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Hello,

I've begun with work on the Deathwatch, as shown here:



The three here are a Space Wolf, a Black Templar and a Scythes of the Emperor marine with a heavy bolter.

Here's a picture that should give you a sense of scale:



I'm currently fiddling around with making a Librarian, which you can see here:





Hope you're all well,

-Mol.

Stunning work! Will definitely be following this thread

added to favorites, looking forward to a one log to rule them all type thing

Well, I got the opportunity this evening to get some modelling time in, and I took the opportunity. Whilst some of tonight's endeavours focused around re-working existing figures, I have also fiddled with trying to create some more. Part of this has been trying to hybridise my older true-scale attempts (Terminator torsos) against my newer (Tartaros torsos.) The two haven't worked particularly well together, and I intend to go back and look at my inspiration threads - Apologist's chief amongst them.

In the meantime, here are the two figures I worked on today that I figured deserved photographing.

Firstly, my Scythes of the Emperor Marine:



I've attached his backpack and shoulder pad. I'm using a shoulder pad from the Wolf Guard terminators with a string of wolf teeth - or, should I say, Tyranid teeth from the futile defense of Sotha. I liked the story Orphans of the Kraken where Thrasius, the new Chapter Master, seconds 40 of the surviving Scythes to the Deathwatch in order to remove opposition to his plans to rebuild the Chapter. I like the idea that this Marine would be a bitter one, who sees his secondment to the Deathwatch as a punishment to be endured. He feels betrayed by the new Master of his Chapter. I have removed the Crux Terminatus from his Heavy Bolter, replacing it instead with a sideways-facing skull from the Assault Terminators Thunder Hammers. I remember that the symbol of the Relictors - a sideways facing skull- was mentioned as a penitence marking, and wonder if the Marine has added the mark to atone for his wrongdoing?

Also, I pulled the Librarian apart and cut out a fair chunk of the Tartaros torso in an attempt to make the two parts fit slightly better. I doubt that it would be that noticeable, but it helps to marry the two pieces closer together. I've changed the previous (placeholder) head for the one from the plastic librarian and realised that I could make a slight and subtle change with the staff arm to make it a great deal more dynamic:



I've started green-stuffing the sash onto the Librarian, but have nothing to show thus far. I spent some time thinking about how to move the Librarian forward and have decided that he will be a blackshield - a piece of fluff that I enjoyed from the FFG roleplay. I imagine him as a dark and sinister soul, widely distrusted within the walls of the Watch-Fortress. I considered using a hooded head from the Deathwing Knights but figured that people would simply think that he is a Dark Angel or a fallen Dark Angel. I like the Librarian head and though that painting could help bring a new dimension to the model.

A little bit quiet in here!

I've been struggling a little bit with the true-scaled Space Marines. True-scale often seems to me to be about fooling the eye - about creating the appearance of huge, imposing and impressive Astartes. Rather than full-on technical accuracy, you are trying to create an impression.

As I have evolved my true-scale technique, I've tried a few different techniques, and have had a number of failed and abortive attempts of true-scale:



I felt dissatisfied by the terminator legs that were splayed - I couldn't quite convince myself that they didn't look a little silly. Plus, as others had pointed out, the power armoured arms gave the impression of a T-Rex. As a result, my project stalled. The idea of using a terminator torso was one I liked, though. But trying to mix the older Terminator bits with the Tartaros pieces hasn't turned out great.

So, first things first, here's the Librarian as he stands:



The sash - such as it is - is nowhere near finished; I was simply using up some spare greenstuff to begin to provide a base layer for the model. I put back the finecast arm from the Terminator librarian - instead of outstretched and doing the classic "wizard casting" post, I tried it out pointing to the ground. I quite liked the impression this gave - perhaps he is marshalling his inner focus before unleashing his psychic potential against his enemies. The only thing I'm not sure about is that the arm seems a little thinner than the Grey Knights one holding the force staff. (And, based on earlier feedback, I will look at replacing the top to make it less distinctive...)

I also liked the idea that he doesn't have a ranged weapon in his hands - that he is a weapon in itself.

Okay, so back to comparisons:





In the upper picture you have my current Space Wolves WIP, my previous Sword Bearers Deatwatcher (made primarily from Terminator parts) and an attempt I've made at using the classic "terminator front" torso on Tartaros legs. In the second picture, you can see that same prototype against the Librarian WIP and an obliging Storm Trooper for a scale reference. I don't want to use the angled Tartaros torso for every Marine - butI worry that the plastic torso is too narrow and that I simply won't be able to use them. I don't want to have to scratch-sculpt torsos, because I feel that I won't be able to produce something of the requisite quality. I feel that the plastic torsos could well work - and this is the question - can it simply be a case of "fooling the eye?"

