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I have a bunch of old Blood Angels that I started collecting in the early 90s, starting with Rogue Trader and moving into 2nd ed. I was a kid, so I make no apologies for the state of them. At the time I only had access to Humbrol enamel paints, so they’re pretty badly painted with unsuitable paints. Apart from being badly painted, they’ve also taken a beating whilst being kept in cardboard boxes with little protection for the last 15-20 years or so, including moving house at least 3 times (I’ve moved more times, but I don’t think they came every time).



There’s about 2000 points worth, including two Rogue Trader style Dreadnoughts (anyone remember Contemptor “Chuck”, Furibundus “Fury” and Deredo “Eddy” before Forge World got their hands on them?), a mix of MkVI and MkVII power armoured marines (the MkVI coming from that old late-80s/early-90s plastic set of 30 or so marines - RTB01?), an old Land Speeder and Rhino etc, etc. My plan is to ‘upcycle’ these – strip the paint, re-assemble, kit-bash, and from that create my own chapter of marines, painted to a reasonable standard.



I was inspired by Big P's Oldhammer blog to do my own (http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/666916.page). Don't expect the same rate of output that Big P manages!

I want to use my models in games, so everything's done with a view to using them, including the fluff. This is the fluff for my Stark Crusaders:

The Stark Crusaders are a successor chapter of the Iron Hands. They have very much continued the Iron Hands belief that the ‘flesh is weak’ and embrace bionics, mechanical enhancements and of course, dreadnoughts. The Starks’ dreadnoughts are often chapter relics of the old Contemptor, Furibundus and Deredo classes.

They also revere ancient power armour, terminator armour, vehicles and weapons, believing they have served the chapter well for millennia and should continue to do so. As such, a force of Starks will often include a mix of power armour variants, commonly MkVI alongside the more common MkVII, even within the same unit, as well as vehicles that have long since been superseded by newer models.

Much like the Iron Hands, the Starks have a close bond with the Adeptus Mechanicus, which is often reflected in their colour schemes, combining the metal/silver of the chapter’s colours with the red of the Adeptus Mechanicus. This bond has also helped them to keep their ancient vehicles, weapons and equipment in action for millennia.

You can see from the fluff that I’m looking for ways to keep using my old models. Rhinos haven’t changed a huge amount, but my MkI Land Raider and old dreadnoughts are very different to the current models, so I’m looking for a good reason to keep using them. I felt like an Iron Hands successor chapter gave me a good reason to use these old dreadnoughts and the like, plus I quite like the ‘mech’ and ‘flesh is weak’ themes.

‘Stark’ is a nod to Iron Man and the fact that the Iron Hands’ primarch, Ferrus Manus, is literally an iron man. But as Stark sounds like Dark, I couldn’t go with Stark Angels (too much like Dark Angels) or Stark Knights (too much like Batman!). I’ve played around with Stark Blades, Stark Warriors, Stark Hunters but have settled on Stark Crusaders.

The models are mostly stripped of paint and ready to be re-branded. There are a few still sat in Fairy Power Spray because I’ve not got round to cleaning them up. Other than that, it’s just the Rhino, Land Raider and Razorback that need to be done. I don’t think I have enough FPS and they’ve changed the formula, so I can’t get any more!! Not sure what I’ll do with them. Probably need to get some Biostrip 20.





Close up of terminators.



My characters - captain, chaplain, librarians and apothecary.



Some random marines.



The dreads and bikes.



I’m going to put all my independent characters onto 32mm scenic bases, to help give them the visual appeal they deserve! The dreadnoughts are also going onto scenic bases, probably 50mm. All the terminators will be upgraded to 32mm bases, as will some of the marines. Any that look chunky, like the Devs, will go onto 32mm, but the smaller ones, especially the Mk VI ‘beakies’ will stay on 25mm, otherwise they’ll look lost!

As well as the fluff above, I've started writing some fluff for the characters too. You can find everything I've done so far on my blog (https://whittlesey40k.wordpress.com/stark-crusaders/) and this will be updated as I make progress.

Not sure how often I'll be updating this blog. I've just started a brand new Tac squad (which will be Starks as well, giving a mix of new and old). Not sure which of the old models I'll tackle first. Watch this space...

Love the old stuff. Best of luck on your project!

That's a lot of metal! Good luck with the painting, sir!

Heck yeah. Keep us posted!

The best stuff around now for stripping is Fuze Biostrip 20.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Exciting stuff! I'm very jealous of those rogue trader dreads!

This looks like it'll be a fun blog to follow!

Just a quick update. I'm mostly working on my new Tac squad (not very 'Oldhammer'!), but here's one of my RT metal marines with the missile launcher from the Tac box.



This guy will be part of my Dev squad eventually.

Totally subscribed! Woo! Go team RT!

These are my trial colour schemes. The one on the left I did first, but wasn't keen on the shoulders. The second one has different shoulders and more red on the back pack. I think I'm happy to go with this for my Stark Crusaders.





The models are just some old 2nd Ed snap-fit models from the original game box set I had kicking around. Just using them as test subjects.

My original idea was to have different coloured shoulder trims for Tac, Dev and Ass squads, but I wasn't keen on the green trim, or the silver/bolter metal shoulder. So I've gone with silver trim (with no difference between units) and black shoulders.

Still need to figure out a chapter icon. I'd like to do it in green stuff, but need to try a few first (I'm pretty new to green stuff).

Definitely prefer the guy on the right. Nice work btw.

