Ah, fascinating! That's stronger than I thought. So I gather that Vigilators and the like fall under a siiiimilar category? What other sorts of HQ choices are available? Hehehe Para why don't you just teach me the entirety of 30k's rules
Basically, Praetors are a bit better than Captains and have the Rites of War available (as do certain other units, notably Primarchs and some characters), Centurions are more in line with your 40k Librarian or Chaplain in terms of stats, though a bit cheaper before options as they don't have Power/Force weapons as standard. They can then by upgrades to make them better at specific roles; traditional ones like Chaplain, Librarian and Master of the Forge (or thereabouts) are available, and then there are more specific ones such as Vigilators (snipers), Siege Breakers (anti-tank/building specialists), Moriats (dual pistol jump pack gunslingers, properly badass) and Master of Signals (comms specialist that buffs reserves/artillery and such). A kitted out Centurion will run you between 90-130 points, a Preator is more in the 140-200 range once you throw in gear.
Those two basically cover your 30k HQ options, and between them can fill most roles. As for the rest of the army, a quick rundown of what goes where:
Elites is chock-full of cool stuff. Veteran Tactical Squads, Terminators, Seeker (essentially Sternguard) Squads, Apothecarian and Techmarine detachments, Dreads in several flavours ect.
Troops are built around Tactical Squads (10-20 men, no weapon upgrades), Support Squads (5-10 men, can ALL take specials or heavies but must take the same type), Assault Marines (10-20 again) and Breachers (10-20, boarding shields as standard).
Heavy and FA are about as you'd expect. Tanks and arty in the former, speeders, bikes, jetbikes and flyers in the latter.
More than happy to answer any more specific questions if you have them, in here or via PM if you don't want to clog up your thread.
No, no, I wont ask any more of you. Thanks a million for that rundown - when I get into 30k i'll do so proper style, and get up to speed meself, but your fill-in has been massively helpful. 30k certainly seems an awsome platform for exploring SM armies beyond the level in 40k, and has more variety for playstyles. I've been meaning to get into 30k for the last couple months, but monetary limits are holding me back. But soon...soon Again, thanks a million for all your help and offerings Paradigm
This stuff rocks. I've been long struggling to get a blue for my own ultramarines which I like. Your's is pretty darn perfect. Do you mind sharing how you get your blue like it is? Cheers!
Your painting has come a long ways since when you first started this plog lips. Good to see you're still at it after all this time and really enjoying seeing your army take shape. The army shots a few pages back are especially great.
Slightly jealous that you have got a shelf to display some stuff going on... I've been wanting to do that with some of my better models for a while, but all my stuff still sits in foam out of sight :(
@timthehierodule Thanks man! My blue is like my sacred recipe haha and i'm glad to share it - It starts with a Macragge blue base, followed by a drakenhof nightshade wash. Next I layer macragge blue again, leaving the wash in the recesses. Then I do edge highlights with pure altdorf guard blue, followed by the same thing but with a 50/50 mix of altdorf guard blue and space wolves grey. finally I do a very thin, rather faint and reduced 25/75 highlight of the same, and lastly a small dot of pure space wolves grey on corners and the sharpest edges. Occasionally, if the colour looks a little off, I bring it all together with a Guilliman blue glaze. Hope this helps!
@Eggroll Means the world hearing this from you man. Thanks a bunch. Had a hiatus or two in recent times but i'm back in the hobby and stronger than ever
@Warboss_Waaazag You're too kind. Thanks a million
@Mad.. Yeah, its a pleasant addition to my room. I wish I could say I built it but it was merely acquired for a bargain price of NZD$10
Soooo vuala! Finished the 2nd bunch of guys. Rather pleased with the result, the 7 finished guys are looking very consistent on the shelf in front of their rhino. Having trouble nailing the outside photos lately, they just aren't coming out like they used to. I've been taking photos at ~6:30pm lately which I suppose is too late in the day, but these photos were taken around 12, and something in my opinion is just a little off. I believe 3-4 is supposed to be the prime time, so I should really try around then. Going to surge through the final three and they'll be done. After this I may start work on these two boys for Paradigm's painting comp - as I fear with the Christmas dates and all, my DKOK will arrive too late. but we'll see. Built this plasma guy yesterday and I reckon his pose is pretty neat, but would love to hear what you guys think
@Stormwall Cheers bud I assume you mean the cloak arm? If so then yes, it works with all SMs, is the MK4 Captain arm that normally holds the helmet, though I precariously cut that away and threw a grav pistol and combat shield on instead
Also good to hear from you again ayoku, thanks for tuning in
Fantastic work as always LDP. Your clever posing and excellent freehand get loads of mileage out of standard tactical marines. Each one looks totally unique while still being tied in to the unit.
Those Tac Marines are gorgeous! I love seeing the older armor marks used in 40k (at least I'm assuming that plasma gunner and captain/champ are for 40k)
Amazing stuff as usual! The poses have just been brought to life by the paintwork, and consider that 'hand over bolter' pose nicked for one of my HH guys...
