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Well it's been 25 years and (the sprues were 5 years old when I got them. Time I painted the oldest figures I have. This feels like I am effectively tackling my backlog and no mistake.

It's interesting to see how things have come on over the last few decades. The quality of the figures is far below modern standards. Certainly above cracker toy standards, but not by that much. Unsure as to chapter choice though, I'm certain they'll be painted up as veterans, and a first founding chapter seems appropriate. I'm leaning towards Ultramarines, but I'm open to the views of my fellow gamers on this!

None of the above.

Crimson Fists.

Remember the farm!

I second the Crimson Fists

Yeah, if you want a nod to the history, go Crimson Fists.

Or stay just as true to Rogue Trader and paint them as black Dark Angels and smile as you watch all the newbies try to claim you made a mistake, if they will even believe they are GW miniatures in the first place.

I voted Raven Guard because beakies.

Added Crimson Fists to the poll. Wonder if I have the appropriate transfers anywhere?

I voted Crimson Fists, but if you can find the space marine painting guide from the era then I suggest trying to recreate the plastic models in that both conversion and paintjob wise.

Bonus points if in original colours.

Crimson Fists for sure, or paint them up in any chapter's old scheme (i.e. 1990 White Dwarf kind of schemes).

Whatever you do, go complete time warp with them. As if you reached back a few decades and stole them off a game table.

Crimson fists fit very nicely, genesis so to speak.

Wish I still had mine, loved the simplicity of the models more than the overdone bling we get today

Rainbow Warriors?

Gotta go Crimson Fists for the sake of the original 40k scenario, but the above mentioned Rainbow Warriors are a very, very close second!

Most definitely Crimson Fist counts as Sternguard Vets.

I voted prior to looking at the other overwhelming crimson fist responses.

Paint them up as 30k Raven Guard.

Voted Raven Guards, but go for Rainbow Warriors too.

Well I think the choice is clear, thanks for the input chaps. Crimson Fists it is! A comprehensive "review" Here

In short, you can see why these got replaced by metal and plastic hybrids pretty quickly.

Of course these also have the issue of being "non-codex", with the knobbly shoulder pads where the chapter iconography should be. I think I shall just transfer this to the right shoulder pad and scrag the squad markings.

Feh, you have all the room you need on one shoulder.



No specific marking for the 'fists in the how to paint guide, but they should be in the same vein.

I built most of mine with the supporting hand behind the clip, rather then in front of it. I think the arms sit better that way

Might go for an arrow on the bottom front of the shoulder pad, I suspect it's going to be extra crispy tricky due to the extreme curvature of the pads compared to modern marines.

Time will tell...

Coming along steadily now. Fist symbols all laid out, was a lot easier than I feared, a stylized hand is far more forgiving than a more geometric form. I remember Ultramarine omegas are near impossible to get right/symmetrical. Next up edge highlighting. Longest stage yet probably, but they'll be near complete when that's done.

Current breakage count: 2

1 Backpack
1 Arm

I suspect there'll be more.

 Nevelon wrote:
Feh, you have all the room you need on one shoulder.

Spoiler:

No specific marking for the 'fists in the how to paint guide, but they should be in the same vein.

I built most of mine with the supporting hand behind the clip, rather then in front of it. I think the arms sit better that way

Spoiler:

Thanks for the reminder. I posted RT Era decal files for Salamanders and Blood Angels over on B&C, but never went back to do the other chapters from that painting guide... Add that to my to-do list

 Carlson793 wrote:

Thanks for the reminder. I posted RT Era decal files for Salamanders and Blood Angels over on B&C, but never went back to do the other chapters from that painting guide... Add that to my to-do list

The RT decal sheets also had some of the chapter symbols in circles. I’ll grab some pics next time I’m downstairs, and edit them into this post.



I don’t have any intact BA or Ultra ones, as I started out with BA (because that’s the transfer sheet I got in my first RTB01 box) and switched to Ultras. Plenty of SW and DA sheets though. At one point you could get a blister pack full of spare sheets, which I did. I have a whole little card case full of decals from over the years.

Can't wait to see the results. If I had to do marines again (and I'm also considering a small force) I think Crimson Fists would get the nod.

Lovely box set you got there - subbed!

Keep in mind that when you could actually buy these new the H&S rules were a bit more lax, the liquid poly for example IIRC had something really horrible in it much closer to the liquid welding stuff than the glues of today, Had two boxes of these back then and never had issues with models coming apart at the joints, more likely for the plastic to break.

Going all misty eyed just looking at them.

Dunno exactly what you're doing for marking but the markings in 1st edition, when it was just the rule book, were different anyway, worked nicely just on the one pad.

None of this 'tactical squad' malarky here, just a bit to denote the weapon carried, as presumably a small marking made this a lot clearer than the honking great weapon... or something.

Keeping an eye out for these

Nearly there now.

Went with tactical marines in the end as the crux terminatus is a mare to get consistent.

Actually quite a fun project at the painting table, my issues with the construction weren't relevant, and the detail is more than good enough.

Bases and a final clean up remain. What method to use though? Classic green painted sand is an option and entirely appropriate. The downside being it's awful. I think I prefer an abandoned farmland Rynn's World look for them. Any input there greatly appreciated.

As charming as green bases are, a modern take would be to just do the rim as green as a throwback and have your actual basing on the top.

Could always do moon style basing as seen here.


However, the abandoned farmland would be best IMO with this chapter.

Also, those marines are beautiful.

All done. Overgrown fields it is, a small amount of weathering powder applied to the feet and legs. All in all a pretty fun project. A lot more pleasurable to paint than they were to assemble. Thanks for the input chaps. Crimson Fists really were the only choice. for these guys.

As ever more on my blog as linked in my sig, including a link to their ebay auction.

Next up as a weekend project a High Elf hero I inexplicably have in my collection for no fathomable reason. Nice model though (perhaps that's what it was doing there).