So, I have made some progress with the Librarian:



I've replaced the finecast arm with one from the Chaos Terminator Lord. I've tried using Grey Knight hands to emulate the casting hand from the Terminator Librarian, but none of them looked particularly good. At the moment, I'm looking at power armoured hands. I've cut the top off the staff as Midian/El DIablo suggested, and will be looking for something to replace it with. I might well see if I can eBay the plastic librarian's staff and use the horned skull from it. I've used a backpack with an Inquisitorial symbol - as a blackshield, the Librarian has no Chapter iconography. His loyalties are to the Deathwatch now. I might well be looking at having a parchment covering most of the shoulder pad to reinforce the fact that he has no chapter anymore. I still need to work on his tabard, and the cables for his psychic hood.

So, with term starting I'm back at work, but I have tried to continue with the project. Here's my latest haul from eBay:



So straight away I started to move forward with some of the concepts I had.



Moloc's legs are at a bit of an odd angle, given that he comes with a piece of rockery. I started by removing the foot to try to put it at a more normal angle (you can see this on the left) but it ended up that I had to saw the leg and repose it slightly (which you can see on the right.)



Here you can see the Minotaur legs and another pair or Tartaros legs that I've sawn and re-posed to be raised on a rock. The rock, incidentally, came from Marneus Calgar's base, but that was only because I had it to hand and that's the tend of converter I tend to be. I was heavily inspired by this model by Apologist. Both of these will come together with gear on the belts and some careful work on the groin ribbing to disguise where I've sawn them apart.



Some of you might recognise these legs as the ones I originally used on the Sun Titans, though I was never able to fully make the model realise my mental image. As a result, I'm planning on using the legs (and almost certainly this torso) as the basis for my Lamenter. The relief on the shin could easily be a death-mask of Sanguinius, and the filigree works with a Blood Angels successor. The Cataphracti torso gives some nice bulk, and the banding echoes that on the Phoenix Guard legs.

One of my main reasons for acquiring Marneus Calgar was for his head, which I've often overlooked but which I think could be very good on one of my figures. So here it is in a different context:



Lastly, my team as it stands:

I liked the finecast hand/arm on the librarian better than the new arm, but that's just my opinion. Overall there's an excellent level of conversion in your models. Very impressive. I like it.

So, it turns out that I haven't posted here for quite a while - there's a fair amount of progress that hasn't been seen, but I'll drop some pictures of my Astartes:

Looking great Mol, and the Librarian is spot on. Everytime I see True Scale done this way it just makes it that little bit harder not to go strait to Forge World and splurge on some Tartaros pattern termies! Great stuff

that Space wolf is a BEAST!!! Love it.

 Gogsnik wrote:
Looking great Mol, and the Librarian is spot on. Everytime I see True Scale done this way it just makes it that little bit harder not to go strait to Forge World and splurge on some Tartaros pattern termies! Great stuff

QFT

These are the greatest TS marines ive ever seen! Love that space wolf.

These are awesome. My favorite is defiantly the space wolf (apart from being mildly biased) he really captures the character of space wolves

Looking forward to seeing the others finished

Young Logan

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses.



I bought a Thunderwolf, reasoning that if my Space Wolf is going to be true-scaled, then the Fenrisian Wolf accompanying him should be as well. The Deathwatch RPG rulebook suggests that Space Wolves could be accompanied by Fenrisian Wolves (much to the chagrin of their squadmates) and I liked that idea.



I want to have them arranged like so - so that they can operate together, and then split off as necessary.

Here's the most recent picture I have of the first five of the team together (though it's not the most accurate):



Here's the progress Peter and I have made on Tancrede:



And the next Marine of the second five; an Iron Talon:

I love the way you make truescale marines.

Was looking at your blog recently actually.

Completely agree with your thoughts on scale and love the Genestealer and Chaos Space Marine on there.

Hey, thanks for the comment! I will post about the chaos marines soon.

Here's Durav Segesvar, Brother of the Iron Talons:





Testing different arm configurations. The combi-bolter comes from Abaddon. As I explained to JackDaw, I like the idea of Segesvar unleashing a torrent of fire into aliens, bolter shells and grenades blasting Orkoid flesh into bits. Of course, after I took these pictures I lost the combi-bolter, so that's a slight problem...


On the greave here, I've added a bolt of lightning from a thunder hammer. I figured it's a nice callback to the Iron Talons being related to the White Scars.



Still WIP, but I think he has potential.

really cool work here mate! really inspiring.. I am thinking about taking on my first conversion / character and after seeing some of these ideas have a real drive to make it a "true scale" project!

Love the heavy bolter dude! he does look pretty pissed off and mean!

Thanks for the feedback!

With Segesvar taking shape, I'm looking at the rest of the second five of the Deathwatch Kill-team. One of the pairs of legs I've built previously have been a pair of Minotaurs legs from Asterion Moloc. However, the more I've worked on this project, the more I've decided that I don't really like the Minotaurs that much, or find them particularly interesting as a Chapter. Some of that is down to the Forgeworld depiction of them.



I wanted to include an Ultramarine in my kill-team, but was leery of having too many First Founding Chapters involved. I then considered that it would be good to have the Black Consuls - but eventually, I've settled on the White Consuls. This ties in nicely with the fact that I wanted to include an apothecary in the kill-team. An Ultramarines successor - with all the organs intact - makes for a good apothecary. A few people had suggested a Red Scorpion but I'm not mad about them as a Chapter either.