Cheers BC, that's a cool way to look at it. I suppose in a way that's the aesthetic i'm trying to pull off so i'm glad you perceived it as such
War Kitten, yeah man they are being used for 40k - at the moment if you like those two boys I think you'll enjoy tomorrow's update, or you'll have seen it practically already if you're up to speed with Para's painting comp
@Para my man! Thanks a bunch buddy, and go crazy! Looking very much forward to your iteration glad I could give you some posing ideas seeing as iirc you were struggling for some after having so many unique lads of your own
@Master Azelle my gold recipe goes as follows: -Base the gold area with black -Layer the entirety with scorched brown -Same again with Warplock Bronze -Highlight with Gehenna's gold -Edge highlight with Auric Armour gold -Edge highlight again with Mithril Silver -Wash Agrax Earthshade Hope this helps
So, the tactical squad is done! Very pleased with their cohesive look, and looking forward to what's ahead. Have a game scheduled against Knightley on the 20th and am planning to do a thorough batrep on it, and want to field a fully painted army. I have roughly 6 or 7 models that need painting for me to have my list fully painted, 5 of which are this command squad that i'm also painting for Para's painting comp - and let me just say, The swordsman with the storm shield is one of my favourite kitbashes that i've ever done, and I can't wait to get painting on him . The remainder is a devastator or two that i'd like to paint so that I don't have to counts-as for the game. This said, however, the CS plasma gunner will count as a PP and PW on the day of the game, but I feel these loadouts aren't massively different - so i'm letting it slide . Anyway up next is this command squad. I have ~9 days to paint them and then the devs if I have time. Its an ambitious project especially considering that I want to give them the best paintjobs of which i'm capable - so if I find myself struggling and under stress, I will abandon the goal and stretch it to the end of the month for the comp, but ideally I want them good for the game. Anyway, enough rambling - here's the eye candy you're all here for
The Tacticals look great, normally not a fan of ultras but yours always look stunning. I can see why you love your swordsman so much, he is definitely going to be jaw dropping when he is finished. The command squad came out really well done. They don't look cohesive but when painted I'm sure they will be.
@Spacewolverine Thanks a lot man I'll do my best to make em look cohesive @EDC Thanks as always buddy - yeah, i'm keen to see the finished product and can't wait to get some solid paint on them
@Knightley Maaate i'm flattered you know me well enough to know that character is what I live for, and yes i've begun painting him already - like I said maybe my favourite model i've ever assembled
@Zambro cheers buddy
Very nice work as usual. Love the alterations you make to each model to get much more dynamic poses.
Looking forward to seeing your latest models painted up as they already look sweet as unpainted minis, I think my favourite of the newest bunch is the one with hammer on its shoulder, although Knightley's pick with his massive shield is great too!
Your UM look amazing, mate! I'm very impressed by the quality but especially over how far you've come since I browsed through the earlier parts of the blog. You've clearly got a great eye for builds and kitbashes of Marines, and you're able to follow-up with paintwork that does them justice.
@Para Cheers matey @Mad Thanks a bunch man, yeah i'm looking forward to painting them all I'm a fan of the hammer guy as well, he means business with that pose but Knightley's favourite is mine also I have to say
@Adamski Alders Thanks a lot mate! Cheers for tuning in @Azazelx Thanks a million - very kind words Yeah i'm properly ashamed of the start of my blog hahaha, I feel like it puts people off the better stuff later but its very good for perspective and like you've said, reminds me of how far i've come Thanks again.
So! Knightley - you're in luck with your hopes that i'd paint the shield and swordsman first, because how could I resist Here's the first one of the squad done - I belieeeve i'm just about on schedule but it'll be bloody hard to maintain...but we'll see how I go - also, even harder because some death korps arrived the other day and I did up a test model and feel like somethings missing...obviously the base isn't done because I can't decide whether to do it usually or the grey basing I used for my IG. If anyone has any tips to spice the guy up, please let me know!
On to the plasma gunner next, and then probably the hammer after that
The Kreiger I think needs something done to the black armour. The blue-grey coat is fantastic, but compared to the depth of that I don't think the armour panels have quite the same impact.
Thanks everybody for your kind words @Para I think you're right RE the armour - its the one part I didn't feel was quite there either. I want to keep it black to fit the scheme but I might make the carapace chest pieces silver? More traditional, and also only command units and veterans and the like have them so it wont be overbearing on an army.
Silver armour plates would do it, as would a simple bit of silver chipping around the edges to just define the area a little more. I can see exactly the look you were going for, it's just that that colour on its own just gets lost/looks unfinished surrounded by the really nice blue.
Don't know why I'm being critical, it's still going to end up better than 99% of what I produce!
No no at all I appreciate the constructive criticism You're right, I have chipping on the helmet and shoulders and they look right, but I think i'll change the carapace armour to silver and see how it looks. Do you think the UM basing scheme? Because the warm, earthy brown would contrast the cold blue coats nicely but the grey bases like my IG could make quite like a gritty, rubbly feel overall, what d'you reckon?
Yeah, I say a muddy/earthy basing. DK don't look at home on anything else, and it makes it a lot easier if you want to add mud/grime to the lower edges of the coat further down the line.
Yeah. Once again we're on a similar wavelength they'll match my ultras if I do that as well Not sure if the grass would fit the death world of Kreig - but maybe they're on holiday
@Knightley ahh yeah - every time I finish painting these guys I get sad when I think about the fact that they'll only have 1 wound on the table @ayoku Thanks buddy
That command veteran is utterly gorgeous. Is he one of the FW 30k Ultramarine Suzerain's?(spelling?) I was thinking about ordering some of them to use as honour guard.