Are you going to paint in full Oldhammer style, or a more 'modern' painting technique (washing, etc)

--B

 Briancj wrote:
Are you going to paint in full Oldhammer style, or a more 'modern' painting technique (washing, etc)

--B

Definitely modern. For example, the armour on those test marines are bolter metal, then Nuln Oil, then more bolter metal, then a silver highlight. For the red parts I used Carroburg Crimson as well.

I fear using 'old' techniques would result in more marines like those in my first post

But also, the finished army is going to be a mix - most of the characters and a lot of the others will be RT/2nd ed, but there's already a new Tac unit (built but unpainted) and two boxes of Vanguard Veterans waiting to be built. There's also a new style Razorback that I got cheap off eBay. Oh, and one modern plastic bike, to go with the two metal ones in the pics. So modern painting all the way!

Then you might want to consider how you'll handle the black shoulderpads. Otherwise, the one on the right, fer sure.

Yep, I'm hoping once I figure out what I'm sticking on the shoulders that'll help with the black. If there's a decent sized chapter icon there, it'll help get away from the mass of black.

I'll post what I come up with!

My RT apothecary.



My preference is WYSIWYG, so I'm going to lop off the hand flamer and give him a bolt pistol from the Vanguard Vets box. The guys I game with don't care about WYSIWYG, and I certainly wouldn't think twice about someone else fielding this guy with a hand flamer, but I prefer to get things right if I can!

Nice - Looking forward to seeing what you get up to!

Have you thought about basing plans yet?

I went through a similar process of re-painting my first marines when I got back into gaming - Some of them are in my gallery here http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-17796-9895_Bloodangels.html

Progress is slow, but this is a WIP photo of my captain and librarians.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Slinky wrote:
Nice - Looking forward to seeing what you get up to!

Have you thought about basing plans yet?

I went through a similar process of re-painting my first marines when I got back into gaming - Some of them are in my gallery here http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-17796-9895_Bloodangels.html

I'm upgrading most/all of my models to 32mm bases. For my characters, I'm going scenic (see pic above). Colour-wise, I'm going with this:

Another progress update.



It's slow going, and I can only really take photos at the weekends (need natural light and it's dark before and after work!).

Also, the weather's stopping me from undercoating, but I'll try to keep momentum up by assembling some models and posting those pics.

That's quite a gang of Librarians - Looking good!

My assault marines are cleaned up, re-based (32mm) and mostly assembled. Just need to add back packs (and redo the chainsword arm on one, because it's at a really odd angle!)



For those that are interested, I checked the year on the tab between the legs before cutting it off. They are:

Back row (l-r): 88, 87, 91, 87
Middle row (l-r): 91, 90, 87, 88
Front row (l-r): 88, 92

The guy at the front (power fist) was the serge from the old Devastators box, but I thought he was much more suited to an Assault squad. Who needs a power fist in a Dev squad?!

Given the release of 2nd Ed was 1993, I'm starting to think all my models are RT era. Maybe I'd moved on to Space Wolves by 2nd Ed.

Captain Lando Stratos - Captain of the Stark Crusaders 3rd Company







This is how he started, as Blood Angels Captain Tycho back in the early 90s -



Then stripped -



And here's my background fluff for Stratos -

I'm still working on my librarians, but in the meantime, here are my dreadnoughts. Cleaned up, re-built and re-based.

I wish I had a couple of Dreads of that type.

Don’t forget the toothy grins! Pretty much mandatory on those old guys.

Finally finished my librarians. So that's 4 models in 6 weeks. I'm sure I'll have the rest done in no time at that rate!



This fella is Idris Astura


This is Ardea


And finally Augusta


And here's some fluff for them all -



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Nevelon wrote:
Don’t forget the toothy grins! Pretty much mandatory on those old guys.

Hadn't thought about the toothy grins. They are traditional, but I also want to keep away from a more Orky cartoon style. But I'll figure out something to give the best of both worlds!

Lovely librarians. They capture the early to mid nineties vibe without straying into the cartoonish-ness you sometimes saw at the time.

A quick update. I've not made a lot of progress on my Stark's recently. Between organising my wedding and changing jobs, toy soldiers have had to take a back seat.

But here's my Command Squad, cleaned up, re-based and ready for undercoating. A bunch of monopose metals models from '87, '88 and '91, with an old Dev sergeant - the one with the power fist (because why wouldn't you give a Dev Serge a power fist!).



And this is my Assault Squad. Again, mostly monopose metals from '87 and '88, with a few from the early 90s. And another old Dev serge.

My Dev Squad ready for their chapter icons, then undercoating.

I'm finally getting somewhere on the chapter icon. Once I get that sorted, I'll be able to get loads of these guys undercoated and can crack on with painting them!



The Serge is a regular monopose guy from the late '80s - possibly originally sold as a techmarine. I'm taking the thing in his had to be a signum.

Most of the rest of the squad are from the RT era Dev box set (circa '92), one with an old RTB01 missile launcher.



The last guy is RT era ('91), but with the missile launcher from the current Tac Squad box.

Yes, your sergeant is definitely carrying a signum. I don't know that he was originally billed as a "techmarine". Most of the old models were just interesting vignettes as Rogue Trader was practically set up as an RPG (you had to roll for random gear on every model so there was no telling what your marines would be carrying). The game has certainly come a long way since then.

The rest of your devastators look great. I used to own a lot of these old minis but sold most of mine on eBay. I still find ones from time to time and post them to my store. The nostalgia of this blog is super awesome.

Looking good so far. Don't lament how long things might take you to paint. After all, they've already been in your possession for decades either poorly painted or unpainted. Now you're finally making good progress on them and they look fantastic. 4 models in 6 weeks is faster than no models in years.