Here's my visual sketchpad for where I want to go with the Apothecary. The only thing I need to be sure of is not putting him into an identical pose to my Lamenter.

My biggest consideration at the moment is what to do with the bull-head on his greave. Either I leave it there and play it that's a heraldic icon; perhaps he's some cantankerous 'old bull' type of character. Alternatively, I can scrape it off and try to replace it with something else - but what?

All feedback would be gratefully received.

Wow, the Iron Talons marine looks absolutely brilliant, instantly impressed with the look of that model.

I wonder if you could carefully scrape away the eye sockets from the bull and then sculpt in the traditional Inquisition three bars?

Segesvar is nearing completion - the last thing I need to do with him is shoulderpads. I've found Abaddon's combi-bolter (in a box I'd searched through five or six times...) and put it on. Debating whether or not to give him a strap for the weapon, to tie it in with the Deathwatch bolters. (Or a scope?)



Some work on the Crimson Fist - heavily blu-tacked, so it looks a little wonky. I'm trying to replicate this artwork. I'm trying to find a balance between making him look too short and stumpy versus tall and gangly. Adding pouches around the waist might help a little.



A concept I'm fiddling with and debating adding to the team - a marine from the Guardians of the Covenant; I would like to add green-stuffed robes to the legs, but not entirely sure how I'd go about that.



Here's how the second five of the Kill-Team is shaping up; it's not perfect, and I had wanted to add a heavy flamer to this five (seems like the Guardian of the Covenant might have to wield it) but I'm not sure.

Great looking figures. Lots of character, good job

Dechande - thanks for the comment! Your sculpting is extraordinary, and I really liked the ideas behind your Space Wolves squad.

I've been working on a Deathwatch Apothecary, formerly from the White Consuls. You'll also see a Crimson Fist I'm working on.

Totally awesome and I really like the indented rivets too, they add that little extra bit of detail which is lacking in a plain bump.

So, I've been away for a bit, but update time!



Here you can see Durav Segesvar of the Iron Talons alongside Cyrian Tarmon of the White Consuls. These guys help bring my squad up to 8.

I've been trying with this kill-team to ensure that each warrior has unique and individual armour - they are veterans, after all, and I've been doing what I can to ensure each is special.



I've been working on a brother of the Sword Bearers to replace my first version; You can see that I've scraped away the detailing on a Cataphractii torso and I've smoothed it all out with green-stuff. I might well be giving the gorget the same treatment to neaten it up. I'm not sure what details I want to add to the torso - my thoughts are that a veteran should have detailed armour, and I'm disappointed that (because I use a lot of pre-heresy components) there's no real chestplates with the aquila on.



You can see the beginnings of my arm pose for them here:

These conversions are all awesome.

I'm enjoying the progress. You've definitely made each one distinctive and characterful.

Yeah, these are all really cool. I wish I had the patience to really spend the time crafting guys as unique as these. Well done sir.

The sword I went for was from the Assault on Black Reach Captain. I know that Steve really likes the sword, and it's about the same size as the Grey Knights swords.



So, we have something that looks like this - it turns out the Blood Angels terminators have quite chunky shoulders - other shoulder pads don't fit perfectly on them, and this pose does make the shoulders look a little awkward. I'm hoping that once both shoulders are on, and I've put a gun in his other hand, that he looks a little more natural.


This has also led me to reposing Segesvar - I wasn't completely satisfied with the original pose, and I always envisioned him blasting away with his storm bolter/grenade launcher into the Orkoid ranks. This is the first step - I'm waiting for the poly cement to dry so I can finish re-working it. I want to break off the chainsword arm and pin it slightly further away from the arm to give him a bit more bulk. I have high hopes, however!



Here you can see the three of my most recent together - I've been reworking the Apothecary's arm slightly, but it might end up with me having to use a different sword arm if I want it more down by his side.


Some progress from PDH's desk - here you can see three of my original kill-team. They're all having various sculpting work re-done.



I'm most pleased with the Templar - he looks massive and intimidating, which is what I wanted.


The Space Wolf is being re-worked to be equally intimidating.



I'm really pleased with this picture, where the wolf finally looks lithe and sinister, wrapped around its master and dangerous, which is what I've always wanted.

The Templar is amazing and I'm really liking the heavy bolter too. Segesvar really does look like a walking tank, very characterful model. All very impressive Mol, great stuff.

I'm heading to Warhammer World tomorrow and will hopefully get a few shots of these guys in situ, but here's the pictures of the squad as it stands. I've managed to assemble eight (and a half) of my 11 - these pictures have lots of sticky-tack keeping things together, so excuse a few things at funny angles.




Pretty happy with how the wolf is turning out - Captain Karlaen's arm was a great choice, but I'm having trouble filing the BA shoulder pad down enough that the Deathwatch pad sits comfortably on top.