He is indeed. I swapped the arms out for some plastic ones that fit the build, and made the sword out of the DA deathwing termie sword hand and hilt and then added a FW longsword blade. I would adise using those kits for honour guard - they're basically perfect. The heads are like better versions of those in Marneus' retinue, and I can't get over how beautiful the shoulder pads are. My only gripe is that some of the body poses are either a bit odd or sort of static, but they can be changed with a hairdryer that's what I did with most anyway.
lipsdapips wrote: @Knightley ahh yeah - every time I finish painting these guys I get sad when I think about the fact that they'll only have 1 wound on the table
Solution! Run an Unbound list with them all as Captains! Horrifically ineffective, but let's face it, you've got more than enough suitable minis and it'd represent their individual badassery well enough!
Love that sword and shield combo. The green blade with the lightning effect is top notch and the shield looks awesome as well, a nice big chunky shield that you feel could block anything.
Rest of the model is nice too, just the sword and shield are the stand outs for me.
@War Kitten I wish it were possible @Spacewolverine do you mean modelling or painting wise? I'll just answer both In terms of modelling I used the downward facing sword in the deathwing terminator kit, cut of the DA blade and replaced it with a vanilla FW longsword blade on the DA hilt/hand. Attatched an assault chainsword arm with the hand cut off and connected the pieces to form that sword hand the blade was painted my normal green style which uses a dark green, medium green and pure white with successive layers thinning from the centre out, with pure white lightning over the top, glazed with green to finish.
@Mad.. Cheers buddy glad you like him
So today has been both a right pain in the arse - but also quite productive. It is only 7pm - and since its ripe in the middle of the summer break I find myself painting until the ludicrous hour of 3am most nights, and tonight is no exception. Since I woke up around 10 this morning, i've been sorting the house, practically rearranging half of the furniture, moving tons between the house and the garage and so on. Nothing exciting, except sorting my wargaming 'reserves', i'll call them, which is practically just a large bunch of either old models, junk or half done/half broken stuff that whilst I was away at Uni my parents shoved under the house most of it I sifted through and tossed. But I came across a few handy bits and bobs which I brought over to the collection - namely for todays update one of the masters of the chapter bodies which I heavily modified and made into this guy - Gaius Vicinius.
I modelled him in such a manner that he looks pissed off, for a reason such as the uselessness of the guardsmen under him meant that he had to get personally involved in a battle that he couldn't really be bothered fighting. Time is pressing, so i'll leave you with pics of him and progress on the plasma veteran, im planning to paint non stop after dinner until he is done, so getting hyped for a solid session to catch up with my schedule.
Thanks alot Mad, that's very kind The Scion arm has the plasma gun being held like that as default - you can see the hand holds the underside over the strap and not the trigger, i'm a big fan of the pose, and the little screen scion arms have, and with a bulky ass SM shoulder pad you can all but cover up the evidence that its not a SM part
Tada! The champion is finished - all that's left is one more veteran and the apothecary. Still on schedule, looking forward to getting this done
Ahhh thanks Para, that means a lot - Yeah if anything I feel like since the end of the hiatus i've upped my anti and have set FAR stricter personal limits in terms of both miniature assembly and painting, which is great because hopefully the end result of that is better minis all round. Also, that would explain the elongated time it takes to paint, but as i've oiled the gears and gotten back into the swing, that doesn't seem so much of a problem anymore. So yea - i'm glad you see the swing of things that way, and I suppose that without trying to sound hubristic, i'm inclined to agree Thanks again buddy
Heyo! So the Hammer vet is done - leaving just the apothecary to be finished. Went for a marble effect on the hammer, and sort of just improvised from there rather pleased with the result though.
Sorry that the images are a smidge dark - it was 7pm when I took them but I was so eager to get them while the sun was still around
It always amazes me how there are 40+ page blogs on here that I have somehow missed, this is excellent work all round. Beautiful, beautiful painting. The veteran command squad is looking excellent.
I love the marble effect on that hammer. Looks amazing.
I always look forward when a new post is added to this thread, your Ultramarines kinda make me want to re-do my Ultramarine army that I sold last year sometime in the future.
I can’t see how you can stand to have these guys on your shelf. The overwhelming detail, excessive painting, individuality. Shameful. Not what marines should look like. Now, as your friend, I’d be willing to trade them from you for some 2nd ed snap fits, so you could actually have some guys suitable for play. Clean and regimented. I’ve got some spares.
That is incredible. The marble effect is just great.
Slight bit of constructive criticism; the white on the "U" on the shoulderpad is slightly thick and blotchy in places. Though to be honest, everyone's looking at that sweet TH. Not the shoulderpads.
Woohoo! They're finally complete. Bloody chuffed that this milestone has finally been reached - a intense 10 or so days of painting detailed minis was quite the job! But it doesn't stop here. Onto my entry for Nerdfest's painting comp
That cape looks super realistic, has a really nice flow to it. You have interesting weapon choices my friend. No Shield Eternal for him so he doesn't get insta killed before or after swinging that mighty fist?
I have too much faith in 2+ with a meager invuln also the command squads job is to soak up most of the damage until the hammer and fist get their jobs done
Great use of a powerfist that requires a bit of consideration to uitilise well on a model. It looks like he's bracing for an impact which is a cool and slightly unusual pose.
@Spacewolverine I'm so pissed that my computer fethed itself before because I was midway through a thorough account of the game with everything, but I don't have to time to start again :( sorry bud - there are pictures in the gallery but there isn't a whole load of context to them anymore
@Mad haha no worries bud, better late than never thanks for your words
Hey guys! I was planning to save this update until tomorrow, but i'll give it to you now because I was halfway through writing up my battle report of the game against Knightley, and my computer munted itself when I was a good few hours in, and I have lost all motivation to restart :( sorry. Images are still in Dakka gallery if you want to see, and i'll redo a brief summary of the game.
Ultramarines vs Astra Militarum 1500 points, Maelstrom of War
I deployed first with hopes of first turn, but K stole initiative and slaughtered my subsequently exposed devs I moved up with Tacticals on both flanks, destroying a chimera but keeping my HQLR death star rather pensively back in the centre Leman Russ Punisher fire shredded my right flank, wrecking a rhino and exposing the Tac squad needed 4 inches to assault his squad, rolled snake eyes :( Tacticals took hits from multilaser and veteran fire - 4 successive ones led to unusually high losses Thought up a bold move to surge the land raider straight down centre table where an infantry squad, platoon command, 2 chimeras and 3 leman russes were to rupture their command. Plan worked out, the beastly land raider shrugging off a bunch of melta fire and lascannon sentinels hopelessly missing. Captain and his beefy command squad surged out off the assault ramps, before absolutely mulching two leman russes, including Pask in 1 round of assault. Thought up a risky ploy to separate my captain, who was 18" away from the last leman russ, with hopes to reach it in 1 turn. Would you believe it, moved 6 and rolled 12 on the assault, made it there with 5 fist attacks on AV rear armour 10, and did NOTHING, was subsequently mulched by melta fire. My flanks eventually collapsed, with a few remnants picking up pieces here and there, but Knightley ultimately outmaneouvred me and won roughly 13 to 11 or 13 to 10 or so. A fun game, and well played Knightley.
Onto minis - spent most of today feeling massively inspired as I very often do by the Horus Heresy character series, and built up Chapter Master Gaius Octavius here, who's appearance is inspired by many themes present in the aforementioned Had an absolute blast making him as unique and badass as possible, as I always try to do, and look forward to painting him up further A little concerned as paint in some parts is a bit thick already as i'm painting over finished paintjobs on certain parts, but it should be ok.
Hey, good point! I should paint a little helmet crest and just stick it on his head when I want him to be Sicarius Totally agree as well, the game was really fun. Didn't win, but my Captain and his boys smashed some things right up and were as staunch and intimidating as I want them to be, so I achieved what I wanted to achieve
lipsdapips wrote: Hey, good point! I should paint a little helmet crest and just stick it on his head when I want him to be Sicarius Totally agree as well, the game was really fun. Didn't win, but my Captain and his boys smashed some things right up and were as staunch and intimidating as I want them to be, so I achieved what I wanted to achieve
Or you could just build another captain. How many are you up to now? I was going to make a crack at your last thread title ("LDP's Ultramarines - 21/12 - Captain Done") that you could just leave that up there, and change the date. Frankly, even you minis that aren’t captains would look the role in any other army. And your actual captain are all that and a bag of chips.
Of course, I shouldn’t throw stones about captains. I think if I count the ones in the primed and waiting pile I have over 10. And that is officially too many.
After a nice initiative steal it got very hairy mid game with the land raider and his crew smashing my centre force. Was a very fun game and we'll definitely do it again.
Marine: "For the Emperor!"
AM: "For the Imperium!"
Marine: "Wait, What? Same team?... hey they just killed our devastator brothers.... UP THE GUTS! KILL THEM ALL!
Surely it's a misunderstanding?
That chapter master has a suitably excellent pose. Nice work.
Here's a small WIP on Octavius - Blocked his blue armour, ready for highlights, and tried some wet blending on his cloak instead of the usual layering technique that I do, the extent of the effect may be nullified slightly by the sunlight, but I would love some feedback regardless
Are you going to do the command frill Kidding, he looks great LDP. I have to agree as I've said before your cloaks are always so realistic and look amazing.
@War Kitten I actually have 2 of the spare sternguard ones and a frill from the plastic captain, and neither really looked right on him which is a shame because a good frill would make him truly pop, but what he is now will do.
@War Kitten yessss! Do it. Go crazy! Also let me see what you come up with
Really enjoying seeing you build out and paint these unique models. Outside of the BA, the Ultras are one of the few space marine kits that has so many good kits for building out units and you've certainly done a great job with it.
One thing I would suggest doing since your painting has gotten so much better is to spend more time on prepping models. The latest Octavius model is nice but the cloak seems really rough and patchy. I'm assuming it's a resin part so a quick sand would have smoothed out the chunks. Regardless, keep up the good work!
Hey Eggroll, thanks for checking in Yeah man, you're totally right. It seems that my biggest weakness is that as my painting improves, certain elements of the modelling aspects lag behind (see drilling barrells & mold lines ) and to be honest this guy was looking clean for most of the build but the conversion work was so heavy and my gear isn't reeeally adequate, so things got a little messy. But hey, no excuses - I could've cleaned up and didn't. Really appreciate the advice, will be extra mindful from here on out
MERRY CHRISTMAS Hey, so here's a semi-bad picture of Gaius with highlights complete. I've done SO much since I took this photo, and should be posting finished pics either tomorrow or the day after, so updates coming soon
So, here he is, completed I'm very pleased with the build and overall paintjob. Wet blending was a scary process but I think it turned out okay. The only thing that i'm really disappointed with is what Eggroll pointed out, that the model wasn't really cleaned up properly, and only afterwards did I realise this. Just need to be extra careful and look over cleanup steps twice before painting.
Your work is always great, but I think the composition, paintwork and overall look of that guy is a cut above! Fantastic painting, and conversion looks natural enough to be a 'real' sculpt!
lipsdapips wrote: So, here he is, completed I'm very pleased with the build and overall paintjob. Wet blending was a scary process but I think it turned out okay. The only thing that i'm really disappointed with is what Eggroll pointed out, that the model wasn't really cleaned up properly, and only afterwards did I realise this. Just need to be extra careful and look over cleanup steps twice before painting.
Keep up the great work lips. We all have things to improve on as painters and I can see from your plog that you've made huge strides in the work you do. Keep it up! I expect more great things from you
Happy New Year everybody! Hope you're all having a blast.
Started the year off with what has to be one of my most ambitious kitbashes yet - not an extravagant finish, but the finish I was after. Looking forward to painting this guy up - I think he perfectly characterises a sternguard sergeant I've oredered many parts to (very ambitiously) build a 10 man/2 5 man sternguard squads - you'll see what i'm on about when they arrive
Would love to hear your feedback!
Anyone interested in the parts used, there's a metal emperors champion head that was a B!@ch to shave off, the gamesday 2006 captain body, a Ultramarines tyrannic war veteran arm with slung boltgun, which I practically had to butcher the rest of the mini to get. A bit chuffed though These minis are looking more unique by the day
Here's to a good year everybody! Hope 2016 treats you all well
You're right a very unique looking model. The only thing I'd ask is what is the axe arm meant to be doing? It's kind of just hanging there at the moment. If he's sprinting it should be bunched up rather than straight and if he's swinging it should be raised a bit and coming accross the body somewhat.
I’m deeply envious of your kitbashes. So many unique and awesome Ultramarines march across your workbench! And then you put top-notch paint jobs on them.
@Sock you're absolutely right. I was looking for a general running pose, and the arm has since been changed. I wanted to change the shoulder pad as well so it was two birds one stone. Appreciate the feedback buddy needed somebody to make me realise that his arm looked awkward and static. What do you think of the new pose?
@Neve hey cheers buddy. I definately wouldn't be envious of my earlier kitbashes though - hahaha it definately took a long and agonising journey to get to the stage of kitbashing that i'm at now, some of my older kitbashes are honestly utter rubbish, the wrong chapter symbols, clunky, awkward you name it! The old practice makes perfect line comes to mind again
New pose with a changed right arm and shoulder pad - as advised by sock. Photos mayn't be the best, or the angles of them, but its 3:30am and I can't be arsed retaking i'm afraid but I think it looks significantly better. Well pointed out Sock, buddy appreciate it.
my minis look so awful when photographed under my painting light also excuse the paintwork - a wee insight into the eeearly stages of WIP
Sergeant is coming along The helmet technically should be red but I couldn't resist doing it in white, because I think on this guy it looks so much better, and he could also double as a veteran for vanguard or a command squad
Am doing more work tonight, but thought i'd take pics of the progress so far before the sun sets, armour and whites are currently done
The Captain looks amazing, and not to "me too", but the cloak stood out to me as well. Mostly because the rest of your work is so fantastic that the roughness of the cloak stands out, where it might not if you are work wasn't as good as it is. Sternguard looks cool as well, and the WIP Sergeant looks great as well.
Some truly inspirational stuff in here, loving the conversion work. I think I would be too scared to attempt to pull off the stuff you are doing with these minis but it really does look worth it.
Awesome. I’m kind of curious what’s going on just off the edge of his base. He’s obviously glancing at something as he’s running by. Fallen brother? Slain foe? Thing crawling up out of the ground?
Love how he has a sense of movement and purpose. He’s got places to go, xenos to kill. Your modeling really brought that to life.
Agreed - great work on both the build and the paint on that figure and it gives a lot more character than the usual model "bolter across the chest" or "sergeant pointing and yelling" pose. Sometimes "quiet" speaks louder.
@Paradigm cheers buddy i'm glad people see it that way because that's what i'm aiming for.
@Zambro cheers buddy
@Jah-Joshua ahh cheers mate - yeah uniquity is what I live for in my minis at the moment
@StraightSilver Yeah make no mistake there have been regrettable instances in the past to lead to this point
@Neve wow, yeah I didn't even really think about what he's looking towards. I suppose that now I put my mind to it, it'd probably be a fallen brother or some marines who are in a bit of a pickle. Thanks a bunch for the kind words
@Azazelx thanks a lot mate. You're totally right and I really appreciate it. I'm really glad the solemn subtlety of the modelling seems to have paid off
@Mad Thanks a bunch buddy haha ah yeah that game was a blast! It was against his brother who played the demons actually. Played a 6k Apocalypse today against him though it was a slaughterfest! Sorry we didn't take photos of that one
Stormwall i'm stunned by your comments - thank you so much man
All of you guys are very kind with your feedback and I greatly appreciate it
Greetings! So finally after many a week my multi-component order has all culminated together and arrived in full. I build up these guys in one sitting, only sustaining minor injuries in the process This squad was probably my most ambitious assembly proeject, as I had to cut off the moulded finecast heads and scrape out space to fit in the FW Praetorian ultramarines ones in their place. Same with the moulded arms of the veterans, which I removed and replaced with combi-weapons and bolters. Stay tuned as i'll likely blitz out progress of these boys when I get time to paint
LDP
EDIT Tried to throw in some WIPs - not sure why they're sideways :(
@Stormwall cheers man, yeah so do I. At first I was a touch concerned that the flow of his cloak and tabard went different ways, but then I justified it with a tank explosion nearby from another of his sternguard and the blast is blowing his stuff in those directions and without floating my own boat it made him even more badass to me
@Para ooohhhh stopit yoooou
@Master thanks a lot mate! Cool combination work is what I aim for so i'm chuffed you like it
@Zambro thank you my man
@Neve Hahaha oh stop it man - thank you so much Neve Ultramarines deserve the best treatment I can give
@Eggroll cheers buddy. I'm glad you like them - looking forward to painting them up myself, believe me
So, sort of in the background I painted these guys up. Not to my usual standard I don't think, and the miniatures are a bit messy but it was sort of a speed test as well, seeing as I did them in roughly 5-7 hours. Rather good I thought considering an ultramarine character normally takes me upwards of 10 hours
These guys have really suffered from a lack of proper cleanup. Part of this is due to the poorness of the cast - good ol' finecast treatin me well however i'm not going to divert the blame, in future i'd give them the time the beautiful sculpts deserve, and then even an average paint job would look a lot better on them. The painfully present mouldlines to me detract from the immersion of looking at these terrifying heroes of desperation.
Did purple plasma and power weaponry for the first time though which was fun
Those came out of nowhere! Good stuff! Can I get a pic of the Sarge's axe, if it has the lightning effect similar to your others on it? I can't remember what it was now, but there was something I definitely had purple power weapons planned for.
Sure thing bud, the power effect is more or less the same, but somewhat different since I glazed over with blue and my blending scale was based only from 1 purple paint and differing quantities of white.
ooooh you can see the mess reeal nice in those close ups
Those Sternguard look fearsome. I need to do 5 more as well. Taking a break from Ultramarine colors and needed to do some Legion of the Damned eh? They came out terrific. I agree about the purple looks ace!
Liking the Legion of the Damned LDP, they look great... I also enjoy purple power weapons, as proven by my swarmlord bone sabres, cos hey, why can't nids have lightning effects?
Just like in the fluff, they showed up out of no where!
I like the paint job. Simple and effective. Great power weapon, too. The first close up is a bit unflattering, but the second picture in that post makes it look awesome.
Hello there! So in a week I move back down to my hall of residence before another year of university. I'm bringing my painting/modelling station and am planning to achieve (over the year) a lot of painting to widen my finished force. Less focus on the characters this year (a tragedy I know i'm going to miss it), and more on the bulk to give my games more variety. I uncovered a lot of old stuff that i'm going to try and refurbish, amongst that 15 terminators that required modelling and multiple minor touch ups to get to a good level for priming. I got carried away from the sternguard i'm currently working on and painted a lot of one of the sergeants, and the pic is below. Also, countless waves of thorough searching for a box of stuff that included an old land raider, drop pod and vindicator of mine, I FINALLY (to my upmost glee) found them! I accepted a while back that they had been tossed by my parents, but finding them was a very pleasant surprise. I also restored and converted a few sniper scouts with different heads and look forward to painting up Telion.
The full list of things to do thus far is as follows: -Captain -Some Honour Guard w/ Relic Blades (will be atleast 2) -10 Assault marines -5 Scouts & Telion -14 more Sternguard (the mk. IV helmet guy I finished recently makes 15, the sgt 16.) -6 Devastators -15 Terminators -Drop pod -Land Raider Redeemer -Vindicator -A Whirlwind turret to use on my razorback chassis
That said, its not like characters shall be utterly excluded - I shall reward myself with a few scattered throughout the other stuff. I built an honour guard with a relic blade yesterday, and am interested in feedback regarding the modelling, as it was ambitious and fun to model his arms and weapon. I also need to finish a captain I started, and shall probably build more HG throughout the year.
Progress will unfortunately slow, as the nature of the hall, my job and my courses shall end up consuming a majority of my time, but I still intend on keeping the hobby a mainstay of my life this year.
Below are pictures of everything I plan to cover this year - its bloody ambitious for me, even if I was still on break! But i'm excited to see how far I get. Will make for interesting reflection
LDP
PS: for those wondering back when I did the running tac squad whether i'd build standing assault marines - your answer is below PPS: Sorry for the difficult light in the pictures - it was late dusk so the images aren't all that clear on the painted stuff. Will post better stuff in future PPPS: I forgot to get an image of the sternguard that I made progress on today - swear i'll get one asap! PPPPS: Just added for the sake of being ridiculous with the amount of post script.
Really like that Termie Sarge. Looks nice and 'solid' if that makes any sense; the blue and red with minimal white accents make it look quite practical and menacing without being dull.
Nice find, and I like the look of that Honour Guard too.
Nice pile of stuff there. Honour guard looks... modest. Considering what you normally do, he seems average. HG are classically the most blinged out guys in the chapter. When I read “LDP is putting together an HG w/a relic blade” I was expecting bling onbling, topped with purity seals. Don’t take that the wrong way. He does look neat. But compared to your other work, I’m getting an assault marine sarge on foot, or random VV squad guy. You’ve just set a very high bar for yourself with your other work, and the very nature of honor guard sets high expectation.
I hate being critical.
Terminator sarge looks good. Nice and crisp, excellent work on the sword. How do you do your squiggles? With a brush or some sort of pen? I was thinking of trying my hand with some white on blue work, but I’ve only squiggled with black, using a micra pen. Not sure if they make white ones in the right (tiny) size.
Good luck back at school. Don’t forget to learn something there while you paint!
Not at all - don't feel bad about the criticism. I appreciate your point of view. And I see where you're coming from i've set a crazy standard for my modelling of characters and super veteran personalities in the Ultramarines command echelon. I probably should try to spice him up a little more. He has the UM sprue torso and shoulder. I might throw on the ultramarine emblem on his backpack, and some other miscellaneous trinkets if they're appropriate. Apart from that on the whole I like him, the sword is bulky as hell and to me its size coupled with his stance and traditional UM honour guard helmet make him fit in a way I feel is, as far as HG go, 'simple, yet effective', I suppose you could say. Cheers for inciting the discussion, Neve you've inspired me to make a couple changes.
@Stormwall yeah man I've never been a fan of maximini - i'm not sure if its some head complex that I have or a deep seated mantra within me that I can only use canonical vanilla/ultramarine parts
@corpuschain thanks a lot man appreciate it
So decided rather late to add a captain and command squad to the list of things to paint this year at my hall - why? Becuase CAPTAINSNISNIATNICAPTATAINCATPCAOTASOITASTONASCAPTAISNATP
Went for a refreshingly unique take on them - a captain with the Primarch's wrath and a PG command squad. FNP and 2 rounds of UM doctrines rerolling 1s should keep the boys safe from themselves . Had a blast building these guys up - but the captain is the most complicated and difficult build i've maybe ever done. I had to cut the suzerian legs off from the body, keeping the groin plate and accessories on so that they could fit over the sternguard legs, which also had to be cut accordingly. I then cut the bolter and strap off from a tyrannic war veteran (so it has nice UM bling ), attached an open hand and and arm (which turned out to be much harder than you'd think), and added the trigger bit to resemble him holding his boltgun. Also used the plastic one-pose captain iron halo in behind his helmet, which is from the UM upgrade with the plume cut off (I wanted to keep it but it didn't work). The other arm is a sternguard one with a grey knight open hand on the end, signalling his squad to stop. Was a fun build, and will hopefully be a funner paintjob
His squad were more straightforward, but a blast all the same. Used the tassles from the suzerian legs on a vet and finally used a couple of the praetorian torsos from FW
You are really stepping up your conversion with these recent ones, both in terms of the thought that's going into the composition and the use of so many different parts to get just the right pose. Splendid stuff.
LDP, we’ve talked about your captain problem. Do you know there are plenty of other HQ options? That’s not even counting all the guys you could do for 30k. The rest of the command structure needs your talents as well!
Amazing looking squad. And should do well on the table. Might have been better on bikes. Do you have a bike captain? (I’m not helping my own cause here, am I?)
(goes back to painting another captain himself and thining about an unbound all captain list)
That faceplate is epic my friend. Looks very cool! Love your Command Squad WIP. I do think there is a place for plasma guns/apothecary in a foot command squad. Makes for a good alpha strike with some resiliency.
It's long overdue, but the man himself deserved to be finished - and I did him a disservice by waiting this long.
Another restoration project, hammernator was about half done when I picked him up, painted in my old style which imo has not aged well, armour wasn't smooth with dry and messy wash, whites done lazily, just a bit messy all around - so I did A LOT of touch up and finished the guy after all this time. His heraldry from then still holds up surprisingly well, so I left that on there. For those of you unfamiliar with his antics, here is a summary that I quote from myself back in the day:
Spoiler:
He is worthy of the name, shrugging off a dreadknight's 3 incinerator overwatch burns as well as 3 greatsword atacks and finishing him off in close combat BY HIMSELF. If that's not enough, he came back to life, killed a purgation squad (With help) and bought time for my captain to escape the wrath of Draigo, stopping Knightley grabbing an extra VP. AND IF THATS NOT ENOUGH, this solo legend held off against draigo for 3 rounds of combat, and was still alive at the end of the game. So the least he deserved was a tasty bit of heraldry. The broken sword represents him killing the dreadknight and the 'VII' represents how many player turns he held Draigo off for. A bit of a boss if I do say so myself.
We lost the game, but I'm extremely pleased with Hammernators efforts.
I did his hammer blue instead of green - to pay homage to his old paintjob Also framed up a new potential avatar photo but I think i'll stick with the current one.
I've thrown in an older photo of him in progress first.
Here he is, finally finished.
(PVA on the grass still drying)
Just read through your entire blog, and I must say I am overawed! I hope to one day be as good as you (it only takes one look at my blog to see I have a long way to go!) I'm looking forward tosee what this year holds for both you and me.
May you roll many sixes,
Clovie
Hello! Sorry for the little lack of presence - but i'm now fully set up and good to go at my hall of residence. I've been here since the 22nd and have this assault Sgt. to show for the past few days of work. My progress will slow this year - but I hope to continue bringing updates and a constant (however slow it is) feed of progress on the miniatures I have set out to complete. I've included some pics of my new setup as well as as good an 'army shot' as I can get for Eggy
@Neve this is the stuff not featured - the things that need to be worked on.
I could do a write up for you if you like, but basically aside from the limitless HQ miniatures, everybody has a unit and has some form of in-game coherency.
So you are about 2 tac squads, the 10 bolter huggers from the back of the dev squads, and another assault squad away from a full battle company? Plus a chaplain and a dread or two.
Don’t feel compelled to write stuff up, just wondering exactly what you have there on the shelf. Just the bean counter in the back of my head poking at me to tally stuff up. Same side of me who used to look at the set pieces in WD and figure out who was going to win.
Yeah, when you put it that way, i'm not far off the full 2nd company. That's always been an underlying goal of mine. Think I need to do a bit more in terms of vehicles though right? I'll have to have a look in the codex when I have time.
I always viewed that picture as just something the marketing guys tossed together. It is a benchmark though.
There is a chunk of optional stuff in a company. The warm bodies are the important part. I don’t think anyone is going to call you out of if don’t have the codex mandated number of bikes and speeders for alternate deployment for your assault marines. Just have 20 guys who prefer to run and stab things. Similarly, the rhino for everyone, plus a few spares is kinda crazy. Make sure your tacs/command have wheels and call it a day.
Nevelon wrote: I always viewed that picture as just something the marketing guys tossed together. It is a benchmark though.
There is a chunk of optional stuff in a company. The warm bodies are the important part. I don’t think anyone is going to call you out of if don’t have the codex mandated number of bikes and speeders for alternate deployment for your assault marines. Just have 20 guys who prefer to run and stab things. Similarly, the rhino for everyone, plus a few spares is kinda crazy. Make sure your tacs/command have wheels and call it a day.
You're dead right, given that the codex specifies that rhinos aren't part of the company, they are assigned where needed. It's why they have yellow company numbers and not colours.
Well Stormwall - it seems like you may be in for a tough time :( My vet was finecast and half painted kind of rubbishly. When cutting the shoulder I decided about halfway to discard the rest of the miniature, as it meant I could treat the mini side with less care and ease the process for removing the arm. Basically it required VERY careful cutting with an exactoblade around the gun and arm part, as iirc its fused to the leg, and then patience and care to remove the rest from the body before a loooong but rewarding cleanup phase, to shave away at the inner parts of the arm and gun until it's a snug fit on another body. The other part that's tough is shaving under the strap, as the arm joint sits deeper than the strap (if that makes sense) meaning you need to cut away at the inside of the shoulder, but leave the bolter strap pertruding at the top kind of like an overhang, which from a hobby knife perspective can be tedious. It's difficult but I hope this helps in some way buddy.
You're too quick for me to keep up with your amazing conversions. The command squad look fantastic and you somehow made an Indomitus terminator look somewhere close to dynamic.
Hello everyone, Sorry that i've been such a ghost over the recent months - university hit me like a fethin' storm. Turns out this second year is a lot more difficult than the first - for any classicists out there, I wouldn't recommend taking Ancient Greek and Latin amidst other Classical history and social history papers all at once. Unfortunately the toll that this, as well as my job has taken is on my free time, and again, unfortunately, when I do get free time, more often that not it's allocated to 'necessary' leisure (like rest :p), and music (which is another massive, more easily accesible hobby of mine). So alas, my friends - sorry to do this to you all again but my hobby has suffered most :(
Good news is that i've acquired the new plastic Cassius as well as 3 of the veil donatus DW miniatures to use for future projects the more UM parts the merrier I always say! Also the easter break just started so I managed to get some work in on the latest sternguard, not the funnest stuff, but some base essentials - sorry for the rubbish pictures, but it is 1:53 in the morning
I'll try and get better footing and pick up some pace - because I am truly always thinking about my hobby friends and missing you guys :( - I have sort of been silently watching, checking in when I have time, but I shall endeavour for a more permanent return!
LDP
PS If it does mean anything to anyone, on the aforementioned musical front, I suppose there's no harm done in sharing my most recent musical project, which is this little track I made - feel free to listen or don't, but sharing this is better than nothing
The Sternguard is coming along nicely! Should look epic all finished up.
Glad you picked up the DW Marine or four, they're such stunning models, should be a treat for you to paint and then for us to marvel at! Other than Cassius (best of the bunch, I reckon, one of the nicest plastic models I've ever come across) which ones did you get?
This entire Plog is a work of art, and has really helped me appreciate the Ultramarines a lot more.
You character conversions in particular are outstanding. On that topic, would you please explain how you managed to get the cape to fit so well on this Captain/chapter master? Cause I'm totally copying this one. (with your consent, naturally)
The cloak is the resin sculpt from the minotaurs chapter master on forge world. Unfortunately, my only answer for you is with great difficulty :( I had to trim a lot of the backpack down as well as filing a few parts on the cloak itself, before gluing it to the back and adding some putty to allow for more of a connection between the cloak and the miniature. There's a particular position with that particular cloak and body that feels very natural, and I think you'll know when you find it
Hahaaaah times have changed But know that you were an instrumental influence to the 'good things' probably wouldn't have sorted my inherently lazy habits if I wasn't spurred on
Also to those wanted actual updates, I should have a small one soon - as always sorry for the awful pace :(
Hey everybody, sorry that it's nothing major, but I was doing some assembly experiments with the few materials I have here, and it made me really long for my bits box. I think that kitbashing it always what i've been best at, and I miss it. Anyway, I started building what will probably be a veteran sergeant. I want to make a really decked, legit looking, individual, yet still uniform to conform kill team of badass tac marines - and i guess this is the first update of that.
evildrcheese wrote: That looks awesome. It'll clearly make an awesome Vet Sgt, but for some reason he just screams chaplain too me...
EDC
He does look to be based on young Cassius from the deathwatch game. But yeah, he does have a lot of books and purity seals for just a sarge. He’s probably being groomed for a spot in the chaplaincy, a/o a member of a reclusium command squad. