Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi all.

While trying to find the motivation to get going painting details on my warlord titan (see sig) I came across a blog by Giganticdark of his conversion on the forge-world Imperial Space Marine. I was so inspired it actually got me to finally dig out my model that I had given up with years ago when the painting went wrong to try to fix and finally get painted. Hopefully you'll enjoy.

C&C welcome, although my modelling/painting skills are not up to giganticdarks standard by a long shot!

first the inspiration:

also came across this (sorry can't remember the owners name, it's in the dakka galleries though - I found it with a search for 'Dark Angel'

and a couple of bit's of artwork, chap with the sword in the sketch:



First job was to dis-asseble what I'd already glued together and get the worst of the paint off. Nail varnish remover and a bit of scrubbing did the trick nicely. There's a cheap brand that's in a frosted bottle, with a red cap and the liquid's blue, can't remember the name as I ran out a while ago, but if you see this it's good for stripping paint, even from plastic models!


Next job was working out what to do with the hands/pose. As I said my modelling skills aren't great so I wanted to avoid as much cutting of the model as possible. After some thought I decided to have a go at him with the bolt pistol and to make a power sword. I'm contemplating having the bolter slung over his shoulder but will see how busy it looks at a later stage.
basic sword from plastic-card:

details being added:

test fit to see pose (tacked together):

The sword seemed a little large, but having spent soooo much time making it (it wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be!) I didn't relish the idea of remaking it - a problem to look at a later point.






Automatically Appended Next Post:
Next stage was sorting the arms. In the end both were sawn through just below the arm pad to give rotation and also the hope that the shoulder pads will help disguise the join. Arms were then pinned back together and the gaps filled and sanded as smooth as possible with the space so not to draw extra attention.

I also reduced the length of the sword handle. I'll probably reduce the width of the guard as well at some point.

I then started work on the left shoulder pad. I like the aditional rim some of the new 40K pads and artwork show so I had a go at adding this. Haven't taken a photo of it yet, will do when I've added more extra detail later on.

Random side note - don't buy beer online from asda! Way too expensive


Obviously being a Dark Angel calls for some sort of robe. Not wanting to obscure too much of the marines' body as I want to paint the armour, I decided to have a go at a more medieval tabard rather than a full robe. Will be a torso with 'skirts' front and back. First to make a rough pattern:

Turn into a template:

Using this I drew out the shape:

Then added detail:

This then had a layer of modelling putty pushed onto it, once cured this was carefully removed to create a mould to enable the cloak to have a little rasied detail. As you can see from the photo later this didn't work quite as well as I hoped but there's enough detail to aid painting I think. Once the mould was ready I mixed more putty to make the cloak itself, and left it to start curing for 30minutes, a) to let it loose some of it's tackiness to aid rolling, and b) so it would be stiffer and easier to hold it's shape. The mould was lightly dusted with powder (flour) to prevent it sticking. Even working quickly It cured too quick in the end. The bottom portions turned out ok but I'm not happy with the torso section and will be having a second attempt at this later on.

Next job was the head. Agreeing with Gigantidark that the bare head forgeworld supplied was too big I hunted down a replacement. Having little luck the best I found was a 1:16 scale set of heads by Verlindon.

I choose the most 'marine looking' one from the set:

and set to work adding more deatil and getting rid of his outdated haircut! I also added a faction of a mm to the jaw bone and forehead plus a bit to the top of the head to try to make it a little bigger to be more in proportion with the body. More tubes wires etc to come at a later date:


I also decided to change the pose slightly to help keep the head as the focal point and push the sword back a bit. The head looks more under-scale in the photo than in real life, I think it's to do with the depth of the photo making the forground appear a bit larger in proportion.


That's it so far.

looking good...keep up the good work

Not bad

I think your doing a great job so far man.

One gripe though. The handle of the sword is quite thick, and when comparing that to the head of the model for some reason it seems a bit awkward.

Awesome! Thats a bad ass pose! (Looking a little thin at the waist though....) Cant wait to see more!

The head seams a bit too small, though I do like the green stuff work you did. The waste aslo seams a bit too thin.

Looking great man but I agree with brush_slips previous comment, the sword handle does look a little awkward being that thick.

Other than that, quality work!

covenant84 wrote:

quoted for toes in the pic

HamHamLunchbox wrote:

quoted for toes in the pic

More to the point, whats with the nail-polish?

EvilTim wrote:

HamHamLunchbox wrote:

quoted for toes in the pic

More to the point, whats with the nail-polish?

Clearly dropped a bottle of mithril silver!

On Topic, I really like the straight forward and effective reposing. Your head choice as well is really great. Cant wait to see where this blog goes.

brush_slip wrote:
One gripe though. The handle of the sword is quite thick, and when comparing that to the head of the model for some reason it seems a bit awkward.

Yeah - will be attempting to sand it down when i shrink the guard to make it look a bit 'finer'. Not looking forward to the prospect of re-posing the hand though, will attempt to cast rplacement fingers to mess with efore I damage the real ones

vodo40k wrote:Awesome! Thats a bad ass pose! (Looking a little thin at the waist though....) Cant wait to see more!

Waist work has already started. He will recieve a new belt with a some sort of belt buckle more in keeping with Marines rather than the pirate one supplied. By the time that's done with some gubbins hung from it the waist should be back in proportion.

EvilTim wrote:

HamHamLunchbox wrote:

quoted for toes in the pic

More to the point, whats with the nail-polish?

errrm, yeah.... the missus did it, honest! I keep forgetting take it off during the day and by the time the socks come off I really can't be bothered hunting out the remover from under my piles of modelling junk

New photos shortly!



