Warsmith honsou v4. Finished at last,

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**tomcat31**

Read the iron warriors books and decided there should be a Honshu mini. Not sure about the axe but it will have to do until I can find something better. Head and body, gw iron warriors upgrade pack Left arm, gw csm battle force pack Right arm, Ork nobs leftover + iron warriors shoulder pad Axe, random toy. Legs. Snap fit AOBR marine cut down and cleaned up Bolter and backpack, csm battleforce Scroll to the end of the thread to see improved version.
Yes this attempt is rather embarrassing but I've left it here so you can all see him evolve from the laughable attempt below to a finished product.

**btldoomhammer**

I don't like the size of the ork hand. And if you go for the artwork of him he doesn't have a shoulder guard on his right metal arm and the axe is smaller and only has a blade on one side.

You could try to trim down one axe blade. Or you could try using an chaos warrior axe which would also come with a smaller and better fitting hand.

And he tends to run around without his helmet most of the time(or loose it early in his battles. There is a helmetless head with one side bionic in one of the space marine boxes or you could use one of those: http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=77_66&product_id=182
Or one of those: http://puppetswar.com/product.php?id_product=18

**deathholydeath**

That axe is just... too big.
Legion crests also go on the left shoulder.
I suggest taking a look at the artwork on the Iron Warriors omnibus.

**King Pariah**

Personally, I'd probably take a chaos marauder bare arm holding an axe and paint it a metallic color.

**tomcat31**

Fair criticisms. As I said, I was never sure about the axe but it'll have to do until I get a better one.
The arm is a temporary job too.
I think I'll keep the helmet though and call it artistic license.
Insignia on wrong shoulder, that's covered in storm of iron. ( see pic)
Tried to fix some of the issues but the axe and arm still need a permanent replacement

**tomcat31**

My third attempt.
Much happier with the axe this time
C&c please.

**Demigod**

I'm jumping in late here, but the axe does look much better to me, it is much closer to the axe on the Omnibus than it was at first. Nice mods.

Spoiler:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
The arm holding the axe could still use some work though. The joint needs to integrate better, and the Ork arm is a bit off scale wise looking at the book cover art.

**tomcat31**

Yeah I kind of agree. But I'm having trouble sourcing a single arm that I like. The problem is that they all have additional details like wristbands etc. I really need a completely bare arm that's space marine scale.
It's a long shot but do you think this one would work. I ripped it from the body of a chaos cultist.
Oh and tbh, late arrivals are more than welcome. Lol. Honsou's a popular character and I'd like my version of him to be acceptable to his fans.

**blood lance**

Too weedy. Go on a bits site and buy a chaos marauder axe arm, will look much better.

**tomcat31**

I've looked at marauder arms. They still have bracers and other bits that I don't like. I really want the arm to be as plain as possible. Sculpting it myself is not an option as I just don't have the skill.

**Dmyze**

Anvil industry has some bare arms that are in scale - they do have some cabling on them though.

Or use catachan arms, they would be the right size and a fair few of them are bare.

**tomcat31**

The catachan arm is a good idea. However every bits site I tried was out of stock, so it seems like I'm going to have to buy a full set.
Until then it looks like yet another temporary arm is needed.
Opinions please. Will it do for now or should I wait until I have the catachan arm before I field him?

**King Pariah**

IMO, I'd wait, but it's really your call.

**tomcat31**

This guy really has been a labour of love, so to speak. I've been working on him for a while and want him to be a centrepiece for the iron warriors contingent of my army.
Time is not an issue. Quality is.
Honsou is an established character who needs a mini that does him justice.

**King Pariah**

tomcat31 wrote:

Honsou is an established character who needs a mini that does him justice.

I read this and I approve. Wait it out until you finish him. Honsou deserves no less.

**tomcat31**

Version 4
Only mocked up ATM and lacking some detail pieces, but you get the idea.
Please note, the axe pole is the one that came attached to the un armoured hand. It will be removed and replaced when the glue has set.

**tomcat31**

also i couldn't find a head with the bionic eye on the left side, so i had to try and make one. Still needs work but it does state in the book that its a crude bionic implant

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also just realised I got the pose reversed. DOH! Will fix that tomorrow

**tomcat31**

Plenty of views but no comments, at least no ones objected to him this time. Lol.
Think I've sorted the pose now, just need to rotate the axe head down a bit and I'm there.
As always c&c welcome and appreciated.

**poda_t**

I would tell you to use a necron arm if I knew beyond all shadow of a doubt that said necron arm was of the appropriate scale. As it is though, i think all of the necrons are taller than the marines, making their arms long and gangly as well...

you need finer chain. Much finer chain, so you might actually have to sculpt it on if you can't find it, though you could likely use the full-length champion or vehicle chain tabards.

**tomcat31**

I may end up leaving the chain off until I can find something that works better. Although the marauder shields have some that might do the job, if I can cut it off without damaging it.

**btldoomhammer**

There are finer chains out there. My Kharn conversion has wraped some around his wrist.

Spoiler:

Maybe look for some small scale hobby stuff like for ship and/or train model shops and the like.
The size of the chain in the picture is 0,3 mm thickness. And despite their small size they aren't hard to work with. Just glue them on a few spots onto your model and them go over them again with super glue on the entire length.

**tomcat31**

Doomhammer you are a legend, will look for some tonight, as for the rest of the mini, am I heading in the right direction.
This is one mini I really don't want to feth up.

**poda_t**

tomcat31 wrote:
Doomhammer you are a legend, will look for some tonight, as for the rest of the mini, am I heading in the right direction.
This is one mini I really don't want to feth up.

I'm sorry to say you will feth him up. It's the nature of our hobby. Next month, next year, next decade... you'll look at him and think "I can totally do this better".... I've already done it quite a few times.

**tomcat31**

Lol. Yeah I see what you mean, but hopefully I can get him to look good enough for a few months gaming. Then when my skills improve i can start again. That's kind of half the fun.
I should also point out I've only been back in the hobby about a year, after a 19 year absence. I'd love to be able to sculpt like some of you guys out there, but until then (and I am working on it) I'm stuck with cutting up plastic kits :-(

**tomcat31**

Started painting him this weekend, I bought some inks and have been experimenting with them.
Not sure whether I'm happy with the results and there's a long way to go, but I thought I'd see what others think.
Don't be shy about criticism, I know I'm not a great painter, any comments or advice help me to improve.

**Celtic Warrior**

That's really nice TC, paint job looks real good . You need to put the red glow back on the axe though IMO.

**tomcat31**

Thanks CW, yeah. its on my to do list, along with many other little jobs,

**a fat guy**

Beautiful model.

I was watching this earlier on and I could SWEAR that you got more feedback about the changes you made about the arm and axe.

In any case, it looks far, far, FAR better than the original model.

At this point I would consider him finished, and perfect.

**tomcat31**

thanks Afg, he's not done yet though, he still needs his bolter doing, plus a few niggly details.
he's getting there though

**a fat guy**

What did you use for the axe head by the way?