Also, best name for thread ever.

    Amusingly enough, because I work in marketing doing content creation and management, this is one of the better compliments in this thread, heh.


    I just wish I had more time and energy for this project to provide more content for the thread.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/22 06:13:20


    Post by: kazian


    Subscribed! These are fantastic.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/22 09:58:34


    Post by: Bishop F Gantry


    Well this was inspiring:p


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/27 10:36:37


    Post by: disdamn


    This is a great blog on your conversions. Wow, just so much time and effort. Keep it up man.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/11/27 11:56:13


    Post by: hk1x1


    Fantastic conversion work, those Space Marines look so much better at that scale,
    and I like how they tower above the standard Guardsmen, really helps reinforce that engineered super human background.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/19 09:41:58


    Post by: Ashiraya


     Veteran Sergeant wrote:
    Go for it. Detail textures on the legs can pose a problem, but you can file it off, or cover it up.

    Massive horns are my biggest problem with the Chaos Marine models, lol. I think only around 25% of the parts in the current Chaos Marine kit are even usable for me. I bought a box of them off of EBay thinking I'd assemble some antagonists for these guys.

    Yeah, I think there are enough parts for me to make like 5 guys out of 20. The heads are awful in the CSM kit, the bolters with the belted ammo are stupid. I am probably going to give them to a buddy if he decides to resurrect his Chaos army. Guess I could swap in some alternate heads. It's just irritating that so much of the kit isn't usable unless you want silly looking models.

    I think the Chaos Marine kits would be better if they were more obviously "legacy" armors, and more obviously piecemeal from more modern designs. In my opinion, the best way to do Chaos Marines is probably to order MkV kits from Forgeworld and then do some mixing and matching with the plastic kits, assuming the scale is the same. I've heard some talk that the FW kits are slightly smaller? As if Marines needed to be any smaller, lol.


    I very much agree with this. But would Forgeworld work? Resin is a lot harder to work with than plastic.

    I'll see if I can have a go on an experimental model. The DV Chosen look badass but will be almost impossible to enhance in this way, every tiny little bit of them is covered in extremely ornate detail!

    I think many are interested in this. Have you considered making a more detailed tutorial?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/20 06:18:40


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I had started a tutorial here in the tutorial section, but some people couldn't behave themselves, and the moderators didn't handle them, so I deleted it. I have very little patience for stupid people.

    To be honest, I don't use many Forgeworld parts, so I don't know from a technical standpoint. I just meant from an aesthetic standpoint. Pretty much everything about this project is a pain in the butt, lol. Each individual model is time consuming. Hence why I make very little progress on new ones. Constantly getting distracted and sometimes I just look at them and can't bring myself to work on them. I figured with it getting kinda cold and dark early here I'd get back to work on this. Then my brother sent me the new XCom game as an early Christmas present, and well, that was the end of any free time I spend at home.

    I have about four or five partially completed guys right now. A couple other new ones, but not worth their own post. Just filling in some of the ranks. Been looking into Tyranid bits for my next trophy-adorned Marine, but being patient about hooking up a good deal on EBay for the bits I want.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/20 16:34:55


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


    I plan to zealously steal your ideas take thorough inspiration from you. Your "tall-scale" is not only (relatively) simple, but looks quite a bit better than the kind of "true-scale" that involves essentially sculpting out of greenstuff a new body over the top of the armour.

    Meanwhile, I have a few questions. In regard to this post, would it be possible to get a few shots of what these guys look like without the belt? While I was going to add considerable amounts of ammunition and the like to my Marines (with the help of Anvil Industry's fantastic Equipment Pack), I wasn't intending to do it that extensively on all of them, mostly to draw a contrast between a regular Marine and a Havoc, the Havocs having pretty much every available space on their armour covered with belts, pouches, missiles, etc. I'm also (tentatively) going to attempt this on Raptors, which will involve greenstuff on the legs along with the plasticard inserts.

     Veteran Sergeant wrote:


    As far as Terminators, I have a few sitting around that I was going to do. But I don't plan to make them significantly taller, maybe 1mm taller than the Power armored guys at eye level.


    I was considering leaving Terminators as they are, but now I'm not so sure. How would you make them scale with the power-armoured guys?

    Thankfully I have no shortage of free time and a great deal fewer Marines than you! Also, you're brilliant.

    EDIT: Oh! I just randomly compared my Dark Vengeance Chosen to a Black Legion Aspiring Champion (Captain Slaughter!), and they're a good head taller! There's no way I'd be able to tallscale them with all their crazy details, and they'd still be shorter than tallscaled Marines, but the difference won't be as super obvious as it would have been otherwise, especially if I put them on scenic bases to give them a bit more height.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/21 12:45:46


    Post by: Ashiraya


    ^ That. I had planned on trying to adjust the scale on my DV Chosen, who I plan to use as Aspiring Champions, but maybe it won't be necessary.

    Having the champion smaller than everyone else will look weird, though! There's only so much a higher base can do.

    I haven't done it on any other squad yet, but from now on, all my future non-Renegade squad (Really CBA to do this on my 'horde' Renegade squads, tbh) will get the size adjustment treatment.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/21 15:28:36


    Post by: the shrouded lord


    Just fou d this, to.death. With. You. I now have to chop 30-40 marines to pieces AND write some grim dark. And find some "scanner-thingies, AND purchase the now codex.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/21 15:32:25


    Post by: GrimDork


    I agree I'm quite torn and want to do the same with my marine pile.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/21 20:47:00


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


     BrotherHaraldus wrote:
    DV Chosen, who I plan to use as Aspiring Champions


    Exactly the same for me (aren't they so pretty?). Because mine are Alpha Legion, most of them use Loyalist parts with the icons removed, but I do sprinkle elements of Chaotic goodness throughout!

     BrotherHaraldus wrote:

    Having the champion smaller than everyone else will look weird, though! There's only so much a higher base can do.


    They're approximately 2mm taller than normal Marines. With a scenic base, I think they might just blend in fine. Obviously I can't say for certain, having no tallscaled Marines to compare them to.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/21 22:55:18


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Well, if you've read my Dark Verngearnce! battle report, you'll know my buddy has Dark Vengeance. So I'll try to remember to take a picture of them side by side for scale next time I'm over there.

    Eventually we'll finish up playing the Battle for Macragge scenarios and there will be a sequel to it.

    As far as the Terminator sizes, you can see it here:


    That's one of my newer models next to the Terminator Sergeant body from Assault on Black Reach. Obviously I will need to modify the Terminators to be taller in order to scale properly with my own Marines, but that really, eye to eye, they aren't much taller than regular Space Marines (much of it to do with the squatting stance of the power armored model.

    As far as your earlier question about the belt lines, if you're going to leave off the gear, you'll need to cut the belt buckle off and sculpt it lower on the model because otherwise they'll look a little short on the torso side. Basically, I had always planned to have the gear (in fact, the gear part came long before the decision to up-scale them), so it was never an obstacle for the project. It can make it somewhat complicated depending on how detailed you want them to be.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/21 23:47:04


    Post by: GrimDork


    I think Alairos did his Khorne cms terminators to a taller scale. I don't have a link handy for the blog and it's not been updated, but the steps are there.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 00:12:57


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


    Thanks for the reply! I see what you mean about the belt, now. They're actually sort of sitting around the Marine's stomach, which is the fault of them being almost chibi, I guess.

    Looks doable. I wanted to do more plated waists as well, so that'll help keep the detail down (relative to exposed cabling). Spoilered for huge images.
    Spoiler:






    I think it can be done! I have to say, though, I really do like the look of them with the equipment belts. I'll definitely do a number like that (maybe even most of them, depending on how Havocs turn out).

    EDIT: Oh, forgot. The problem with Terminators is that I'm not entirely sure what to extend. Also, I can't find anything on Alairos!

    EDIT2: I think you meant Ailaros. Reading the "The making of the Knights of Malice" now!

    EDIT3: Found it!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 01:48:53


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Veteran Sergeant, where exactly do you make each cut? I especially wonder about the 'belt' cut. Do you make the cut just above the actual belt? Or do you add the extension between the leg and torso components?

    Also Frozen Ocean, I did that with my Havocs as well! They are very heavily kitted out. Every single one has backup ammunition, a sidearm pistol, a combat blade, a back-up Bolter, and so on. Just a SHAEM that I did not think of truescaling them.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 02:08:23


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    There are no cuts on the belt. The torso has narrow strips of 1.5mm thick card glued underneath it. They are then filed smooth on the outside, and rounded out with a rounded hobby blade on the inside so they fit with the rounded top of the legs.

    The torso is then just glued in place atop the legs

    Legs are cut at the top of the thigh where it meets the joint, then midway along the shin (even with the top of the detail on the back of the legs). 1mm thick card is glued in place, then filed down. The missile launcher above actually has 1.5mm on that left leg, but that was because the leg snapped (old plastic) as I was cutting it, so I filed it down more and just used slightly thicker card to fill in the gap.

    It's a Tyranid carapace plate on the side of his leg. I don't like the way it turned out (too hard to tell what it is), but I haven't gotten around to pulling it off. Pay it no mind, lol. I wanted to have some trophies from recent campaigns against Tyranids. But my buddy with Tyranids was only able to find one sprue with spare bits so I was working with what he had.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 02:15:18


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Aha, got it. I am going to try your technique on my Chosen. It seems like a lot of work like you said, but I believe it will be worth it. So you cut out the extensions from sheets of plasticard rather than slicing out pieces from a plasticard rod? Interesting.

    Have you considered elongating the arms as well? Their proportions are more appropriate than many other parts of the base model, but with double leg extension they are beginning to look slightly puny. They would not need a lot, but it would help much with the impression.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 02:36:38


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    The human arm only hangs down to mid thigh. Normal Space Marines figures are gorillas, lol. The arms may look a little odd at first, but then you realize making the Marines taller actually brings the arms back closer to proper scale.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 02:46:21


    Post by: Ashiraya


    ...I checked, and yes, you're right.

    Ignore the wipe on my part.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 02:50:51


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


    In other words, tallscaling is the most perfect thing.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 18:56:34


    Post by: Ashiraya


    I just finished my first tallscaled Chosen. Just... Wow. Veteran Sergeant, your technique is genius. I only had 0.5 mm thick plasticard available, so I used double layers for the legs and a triple layer for the chest, though it was not easy to make it work with the way the chest/hips joint is designed. It did not really matter anyway since I covered the entire area with bags and stuff, but I am still not entirely happy.

    I'll try your design with narrow strips instead on my next one.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/22 19:36:23


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    If you're not worried about being able to articulate the waist, you could just file down the rounded top of the legs. Might make it easier. You'll obviously only be able to rotate the waist on its axis, but not every pose requires any "lean" to it.

    Or you could determine the angle of lean ahead of time and file it flat on that angle.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 16:59:34


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I'm interested to see what you come up with. I don't really consider this thread "mine", so if you want to post them here, feel free. I actually enjoy seeing what other people do with these ideas. It wasn't like I was the first one to come up with adding plastic card to Space Marines to make them taller. The only thing I can think of in this blog that is 100% "mine" is the bolt pistol.

    Heck, when somebody on B&C said they were going to use my home-brew chapter icon for one of their Deathwatch Marines, I thought it was awesome. I feel like 40K is a community property. I'd think it was awesome if somebody decided they liked my Chapter's name and color scheme and painted their army with it. I wouldn't be worried they "stole it".


    In fact, here's the tutorial for the bolt pistol. I realized I'd never put it here on Dakka.


    The Horatius Pattern Bolt Pistol.



    So have you ever wondered why the bolt pistols don't fit in the holsters that are on the Marine sprues?

    The answer is Games Workshop doesn't care. However, the new answer is because they are holding the Horatius Pattern Bolt Sidearm. A defensive weapon, it was named after a legendary Space Marine hero whose troops held a bridge for a day and a night against an onslaught of Orks before reinforcements could arrive.

    The Horatius pattern bolt pistol has been sliced down the center, with the inside faces filed down to make the weapon skinnier, the front sight trimmed off, and the magazine shortened. It's not a perfect fit in the holster, but it is close enough for heroic scale work, lol.



    The barrel doesn't actually flare. That's just a trick of the camera angle.

    How's it made?



    1. Clip the grip, magazine and magazine well, top sights, barrel, and targeter nub off.
    2. Like so.
    3. Slice evenly down the middle. Following the mold line does the trick.
    4. File the middle down to slim the pistol's bulk.
    5. Glue halves together.

    Obviously the pose is up to you, but the pose above was made as such:

    1. Gunner arms from vehicle sprue. Cut right arm free. Carefully cut the thumb off the top, then reattach on the side of the hand.
    2. Take a bent elbow support hand. Slice the hand off, rotate, and reattach. You may need to cut the arm under the shoulder pad too and rotate.

    This pistol also makes an excellent weapon for Imperial Guard characters since it actually looks like something they could lift in one hand. Or for Sisters I imagine.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 17:05:11


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


    I knew that was you! (Hardly required massive insight on my part, given that it's in your signature...)

    I just cheat, and use these:



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 17:05:47


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Well, your technique works very well on Chaos Marines, I can assure you.

    The first 4 members of the Fatewalker squad, reporting in!

    Spoiler:





    They are a real pleasure to build and I doubt I will be able to go back to normal-scale Marines after all this.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 18:06:39


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


    I like it! I especially enjoy the usage of those Raptor helmets on regular guys.

    Also, how Brother Mitrik is staring sassily at the viewer while pointing, like "Why are you there? Be over there!".


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 19:07:13


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Haha. Get through doing 50 or so of them and let me know if you're still enjoying it.

    Every single guy I do has to be rendered from 5 parts (legs, torso, 2 arms, plastic card sheets) down to 22 component parts minimum.

    /sigh

    And then assembled.

    I figure the average bolter Marine I do is assembled from 35 individual pieces, 30 of which are obtained by cutting other pieces apart since all of my pouches are individually placed, and the grenade clusters are split apart and individually placed.

    Two things hold me up on this project. Lack of fresh ideas for poses, but mostly just assembly fatigue, heh.

    I actually picked up a lot of unassembled Chaos Marines because I used to play Chaos back in the old days when the Alpha Legion were cool (Pre-Dan Abnett). Yeah, I made one. The rest will probably be given to my buddy if he decides to play with us again (his old Chaos army disappeared when he moved to Alaska for a bit). I do hope whenever a new Chaos Marines kit comes along, they kill those awful bolters with the belt feed. Belt fed bolters would take three arms to reload the way they're set up. Lacking a third arm isn't always a problem when it comes to Chaos Marines I guess, but it seems incredibly inefficient.


    Automatically Appended Next Post:
     Frozen Ocean wrote:
    I knew that was you! (Hardly required massive insight on my part, given that it's in your signature...)

    I just cheat, and use these:

    I don't think Anvil existed when I started, and I already have enough holsters and loose bolt pistols for the project. Those seem cool, but I just bought the holsters in bulk from a bits seller for like ten cents a pop at some point. People ask how I have so many pouches and grenades. When you can buy a lot of 100 of them for ten bucks, they're easy to accumulate, heh. Then I have all the ones from the sprues too.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 19:20:23


    Post by: The Good Green


    Well done VS. That does bother me from time to time. You've worked out a very convincing workaround. The 'how-to' is really well done too. It's quite labor intensive, but… you know - for the hobby! The positioning is amazing.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 19:28:07


    Post by: GrimDork


    I love these marines, every time I pop by to check them out I get the urge to do more of my own this way. First guy turned out alright, if a bit unfinished, but I just don't have the artistry/anatomy sense to make such great poses and have things look right.

    Still, great fun to check out from time to time


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 20:12:39


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


    Oh, I know. There are plenty of things wrong with the CSM kit - but the bolters have always been my biggest issue. They're also only kind of belt-fed; the belt is sort of awkwardly dangling out of the bottom of the weapon, and doesn't actually go anywhere. It's just weird. Lucky that Loyalist bolters are about 5p each from bits sites (like helmets), though, and it's fairly easy to chop off the Imperial icons.

    Don't get me wrong, I really like the look of your bolt pistols! My solution up until getting those from Anvil was just to simply not put holsters on guys and pretend they produce them from the same place they get their chainswords, grenades, and ammunition - (war)hammerspace. I love Anvil's blank power armor chestplates more than any other bit, though, just because it saves me so much time in carving off Aquilas and the like.

    I'm looking forward to getting in to this, but it won't be for a while yet.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/23 20:24:38


    Post by: Ashiraya


    My favourite bolters are the non-belt CSM ones, though. They look really good.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/24 03:14:47


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    With the ladyfriend out of town for the holidays, I sat down and prepped some more models. Best to let the plastic card fully bond otherwise I end up re-gluing pieces, so it's typically a two step process for me.

    So maybe at some point I'll have some more figures assembled. I've actually put together some cool ideas and some accessories. Eventually I might even assemble them.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/24 03:36:43


    Post by: the shrouded lord


    BTW, if you live in Australia and so cant get get plasticard, you can do this upsizing with green stuff And liquid green stuff.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/24 04:19:20


    Post by: GrimDork


    I haven't found a clean/smooth way to cut the plasticard to the point that I wouldn't need LGS yet anyway. Greenstuff would be an interesting option to vary the height on the fly, though I assume the plasticard is a bit steadier to work with.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/24 08:16:28


    Post by: the shrouded lord


     GrimDork wrote:
    I haven't found a clean/smooth way to cut the plasticard to the point that I wouldn't need LGS yet anyway. Greenstuff would be an interesting option to vary the height on the fly, though I assume the plasticard is a bit steadier to work with.

    Cut it a little to big. Sand paper it down.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/25 00:04:31


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    A bit of a trans-generational preview of my eventual Battle For Macragge battle report.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/25 00:08:34


    Post by: whalemusic360


    What is wrong with that nid?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/25 00:14:51


    Post by: GrimDork


    It's age is showing?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/25 13:01:04


    Post by: the shrouded lord


    Looks like he's saying "do I look like dave to you? THAT guy over thEre, he's dave donkey-cave.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/25 16:24:23


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     whalemusic360 wrote:
    What is wrong with that nid?
    It's one of the original Hunter-Slayers.

    Basically the predecessor to the Termagant from Rogue Trader.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/25 18:35:48


    Post by: Commander_Nightflier


    love this blog, I've always hated how the 40k troops all have the sames pose, I always have a few guys non-converted but the rest usually are some how. Of course with tau, i don't need to "true scale" them at all....


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/25 19:00:21


    Post by: Ashiraya


    True scaled a Termie, used the same card thickness. Works well. Less noticeable than on normal marines since they are so big, though. And consumes a lot of bags, might have to get more soon.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/26 01:27:24


    Post by: Frozen Ocean


    Pics?

    Also, merry Christmas etc!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2013/12/26 19:38:49


    Post by: Ashiraya


     Frozen Ocean wrote:
    Pics?

    Also, merry Christmas etc!


    Happy holidays!

    Pics will come later, I prefer to build a lot of stuff and then upload pics of it all in one go.

    But disassembling my already-built Termies so that I could build them was a nightmare. For some reason the chest-legs joint was a place where I had glued very very well. It takes a lot of swearing, blood, tears, and torn-off other parts of the model to dislodge it. One of them even was so mutilated he could not be saved. The plastic of the -legs- snapped while the glue joint held.

    I will need a new box soon...

    (Still worth it!)


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/01/05 04:04:06


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Aaand up you go.

    Not only does this thread display excellent models, it also inspires others to do the same, which is something not every project does. Therefore I think it needs more attention!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/01/05 05:31:49


    Post by: the shrouded lord


     BrotherHaraldus wrote:
    Aaand up you go.

    Not only does this thread display excellent models, it also inspires others to do the same, which is something not every project does. Therefore I think it needs more attention!

    agreed.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/01/20 22:08:36


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Be happy, Sarge. Your work just indirectly inspired my GK buddy to start truescaling his models as well. I did the first one for him, he loved it.

    It's contagious!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/01/20 23:30:51


    Post by: CoyoteCasket


    now i feel all sad having found this.........your sir are an amazing converter..... now i'm glaring at all my marines with disdain going "your too short!!!!"


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/17 01:25:37


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So you guys have been left out of the rotation for a while as I decided whether or not to continue this plog here. But, since the P&M crew has always been really good, I figured I'd at least continue this because there's no point punishing everyone for the sins of a few.

    So this guy was in pieces for like three weeks until I finally assembled him.  A little amusing back story. The head and torso were an old model which I had apparently glued together with Sovereign Glue. No matter what, that head wasn't coming off. But it was a usable torso with an eagle, and it also had a "Devastator head" on it, meaning it needed a heavy weapon if I was going to use him in my Battle Company. I tossed around doing another missile launcher (I still need at least one more), but then I thought about a multi-melta. But how to make a Marine looking left with a multi-melta which is set up to be held right handed? So I envision this guy stacked up on a wall, or some other kind of cover, about to turn the corner and blast something, and has turned his head back to see if his squadmates are ready to charge once he's blasted whatever is around the corner.  



    The multimelta was an Ebay save, and had been slathered with two thick layers of paint, lol. It didn't even 100% strip on the first try, so I've actually been scraping a fair amount of it off with a hobby blade tip. 
     
    His wrists also need to be finished since the angle that I wanted the multimelta to sit at was far greater than the available wrist actuator. Might have to resort to green stuff finally, lol.
     
    The weapon needs some work before I finalize it, but I'm pleased with it. I wanted to use one of the multimeltas from the old school tarantula kit since the are slimmer than the current generation ones, but I couldn't find any of them. :( Found the Tarantual itself, but not the guns.
     
     
    The second thing isn't a full model, but instead the concept for my new bolter. 

     
    I shaved off the nonfunctional front sight post, then moved the barrel in line with the charging handle, while positioning the targeter nub underneath the barrel instead of over it. I kinda like the look of it. I've been fighting with the idea of what bolters to use. I don't like the default plastic ones because they are too thick. I don't like any of the Forgeworld ones for a variety of reasons. Mostly because I'm too picky.


    Based off the ruggedized frame of the standard Godywn-Pattern Boltgun, the Invectors Chapter Forges on Cerceus IV created the Cerceus-Pattern Boltgun in M35. Elevating the barrel and feeding mechanism served the dual function of simplifying the internal mechanism which increased reliability, and allowing the use of higher capacity sickle magazines without increasing the overall dimensions of the weapon. The increased recoil caused by the higher bore axis can be problematic for regular human troops, howvever it has proven manageable for the genetically modified Marines of the Scout Company, and is fully compensated for by the power-assisted battle plate worn by the line companies. The weapon features the standard targeter array linked to the Marine helmet's auto-senses, and protected flip-up sights are contained in the weapon's housing for unassisted aiming. While relatively uncommon, the Cerceus-Pattern can found service in other Chapters in the Ultima Segmentum.

    I've also had a fair number of ideas for Marines carrying supplementary weapons for a while. Some may remember the one with the looted shuriken catapult. I wanted to create a Marine who was carrying a grenade launcher. Ultimately, the pose I wanted didn't work since my Marines carry so much extra gear already. So this was a compromise. The other problem is that 40K weapons are just so gigantic, even scaled to my taller Marines.


     
    He's also armed with the Cerceus pattern bolter. The pose was created with the idea in mind of eventually mounting him on a hollow base and have him stepping down into a puddle of... some kind of to-be-determined liquid. I used a Chaos shoulderpad, filing off the decorative Chaosy bits, and then bending the skull so it appears to be hanging naturally. The grenade launcher is simply the Cadian launcher with two bolter grips glued onto it and its aquila filed off.
     
    Ultimately the grenade launcher, game-wise, is just a decoration.

    And then there's this surly bastard.

    He still needs a lot of work. He was assembled using an old set of legs that were repurposed when I pulled apart a second generation model that needed a waist/leg extension. The legs took a bit of damage in the process that will need to be corrected, and I think I think I may cut the feet free.
     

     
    Added this after I took those pics. Pic didn't turn out great, but it's a talon from a Carnifex.  

     
    This guy obviously another veteran of the Tyranic Wars (in the fluff sense more than the rules-sense). Took a bit of fiddling to get him into the more aggressive pose with the heavy bolter (and amusingly exposes the lack of detail on the inside of the weapon), but it gives him a much more open stance with a "hose 'em down" look.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/17 02:14:59


    Post by: whalemusic360


    Yeah, life returns. Hopefully long lasting and frequently updated life.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/17 03:42:32


    Post by: Camkierhi


    Spectacular work. Amazing attention to detail and great, inspirational posing. Love it. Please keep it coming.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/17 08:35:57


    Post by: deadmeat85


    In reguards to your bolters, I total agree with the fact that it seems slowed for the barrel being down so low. I too have moved it up, and made then the same way.

    And again great work on your marines. Lots of character, and cant wait to see some paint with your paint scheme.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/17 08:43:50


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Yay, you're back!

    I have not messed with my models for a long time now, but coincidentally I was about to pick it up again.

    Shall be nice to see what you come up with this time.

    The left leg of the converted-bolter-marine appears to have a bigger than average chunk of plasticard on it. Have you increased the standard height of your guys further still or is it special just for him?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/17 09:03:21


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Many of these Marines are made with parts that are over a decade old. I've stripped, then disassembled many old Marines I had back in the day. That's why there's so much differentiation in the color of plastic on the parts, because I just assemble them with whatever bits are convenient at the time.

    His leg snapped as I was cutting it, requiring me to file both sides down flat. The extra thickness was just me using a 1.5mm spacer to account for the missing material I had to remove during repairs.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/17 11:21:23


    Post by: the shrouded lord


    Yes, yes, YES, YES, YES, YES YES!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/18 21:15:35


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Hey Vet Sarge.

    I have some bikers here that I have no fething idea of what to do with.

    They look... Bad when they are so tiny, but if I truescale them, the bikes will look tiny instead, and the bikers won't even fit into them!

    Got any ideas on tackling this problem?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/18 22:13:59


    Post by: Alpharius


    I'm in the same boat!

    I've got a lot of truescale marines, and I've got truescale vehicles (Rhino based only for now!) to go along with them, but bikes...

    It can be done though:



    http://masteroftheforge.com/2010/09/29/artscale-space-marine-bike/


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/18 22:30:24


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Looks a bit Orky to me (But then, I am a CSM player, might work anyway) but I am nowhere near that skill level with GS.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/18 22:36:46


    Post by: GrimDork


    I'm not sure I'd buy the extra toughness from a bike like that, it looks very pretty but the marine is more exposed and there's less bike to absorb incoming fire. It's very pretty though


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 00:18:08


    Post by: Alpharius


    That's where your suspension of disbelief is going to stop?!?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 00:19:34


    Post by: Camkierhi


    Looks good, definitely not orky.

    This is orky....
    Spoiler:


    The problem comes with true scale, not making it bigger, but making the marine fit, that bike looks brilliant, but yeah the marine looks a bit big for his seated position. I wish I had half that skill with GS though, and once painted that will look amazing.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 01:31:36


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I've never been a huge fan of the "Space Marines on motorcycles" thing. Just doesn't really fit with my vision of the 40K aesthetic. I have a few I bought in the long-long ago when that model first came out, but never played much with them. They're really low on my priority list so I hadn't much planned for them yet.

    I'd imagine you could extend the bike slightly to account for the longer legs.

    My concern is what I'm going to do with my Land Speeders. I've got 4 of them to do, but I need to figure out how I'm going to work the tall scaling, or if it is worth it. Hence why they aren't done yet, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 01:53:39


    Post by: GrimDork


    As little of the legs a you can see.... maybe just do the torso stretch and the magic you do with the arms? Probably not realistic enough for you, its what I'd do but I'm a bit lazy.

    I may have to try some tall guys again ala kill team.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 02:08:53


    Post by: Alpharius


    Good call on the Landspeeder issue - that is a tough one...


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 03:16:17


    Post by: plastictrees


    You could just enclose it entirely like the Tempest.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 04:14:15


    Post by: the shrouded lord


     Alpharius wrote:
    Good call on the Landspeeder issue - that is a tough one...

    what IS your avatar? anyway.
    that bike looks awesome.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 06:05:45


    Post by: scipunk


    The best way I would think of is using plastic cards to extend the chassis of the landspeeder and a bit of work with GS. Little patience is required for this....but seeing your work....I think you'll have this covered up np


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 08:04:06


    Post by: Camkierhi


    I am with Grimdork, Just extend the torso and arms. My only issue would be the roof line then. And I am with you on SM bikes, they have their uses but don't fit with the ethos for me, maybe only scout bikes.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/19 14:29:00


    Post by: Alpharius


     the shrouded lord wrote:
     Alpharius wrote:
    Good call on the Landspeeder issue - that is a tough one...

    what IS your avatar? anyway.


    My avatar is a closeup of the #1 Alpha Legion operative currently active in the [censored] segmentum:



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/21 04:19:57


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     plastictrees wrote:
    You could just enclose it entirely like the Tempest.
    Seems like cheating, lol.
     scipunk wrote:
    The best way I would think of is using plastic cards to extend the chassis of the landspeeder and a bit of work with GS. Little patience is required for this....but seeing your work....I think you'll have this covered up np
    This may be the way it ends up happening.

    The height shouldn't be a big issue. If it is, I may cheat and only raise the torso by 1mm instead of 1.5mm. Sitting down, it shouldn't really be noticeable.

    The good news is that the legs are extended off the "seat" plate. So I can actually extend them fairly easily. Seems like a huge waste of time for a detail almost nobody will notice. But of course I'm going to do it anyway.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/21 09:32:23


    Post by: Ashiraya


    I am still thinking of whether to pick apart my 20 Raptors and truescale them as well.

    The way their bases are designed is cool, but it makes them wobbly as feth. Could always stick a weight under the base or something I suppose.

    Are you going to truescale some ASMs?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/21 17:35:32


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    What's an ASM? Assault Marines? There's a squad of them buried in there somewhere a few pages back. They all need to be redone at some point to get the extra leg spacing so I'm going to revisit how I did them.

    Assault Marines are an interesting challenge. They have a ton of potential, but it's also really easy to make silly looking ones too.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/21 20:41:22


    Post by: Ashiraya


    ASM = Assault Space Marine, indeed.

    And very much so.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/29 12:20:35


    Post by: the shrouded lord


    1. vet sarge, do you have any suggestions as to what to do with close combat weapons, knives and stuff>
    2. nooo alpharious has changed his/her avatar back to boring.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/03/30 21:31:00


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    In what sense? Normally I just have them stashed over the shoulder (where they'd be out of the way).

    In terms of combat poses, I prefer for the models to look like they're actually doing something with them. So I am very sparing with those types of elements. I have the drawing motion guy, and the head-taking guy, and the cross-drawing guy.

    The decision has to be based on what effect you're trying to have. Dramatic? Heroic? Gritty? Most of mine are what you would call "gritty", I'm looking for poses that evoke a sense of a real Space Marine in a real battle. A lot of people like comic-book-hero poses instead. there's no right or wrong way to do it. I just don't feel like guys would be carrying combat blades or the such with the intention of just "looking cool" or menacing at people with it.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/13 14:59:18


    Post by: Deunstephe


    This thread is filled to the brim with realism and easy conversions, this is amazing.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/13 19:15:00


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I'd been discussing the fact that I had several Land Speeders to do, and how that would affect the scale project. So I set out to see how that could be accomplished. Turned out easier than I thought.

    Though I must say I hate the Landspeeder kit. Maybe mine are just so old that they've warped to time or poor storage, but the chassis parts of this kit fits together ridiculous poorly. A lot of cleanup will be needed on this model just from having to re-glue portions of it. That said, it turned out pretty decent.



    Of course, you're asking... are they tall scale too? Of course they are, lol.


    What purpose does this serve? None. Just for completeness I guess.

    "But you can't even see the legs!" Yeah.

    The gunner is not peranently attached, so that he can be rotated along the guide-rail for the mount. You can see the interior details here, including the sidearms for the crew, and the spare box of ammunition for the heavy bolter.



    Front on shot. You can see the pilots sit a little above the roof-line, but not too much. Both pilots have supplementary targeter heads to interface better with their heavy weapons.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/13 22:59:37


    Post by: GrimDork


    Looks pretty solid. I don't think I'll ever get back to my space marines so I'll just appreciate this whole Tall Scale stuff from far


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/13 23:08:44


    Post by: the shrouded lord


    Looks awesome. I love the Fact you did the drivers. Now do it to a stormraven.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/14 03:21:20


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     the shrouded lord wrote:
    Looks awesome. I love the Fact you did the drivers. Now do it to a stormraven.

    They're just too ugly.

    I'd played with making Valkyravens and Vulturetalons (you can see the 1st efforts a few pages back), but I ended up shelving the project for the short term. I kinda like the Storm Eagles, but they need a lot of work to fix their fight-worthiness issues (their centers of lift and centers of thrust are pretty off, lol). I'd be okay converting them, but the other thing that puts me off is the poor quality reputation the kit has and the price (especially given the QC issues, lol).


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/14 21:38:42


    Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


    I agree on the points concerning the landspeeder kits. They're wonky and warped. Given the level of detail GW is able to put into most of its kits, there doesn't seem like there's an excuse for this.

    That said, I like the down turned missile pods and think you've done a marvelous job knocking this kit together.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/14 21:42:03


    Post by: inmygravenimage


    Storm eagle's a nightmare kit. But we have faith in you

    There's always the possibility of using the chapter house extension kit...


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/16 01:16:33


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Actually, the pilots of any flyers I make probably won't be scaled up. But only because I have 4 sets of the old Land Speeder crew, and I think they'd just be too hard to cut apart and keep in good condition. But their helmets are awesome.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/17 01:30:50


    Post by: Ashiraya


    As much as I love the majority of your stuff, I think I won't echo your bolter change. It's cool, but it just takes away from the very distinct bolter silhoutte.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/19 09:40:49


    Post by: Big H


    Like your work a lot Veteran Sergeant !

    Wish I'd done more "biggoning" with mine instead of just 1mm waist and feet spacers !



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/24 19:26:09


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Totally not related to this project, but my awesome coworkers got me a bonsai tree.

    So I did the only reasonable thing you can do when you have a miniature Japanese tree.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/24 21:46:22


    Post by: Camkierhi


    They look a little short???


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/24 22:47:01


    Post by: Deunstephe


    That is a fine looking tree. And a neat turtle.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/27 05:48:01


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Camkierhi wrote:They look a little short???

    They're Asian. They're actually already truescale.
    Deunstephe wrote:That is a fine looking tree. And a neat turtle.

    Actually that was given to me by the same coworker after I explained my Ninja Turtle Life Philosophy.

    When you're young, it's easy to like Raphael because he's edgy and rebellious.

    But as you get older, you realize he was just an emo whiner, and you'd rather be smart like Donatello, a good leader like Leonardo, or just laid back and happy like Michelangelo.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/04/27 12:25:46


    Post by: GrimDork


    I like the turtle philosophy lol. That is... possibly... an excellent idea you've given me though. I was going to make my sister's boyfriend a samurai diorama already... bonsai tree as the base...might just be cooler.

    Is a happy birthday in order, or do you just have cool coworkers?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/07/13 19:56:12


    Post by: Jadenim


    Damn you Veteran Sergeant; someone linked into this thread, I read through it again and thought "hmmm, wonder how hard it is?"

    Three hours later and I've got my first truescale Deathwatch member; so I'm now going to have to do the whole lot, because the size and proportions are so much better and your method is waaay too straightforward to put me off!

    Spoiler:




    P.S. I make no apologies for threadnomancy; I believe you work needs to be seen.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/07/13 21:05:39


    Post by: Kevv6


    Just seen this thread, awesome work, makes me want to start a new marine chapter haha. When are you going to start painting them though?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/07/14 22:21:56


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    No need to worry about the necro. The project is still alive, I just haven't had the motivation to work on it recently. After a decade in the Marines, my back gets sore pretty quickly hunching over on these things, so if I'm going to be sore, I prefer it be because I've been at the gym, or surfing too much. So this projects has fits and starts, and never fares well when it's sunny and summertime.

    I'm glad you're enjoying the results. Your first couple guys look really good.

    As far as to when they're going to get painted, well, painting suffers the same problem as modeling. I don't play (as much as I've tried to convince my old wargaming buddies to do it once every few months or so, even if we have to houserule the heck out of it), so I have little incentive to do it. And I enjoy painting far less than I do the creative process of conceptualizing and realizing a model and its pose. I'd love for them to be painted one day, but for now the inspiration is where I enjoy the hobby more.

    I'll try to get something else done soon. It really just hinges on two things: First, finding new ideas for poses and models, and second, the sheer amount of work that goes into each guy, and having the time to invest. I have a full time job doing content marketing, and I write freelance in my spare time. After that, my hobbies (surfing, running, hiking, reading, women) have to compete for time. So 40K slips down the ladder a lot, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/07/22 04:41:55


    Post by: Ashiraya


    Your work here is not only inspiring, it is ground-breaking it is simplicity.

    I am still thinking on new conversion projects. I am planning a squad of special Terminators in chaos-ified Cataphractii suits, which will pose its own challenges...


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/08/23 21:22:38


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I can't believe I've let this project sit since April. I don't really have anything new, though I updated the fluff and added a new short story over on The Bolter & Chainsword if anyone is interested in reading it.

    http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/267011-litanies-of-hate-and-discontent-index-astartes-invectors/

    I did whip up this in Paintshop just for fun. That counts as painting, right? Paint... shop... No? Damn.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/08/24 09:19:11


    Post by: Big H


    No mate, it does not count, the world needs more of you real work on the internet instead of virtual work on ........oh

    Anyway, we need new stuff !


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/09 05:44:48


    Post by: OomieCrusha


    Very cool work. Have you thought of extending the arms to try and keep them in some sort of internal proportion?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/10 22:43:15


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    No. The arms are actually already too long be default. Off the sprue, Space Marines have gorilla arms. Naturally, the arms should hang to around the mid thigh, which is more or less where they end up now.



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/11 08:35:22


    Post by: JoeRugby


    Love your stuff Srg

    I'll have to try out your true scaling sometime

    The standard arms definitely look more in proportion after the "true scaling"


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/16 12:18:50


    Post by: Runic


    This has probably been asked before but I just couldn´t find the answer and the thread is quite large. I am contemplating a labour-of-love project for myself, which includes scaled up marines painted possibly with full NMM. Your style to upscale the marines so far has been the simplest and most effective ( no resized arms, no terminator legs etc. )

    Could you do a step by step picture guide? And what are you using to fill the gaps with? I think I read plasticard somewhere, but I was under the impression plasticard is what it sounds like, card, and not a modeling putty you can fill stuff with.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/16 16:03:18


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    This project has been stashed away for a while since 7th Ed (and new gf and summer beach weather) killed my passion for the hobby, but I can show you some pics I have from the past.

    Here are the rough component parts of the models. I hadn't made the second cut on the legs yet, and the arms haven't been cut and repositioned.


    This picture is crappy so you can't see the detail too well, but the card is rounded off on the inside (I use a rounded blade to scrape it) to allow the raised torso to sit on top of the legs.


    I don't sculpt the belt line because on my models the belt is hidden by all of the pouches and grenades and thus it would be a waste of time. If you're not using gear, you may need to be prepared to reposition the "belt buckle" and sculpt the belly cables out of green stuff.

    The plastic card is just plastic styrene card. You can order it online, or probably get it at any modelling shop. I use 1mm, 1.5mm, and occasionally 0.5mm.

    Here is how the model is assembled



    Basically, you take a nice, simple, 10 part model and make it into a 30+ part one, lol.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/16 16:31:27


    Post by: Runic


    Thank you. Do I understand correctly that into the legs you have cut circular pieces of the card, in the shape of the legs? That actually seems easier than using putty. Basically like discs between the leg pieces?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/16 19:00:42


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I cut the card into squares, glue it to the leg pieces, trim off the excess and file it smooth. But yeah, basically you're just creating plastic "circles".

    I found this picture of the assembly process where you can see the "squares".



    It's probably "easier" than putty because you know you'll have a consistent thickness with card. You can always use putty to fix minor defects or fix any details. You can see on some models where the older plastic (some of my kits are over a decade old, lol) was damaged and I needed to patch them. I specifically use the "plain" legs to reduce the amount of sculpting that would be necessary with more ornate leg pieces.

    One good trick is to utilize "found" details. For example, when you shave off skulls from helmets, or aquilas from weapons and other things, you can then glue them back onto the models as surface details and embellishments.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/16 21:16:21


    Post by: Big H


    Good to see you posting again Sergeant ! Use the Autumn (Fall !) to cut some more plastic, you do some great work !



    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/19 21:37:57


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    The bastards got me...



    I'd swore I'd never buy another GW kit new in box, but they got me.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/19 21:39:44


    Post by: whalemusic360


    Are you going to upscale them? would be interesting to see, they are covered in detail.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/09/20 17:59:44


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Probably not. The set will be more valuable not butchered, and I already have a bunch of AoBR Terminators sitting around I haven't even gotten to yet.

    Given the fact that I don't actually play 40K (just Necromunda), it seems pretty silly to chop up my Space Hulk set, lol.

    But I've been a fan of Space Hulk for a long, long time. And I have no reason to buy 3.5th Edition since I already have like three sets of Space Hulk including the original Ultramarines game. But I did anyway, because reasons and sentimentality.

    Then again, reasons and sentimentality is why I created this blog in the first place, heh.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/11/28 21:33:24


    Post by: thegreatchimp


    Thanks for posting this up Sergeant. I got back into the hobby recently and had some of the same ideas that you began with, and some different ones. Just had no interest in churning out an army that was the same as thousands of existing ones. Unfortunately I had zero experience converting so didn't know how to go about making a lot of those planned conversions. Was able to figure a lot of it out from a lot of what you posted up. At the moment I'm using your pics as reference to make the "aiming down bolter sights" pose and its working out a treat. It takes me about 4-6 hours to assemble and customise 1 marine to satisfaction, but as you said, its well worth it.

    Subscribed. Look forward to seeing more great work!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/02 00:53:45


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I've found that doing several at a time cuts down on the total time. At least the prep. You can prep torsos and legs in batches.

    I'm glad you've taken something away from this project. Let me know if you have any questions.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/02 17:45:16


    Post by: JoeRugby


    Damn thought you'd done some more marines for a second

    I found in addition to doing batches of the leg and torso lengthening, getting singular marines made and painted really helped me with motivation to spend hours on the next one.

    Especialy if you then spend a while looking at how awesome they look compared to a now true scale marine


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/02 18:19:49


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


     JoeRugby wrote:
    Damn thought you'd done some more marines for a second

    No. The project had been packed up for a while as I had a bunch of other things going on in life.

    They've been playing Space Hulk though.





    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/05 15:56:21


    Post by: thegreatchimp


     Veteran Sergeant wrote:
    I've found that doing several at a time cuts down on the total time. At least the prep. You can prep torsos and legs in batches.

    I'm glad you've taken something away from this project. Let me know if you have any questions.


    I'll try reposing the legs / arms in batches, thanks for the suggestion.

    Actually yes, there was something I'd like to ask: This work in progress is my attempt at a "designated marksman" marine for one of my squads. I wanted to have him looking down the scope of his DMR type bolter, about to fire. As you can see from the front view, the problem I encountered was that I cant position the trigger hand and forearm close enough to the to put the scope in line with his eye, because the chest plate gets in the way. Even after I shaved all the protruding detail off the chest plate, I still couldn't get the pose. I'm beginning to think its anatomically impossible for a marine to use a sniper rifle!

    I was wondering if you'd had more success making such a pose?

    [Thumb - IMG_9562.JPG]
    [Thumb - IMG_9567.JPG]


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/06 01:18:49


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Yeah, you'll probably never achieve a true "down the sights" look, just because of the depth of the torso pieces.

    You'd have to rotate the weapon to cant on an angle. Might try shaving a mm off the interior neck piece so it can be positioned closer.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/06 12:08:13


    Post by: thegreatchimp


     Veteran Sergeant wrote:
    Yeah, you'll probably never achieve a true "down the sights" look, just because of the depth of the torso pieces.

    You'd have to rotate the weapon to cant on an angle. Might try shaving a mm off the interior neck piece so it can be positioned closer.


    Will give it a shot on the next one. Thanks Sarge.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/07 05:44:33


    Post by: brushcommando


    Not much of a converter, so I'm not sure how difficult it would be, but maybe try offsetting the scope on an angle like the telescopic sites on old-school musket-era rifles. you would also probably have to lengthen the scope as well. Unfortunately it would definitely have a different aesthetic to it though.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/07 13:46:59


    Post by: Soul Samurai


    Looking at the posted figure, it looks as if you could possibly angle the head downwards to bring the eyes closer to the scope? Also bringing the arm a bit higher and rotating the wrist a bit might help, although I'm not sure it would look very natural.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2014/12/07 15:59:29


    Post by: thegreatchimp


    @brushcommando Lengthening the scope would be an improvement,

    @Soul Samurai Angling the head down would help. I had tried as you suggested raising the firing arm and lowering the supporting hand, unfortunately the chest plate remains an issue. The only way I could see it working is if I lengthened the arms so the gun is held further out from the body. But yes, that would look unnatural too.

    Thanks for the suggestions guys. Another alternative would be to flatten the chest plate considerably, but that damages the aesthetics. Tbh I've kind of accepted that I'm only going to get an adequate result with this pose. The figure is just unsuitable for it.





    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/08 18:21:01


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    A little sneak peek of what's upcoming.



    I've been in the process of building some skirmish level rules for 40K, and some small armies of bad guys (Orks and Tau right now, with Chaos/Genestealer Cult coming) for my Spess Mahreens and Imperial Guard to fight.

    Couldn't post the full picture because that model is an EBay rescue that needs to be stripped and disassembled before being chopped up. After all, the name of the blog is "Leave No Model Unconverted" and yes, that means no model.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/08 18:46:39


    Post by: whalemusic360


    It'll be interesting to see your take on some of these other armies for sure.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/12 15:51:21


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I'm kind of excited to see what I can do with them. I've only gotten started with the prep work at this point, but there's a nice growing pile of Tau and Orks right now that I'm kind of excited to see what I can do with.

    In less exciting news, I'm transitioning this thing into a Wordpress blog. I'll still be posting all of the project-oriented stuff here, but I'm going to branch out the 40K content on the blog and collect a lot of the various commentary I've done across the various sites this log has been hosted on, so the blog will end up as a more holistic collection of the what's and why's. Plan for it to have articles on fluff and battle reports (Veteran Sergeant Plays: Dark Verngernce needs a permanent home, and so does the forthcoming Veteran Sergeant Plays: Shield Your Baals: Derthsterm).

    Still playing with the format, but you can find it here:

    http://veteransergeant.wordpress.com/

    And it's got a Facebook Page too.
    https://www.facebook.com/LeaveNoModelUnconverted


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/14 17:35:41


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Now with 100% more Xeno-Heresy!

    So I've been in the process of developing an alternate 40K ruleset designed to focus around troops at the platoon-level (with some vehicle support). One of the things that did was inspire me to build up some small (500 points-ish) antagonist armies. This led me to scouring EBay for good deals on Tau and Orks (among other things).

    These two armies are something of polar opposites for me. Orks I always wanted to play, because I played Orcs in Fantasy and loved them, despite their penchant for self-destructing (Big 'Uns failing their antagonism roll right in charge range of High Elf cavalry in a tournament comes to mind). The old 2nd Edition Orks were amazingly fun to play against. But when I was younger I only had a limited budget to work with, and I already had basically three armies (and a Necromunda gang). So Orks never made it to the table.

    The Tau, on the other hand, I've literally never played a game with or against. They didn't show up in the game until I was on my way out of it, and none of my friends ever picked them up. Originally I didn't like them because of the anime aesthetic (the first gen suit models weren't great either) and the goodie-goodie image. It wasn't until later that I realized the Tau were 40K's adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, right down to the separation of castes biologically designed to be ideal for their tasks and the social engineering around The Greater Good that leads every caste to be happy in their role. Seriously, any Tau fan should read that novel if they haven't. Even if you're not a Tau fan, it's a great book. Either way, that realization, and their depiction in IA3 made me decide that they were a great Grimdark addition to the 40K Universe. An oppressive, insidious regime that would be a villain in any science fiction storyline except 40K, where it ends up a "good guy".

    Anyway, enough rambling. We're here for little plastic toy soldiers.

    So, as with the Spess Mahreens, I had a list of things I wanted from my filthy xenos scum. Obviously they needed to by hardened and lethal looking. They also need to be loaded for bear as well (that's going to be an alternate challenge, identifying the bits I want to acquire for that purpose. Anyone have leftover Ork and Tau accessories they aren't using?). They obviously also need to be converted. That's the whole reason people follow this project, right?

    So here's the first Tau Fire Warrior. I put this guy together basically to get a feel for the model.


    First tasks with the Fire Warrior was cutting down the Pulse Rifle. The length of that weapon is ridiculous. I wanted make the Pulse Rifle still look exotic and deadly, but tone it down from the Napoleonic Musket length it had. The rifle is almost the same length as the model is tall. Fortunately, this wasn't a complicated process.


    This leaves the Pulse Rifle a little longer than the Carbine (though I may modify those too), but also it looks manageable. The Tau have all this technology and they can't miniaturize their longarms? Anyway, I'm pleased with the result. I think it makes the Fire Warrior look more fierce and deadly. I'll need to perfect the process, but the cuts I showed actually work out pretty well, and will only need a small amount of additional filing and gap filling to perfect.

    I left off the left shoulder plate. I wasn't a fan of the way it looked. It seems like it would just get in the way. Maybe I'll convert it.

    A couple of gripes about the kit. A couple of the arm poses are terrible. There is one that literally only allows you to construct a model at basically port arms. I guess those arms will be donor parts. And I had to clip the left hand off and file/rotate it just to get it to fit correctly with the model. I had seen a ton of pre-assembled Tau on EBay with these really weird left arm poses, and I thought the original owners were just lazy. But it turns out the kit just isn't very good. It's a good thing I planned to chop them up anyway. In the end though, I like the scale of the kit. The Fire Warriors will look good next to my old Metal IGuard unlike the plastic IGuard next to my old metal IGuard (or the plastic IGuard next to pretty much anything. They're so ugly).

    I was very excited about the Space Ork. Like I said, I'd wanted to do Sporks for a long time. In fact, opening this Pandora's box has me worried because it could get expensive, lol. Especially because eventually they're all going to have these heads:

    So what did I want to do with the Orks now that I finally had them? Well, I want them to still retain their Orkiness, but I also want them to be a bit darker and more threatening. Orks are the comic relief of 40K, but if they were real, they'd be downright scary. Inspired by the novel Fifteen Hours, and those sweet Kromlech heads, the Sporks in my universe are going to be menacing.

    Of course, that's going to mean a lot of work. Not quite as much as a 40-part Space Marine model hopefully, but this is going to need some putty. I almost don't want to share my first mock-up because it isn't even close to what I want the final product to look like, but I thought I'd give you an idea what I was starting with.

    First is fixing the pose. I want my Orks to stand a little taller, so I'm going to file down and re-angle the neck so they don't just have a head jutting out of their chests. This is mostly to give me more room to work with when posing. A giant head jutting out gets in the way of the arms and weapons, since most of my boyz will be armed with Shootas. Secondly, it will help with eliminating the hunchback look that I think is too exaggerated.



    The legs are way to squatty, and not in the awesome space dwarf kind of way. I clipped the left leg and rotated it downward. The final based model will need to be sculpted with an uneven ground so he has something under his toes, but that's a small matter. This looks decent from the front, butthe model's butt will need some gaps filled. The head will need some putty as well to fill in the neck. I may use this as an opportunity to model a hood from the gas mask head. I used the jaw piece as a shoulder plate instead, mostly because I liked the way it looked.

    Either way, there's the humble but ambitious beginning of this new chapter of Leave No Model Unconverted. In my "To Do" box are some Killa Kans, a pile of boyz, Nobz and Stormboyz. I've got ideas for some traitorous human scum auxiliary Pathfinders, converted sniper drone teams, and some Kroot.

    And of course, here's a comparison shot. I wouldn't leave you hanging like that.


    Also, if you've made it this far but perhaps missed the previous post, I'll plug my other new project. I've decided to create a blog that will present the project in a more coherent way, rather than a chronological series of posts like this ends up being.

    I'm still playing with the format (so by all means share any feedback with the layout), but you can find it here:
    https://veteransergeant.wordpress.com

    Also, I've put it on Facebook.
    https://www.facebook.com/LeaveNoModelUnconverted






    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/19 16:31:32


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So I've continued assembling some mockups of my Tau and Orks.

    I will say this up front. I never realized how lucky I was with the Space Marines. There is light-years more potential in the basic Tactical Marine kit than is present in the Fire Warrior and Space Ork kits. The Tau have a grand total of four arm poses, and since the weapons are attached to the arms, it's a lot more involved to re-pose them.

    However, I've dutifully played around with them, seeing what I could do to make exciting models out of them. Obviously I'm working with a lot of the same basic philosophies as I do with the Space Marines. I want the models to suggest movement and/or action. Looking at the model you should be able to know immediately what he's doing and be able to imagine it in a scene. This can be really easy (an aiming model pretty well evokes firing at an enemy), but I want to test the limits of these kits (and of my ability, lol) so I'm going to need models doing more than that. To say the least, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the Tau Fire Warrior kit, but oh well. I only need to do 25 or so of them.

    Here are the first 6.


    The Tau are a little less fun to construct because of these limitations. At this point, there's very little "conversion" involved here aside from the rifles and the support hands (which don't seem to fit right). And to be fair, I really like the shorter rifles compared to the longer ones, so that alone makes it worthwhile. The "running" guy has had a bit of work done to get the rifle to sit that low, and I plan to put a slight spacer at the back of his torso to make him lean forward a bit more. I want the model to look like it's dashing between cover.


    The Orks. Wow. This is going to be more involved than the Space Marines I think. The good news is, I only have to do like 50 of them. Wait, what?

    So the more I looked at the Ork models, the less I liked them. Blasphemy against Gork and Mork! But the reality is that they can't be posed (to any reasonable degree) because their heads get in the way, and they all look like they are trying to take a dump. They're all also hunched over. So it was obvious that the stock kit was going to be pretty much unusable in its basic form. After doing the first one above, wow. He needs so much work to be finished it isn't funny, lol. Or, maybe it is funny, since I am doing this to myself. I could stop at any time. I swear.

    The reality is though, I like the finished product so much more, and I think the effect is pretty striking. It also opens up a ton of possibility in the Orks while retaining their same iconic look. Either way, like the Tau, I've got six of them worked up. They're all very rough, and will need some gap filling and greenstuffing to fix them.

    Three more Boyz with Shootas


    A Big Shoota and a Rokkit Launcha.


    As you can see, more than a couple of them are standing with a foot up on things. I have a feeling this is going to be common because trying to get their legs re-posed to make them stand more upright leaves a lot of uneven footing. But ultimately, the ability to do all kinds of creative things with the basing will probably eliminate this problem in the end. Right now, they're just standing on bits of sprue.



    Either way, how drastic is this effect? Well, here's one of the Assault on Black Reach models.


    Anyway, let me know what you think.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/20 06:02:55


    Post by: Soul Samurai


    Impressive work. Your poses are much more dynamic and believable that the stock poses. I'm not sure how I feel about repositioning the Ork's heads in that it makes them look more human and less like hulking primitive brutes, but that's of course a matter of personal preference, and I can see how much better it is for allowing you to create realistic poses.

    Out of curiosity, do you resent the "shortcomings" of these model kits, or do you like that they have room for improvement, as it allows you to create much more unique pieces while customizing them to your liking?


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/20 07:52:09


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Eh, there's nothing really to "resent" about the kit. It's a bit of a disappointment at the start, but it really just means I've got to take a different approach. I can see why the kits are the way they are. It makes them accessible to more people by simplifying their construction. I mean, 99% of people buying the kits are just going to glue them together off the sprue. No need to overcomplicate things. Like I've joked in the past, my process of doing things turns a 10 part model into a 40 part model. Only a lunatic would do that.

    I can see where the Orks do look a little more human, but that may be a trick of the camera lens catching them at a slightly low angle. They still have the hunched over, hulking posture. The heads just sit slightly higher. Their eye line is now more or less on line with their shoulders, rather than the top of the head. Really what makes them taller is the repositioning of the legs. It sets the waist in a more upright position, which means the torso can sit in a more upright position.

    If anything, they're even more hulking than the GW models.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/20 13:42:28


    Post by: thegreatchimp


    More great work Sarge. I would have though Orks & Tau have somewhat less scope for personalisation than a marine or guardsman, but nonetheless you've managed to hugely improve the individuality of what you get in the box and make some figures that truly stand out. It's how I get my kicks modelling too -some degree of uniqueness, whether its a total repose, or just a simple head swap or gun modification.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/20 20:39:22


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    Honestly, if I didn't hate the IGuard plastics so much, I'd have probably done more of them. Right now a few of the handful I have are going to be sacrificed to make a few traitorous human Pathfinders, since that seems like where the Tau would need the most human expertise for auxiliaries.

    I've got some more Orks planned. Going to see how well the Stormboyz bodies lend themselves to infantry Boyz. I''ll probably finish up the Tau army pretty soon actually. Just need to wait for my EBay crisis suits and Tau to show up, then I'll have most everything I need until I can snag a new Broadside on the cheap.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/20 20:51:45


    Post by: Red Corsair


     Veteran Sergeant wrote:
    Honestly, if I didn't hate the IGuard plastics so much, I'd have probably done more of them. Right now a few of the handful I have are going to be sacrificed to make a few traitorous human Pathfinders, since that seems like where the Tau would need the most human expertise for auxiliaries.

    I've got some more Orks planned. Going to see how well the Stormboyz bodies lend themselves to infantry Boyz. I''ll probably finish up the Tau army pretty soon actually. Just need to wait for my EBay crisis suits and Tau to show up, then I'll have most everything I need until I can snag a new Broadside on the cheap.


    I converted my guardsmen with scout legs and heads lol, the cadian legs are so stumpy and the heads SO big

    Love the marine checking FB btw


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/20 23:01:54


    Post by: Jadenim


    Nice work on both of these; one thing I've personally found with the Tau supporting arms is that they're actually very subtly different. They're effective in pairs with a gun arm on the sprue and you need to keep them together to get the best fit (which admittedly still isn't great).

    The other thing would be to mix in some pathfinder models; other than the legs the rest of the components are basically interchangeable with the Firewarrior design, but the newer kit has sharper moulding and a few more options.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/21 19:48:46


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    The problem is, the Pathfinder models I own are all EBay rescues, so I don't have any of them off the sprue with extra parts. Kinda limits me to the models with the parts they were assembled with. I picked up a few extra helmet heads to get rid of the bare heads (those will end up on sombody's belt as a trophy I'm sure, lol), but that's about it. Though since I got all of them for less than $1.50 per model, it sorta works out in the end, lol.

    I did figure out which arms match, but they definitely didn't fit 100% flush even then. It's something I've noticed with the EBay rescues (I have 16 FW on the sprue, the rest of my Tau were assembled when I got them) and in browsing pictures of them online. The Fire Warrior sprues definitely need an update at some point, but if GW still hasn't redone the Chaos Marines ones, well...

    Red Corsair wrote:Love the marine checking FB btw
    Yeah, that one was basically begging to be made.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/22 18:47:30


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    So I've been plugging along with some more Orks. The Waaaaagh is growing.

    Like I'd said, I'd acquired some bodies from the Stormboyz kit. My hope was that once they were cut free from their scenic base elements that they could be adjusted to have running poses. It mostly worked I think. I’ll probably have to do some work on a couple of them that just kinda look like they are on tiptoes. But for mockups, I think I'm getting close to the effect I want.





    Then I wanted to have some Nobz with shootas. This probably isn’t the best use of a Nob, but I don’t really care too much about how good they are in the game, lol. I really liked their Kombi-Shootas, but wasn’t really sold on the Kombi part. So I cut the missiles off. That left the model with a very hefty looking shoota. Good. It’s very Orky. Like you could krump somebody right good if you needed to. I filed down the neck so they could look off to their left (in the general direction they’d be shooting. It kinda helps, and even an Ork wants to be able to see the effects of all his dakka!). Honestly, with the changes I’ve been making to the Ork Boyz, the Nobz don’t actually look that big anymore. They’re definitely thicker, but not taller. The other two figures on the left are from the Battlewagon crew. I set their heads slightly lower than I did the first set of Ork figures after a couple suggestions (including by Soul Samurai here) that perhaps they were too human looking.



    The last thing I have on the workbench is a Killa Kan. These are fun little models, but I’m struggling to come up with any meaningful way to covert them. Originally I had wanted to give it a free-standing Torso that could rotate, turning the Killa Kan into a little grot-piloted Battlemech. But the way the model is set up has the body attached directly to the legs. So if I’m going to do that, the process is going to be pretty involved, and the model will end up sitting significantly taller (which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s a Grottlemech, I don’t want it to be too tall). I’ll have to figure out something, because it’s looking painfully… normal.




    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/22 20:05:01


    Post by: Jadenim


    Wow, that running Ork really pops! I think there might be a piece of artwork like that in the codex that I always liked.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/23 00:03:10


    Post by: AnUnearthlyChilde


     Desubot wrote:
    Needs more Dakka



    He's right, strap some more dakka on that can, and maybe some more armour... and some rust... and some grots... just stick everything on it!!!


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/23 12:57:27


    Post by: Soul Samurai


     Veteran Sergeant wrote:
    The last thing I have on the workbench is a Killa Kan. These are fun little models, but I’m struggling to come up with any meaningful way to covert them. Originally I had wanted to give it a free-standing Torso that could rotate, turning the Killa Kan into a little grot-piloted Battlemech. But the way the model is set up has the body attached directly to the legs. So if I’m going to do that, the process is going to be pretty involved, and the model will end up sitting significantly taller (which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s a Grottlemech, I don’t want it to be too tall). I’ll have to figure out something, because it’s looking painfully… normal.
    How about making the grot "driver" visible? Give it a little cockpit or just a window in the front where you see him all wired in, or something like that.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/24 17:15:21


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    I've actually toyed around () with the idea of having my Killa Kans be piloted, rather than be hardwired in, and thus perhaps having there being Grot pilots who are little celebrities among the other Gretchin.

    I kinda figure that Gretchin are actually the backbone of Orky civilization, doing all the tasks that keep the Ork empires afloat while the fairly dumb and brutish Ork warriors themselves remain somewhat oblivious to the fact that the only reason they have food to eat, and ammunition to fire, and have fuel to burn, and working space ships, etc is because of the legions of Gretchin who perform these tasks under the supervision of Mekboys. Which, of course, makes the Meks the secret rulers of Ork "civilization", and the mightiest of Warlords simply those cunning enough to have enlisted the aid of enough of the right Mek bosses. Which then gives them enough ammunition and fuel to provide to their Boyzz, which then lets them show off their proppa Orky might in the face of other warlords and bosses.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/24 18:37:11


    Post by: deadmeat85


    Hehe, I can now see little Grot Mechwarriors piloting Battletech style Kans. Now that is an idea for my to do list.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/27 16:53:03


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    While the plans of a Grot-mech are still drafting, I got some Ebay-rescue Crisis suits in the mail. A couple of them need a lot of work as they seem like they were just kinda put together haphazardly. Fortunately one of them was more or less unassembled (only the body and jetpack had been glued together) and for some reason unprimed like the others.

    This is another kit that's showing its age and badly needs a reboot. Both arms are static and tucked in tight. The legs are also fairly static which explains why most of the ones I see on Ebay are either standing straight up, or doing jumping jacks.

    So I cut it apart.

    Nothing revolutionary. Just carefully cut off the lower leg and rotated it. Straightened out the right arm, which will need some cleanup work on it. Then I gave it in a sort of "strafing" pose like it was popping out from behind a building to fire at something.




    Kinda wanted to get one together to see what it looked like. The arms and weapons aren't glued. Plan to go back and see what I can do to improve it. Going to disassemble the other ones I have and see what sort of potential the kit really has. Maybe give it some proper hands and let it wield the weapons like a rifle.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/27 18:39:25


    Post by: Vintersorg


    You are telling me that You are making everything "tall-scale" and you are not touching crisis suits? Wut?

    A fire warrior would obviously not fit in a crisis suit, ever.


    Veteran Sergeant converts custom Blackstone Fortress, True Scale Space Hulk + more @ 2015/01/28 17:47:34


    Post by: Veteran Sergeant


    To be fair, I never said I was tall-scaling everything. I am not doing the Marine vehicles, for example. Nor am I tall-scaling the Orks. They're just getting taller because I've eliminated the strange "Lunging Quasimodo" thing they have going on if you assemble them off the sprue.

    The reality is that the Tau army is being built on a budget. That budget being "I'm not willing to spend a lot of money on this project". To True Scale the Crisis suits I'd need ones off the sprue, and those go for around $15 each minimum. I got mine partially (and poorly, lol) assembled for just under $6 each (with the extra weapon bits on sprues).

    So those poor Crisis pilots are just gonna have to be squished in there tight. I am, however, going to re-examine the process. I already rebuilt the one above with Grey Knight Terminator fists and repositioned the weapons. But I want to play with it a bit more before I put a Version 2 picture up.


    On other topics, I've not been terribly excited about the Tau thus far. Aside from the aesthetic improvement of the shorter rifle, I haven't really felt like I've been able to do much with the Fire Warriors, and didn't have any Tau models I really liked yet.

    Well that's changed. Introducing my Pathfinder rail rifle sniper team:



    Unfortunately the optic got roughed up a little, so it needs to be fixed back down. Seems It was made from the little gubbin on the front of an extra Ion Rifle I had.

    The left arm on the shooter is from the Hammerhead crewmember (I think. That's what I pried it off of, lol), with the hand clipped off and rotated downward so he's got it balanced on the crook of his arm against his knee.

    The spotter's left hand was cut and rotated too so he could hold the carbine balanced on his leg. I also filed the waist on the legs at a flatter angle so he'd sit more upright



    These guys came out fairly close to how I'd envisioned them. Once again the left arms of the Tau have proved a liability, but the adjustment I made to the Rail Rifle model is satisfactory. But I wanted to have a shooter and spotter team that would look good matched as a pair. They just need a little bit of cleanup now.