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Torso section of the cloak in place. Both top and bottom need a bit of tyding and extra folds adding around the waist. If anyone has a tutorial for this Id be very grateful for a link!


and the left shoulder pad so far:

Hi all.
Back on track with this after being away. I've tried to model on some additional creases to the 'grion' area of the tabard but my skills are poor and it looks pretty bad. Any suggestions of anything I could hang from the belt area to hide my boo boo? I'm thinkng a small section of chain mail, maybe with apiece of script on top of that, but haven't found any suitable wire to make the links as yet. Other ideas here PLEASE!

Looking good, keep it up, cant wait to see some paint on it.

If you get some kind of rough cloth (like a muslin or sacking), you could make a kind of thread-bare drape? Soak it in PVA to make it a bit stiffer and immune to damage.

Quick update.

I've replaced the bottom portion of the tabbard. The more I thought about it, the harder it seemed to be able to cover the istakes without it looking a bit daft. Also gave the chance to add a bit of battle damage to the cloth. Needs a little neatening up still. Plus have added some detail to the left guard to show Captain's rank and added a DA symbol to the left shoulder. The sword handle has also been re-wrapped so it's now a little thinner. More to come soon.



c&c

For some reason the waiste looks thicker and more proportional with the revamp to the tabard. Where did you get the very large bronze etched Wing and Sword Motiff on the Shoulder Pad? Forge World?

wyomingfox wrote:For some reason the waiste looks thicker and more proportional with the revamp to the tabard. Where did you get the very large bronze etched Wing and Sword Motiff on the Shoulder Pad? Forge World?

Yes they're the brass etch forge-world sybols. Think they're intended for tanks but fit well enough. All the brass etch parts so far are off the one frame. Waist does seem better, it's slightly lower than previously, plus it's about 1mm thicker with the new belt added. Will also have a rope in the near future probably hanging an incense burner. There's a couple of gaps to fill and neaten but I think it's on the way. Next job is more detailing, then when my new files arrive tidying up some of the scrappy arm and sword bits, finish the head then onto painting. Haven't decided what to do about a base as yet. Ideas welcome. Also, if anyone knows where to get paper to print my own water slide decals for a reasonable price that would be appreciated!

Update from the weekend.

More detailing has been started and tidying up some of the sculpting. Left hand has been closed slightly around the sword. Fingers were cust as in the photo below, joints were then scored opposite cut and fingers snapped in the same way you'd chop down a tree. Then glued back in a more closed position and the resulting gap filled with green stuff. Thumb may need the same treatment in the near future. Other than that, a little more detialing work, plus a hood has been made. Jobs for this week - work on the joints (it's blue-tacked together still), and add final fine details, then on to the painting stage

this is simply awesome!

cant wait for the next update

I think this looks amazing... really great repose. Nice blog of progress, I enjoyed seeing the steps to bring this together... my only problem and this is only MY opinion... I love it all EXCEPT the little Angels you've added to the backpack in last pic.. thats the only bits that I would scrap as they look out of place and take attention away from the rest of the model when they are not supposed to be the main drooling point!

Just an idea, maybe instead your could use one of the Angels with a chain and make a bronze/gold necklace?

Awesome looking mahreen. Head looks so much better now with hood on it. Great job man.

Current pose looks a tad bit unnatural, don't know what is about it though. Perhaps the gun armed could be turned in towards the body or raised? Dunno, maybe its just me...

Of course, other than that, it does look fantastic. I agree that bits of chains or some censors would be cool.

That stuff is sick, I love the SM in your latest post, It's so badass, and the sword is spectacular!

Thanks for the compliments!

Regnak wrote:I love it all EXCEPT the little Angels you've added to the backpack in last pic..

maybe instead your could use one of the Angels with a chain and make a bronze/gold necklace?

I think the back pack needs something - any alternative ideas? the top section was quite poorly formed (as are the plastics sometimes) hence the white plastic strips, but I want something more than just the standard bare top. This guys pretty much turning into a vet sarg so I think he deserves something. I'm hoping to make the head stand out more by painting that area very slighty lighter to draw you in. I'm hopeing to 'frame' it with details too, with the angels as you put it making the 'top edge' - any suggestions more than welcome!

steempunk wrote:Current pose looks a tad bit unnatural, don't know what is about it though. Perhaps the gun armed could be turned in towards the body or raised? Dunno, maybe its just me...

Of course, other than that, it does look fantastic. I agree that bits of chains or some censors would be cool.

pose - Yep I agree. When I base him he'll be stood with his left foot on something not quite so high. Just a couple of mm seems to make a good improvement in test. The base it comes with is just convienant to use at the moment.

chains - some arrived in the post on Friday As did some steel balls.

Keep the comments coming!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sorry, also any ideas on improving the bolt pistol anyone? There's not much space to add detail, but think i'd like something a bit more than a 'basic' bolt pistol for him. Want to leave purity seals for the armour only....

Awesome modle

Right, last post you'll see until painting's underway. Pins have been added to some of the joints, and a few minor details added. Left shoulder will receive some steel balls. The rest of the details will be added once painting is complete - purity seals, chain, gun sight/other belt items. etc. Thanks for the comments so far.

Wow.

Simply, wow.

I can't believe I've missed this thread until now!

Fantastic stuff here - congrats!

Looks great

Very interested to see how this will look at the end

Keep it up

quick update. Paintjob is going well so far, fingers crossed. Here's a teaser! I'm going for a rather grubby realisic look - any suggestions for a colour for the power sword most welcome!

Wow, that looks loads better than the vanilla FW one! Nice work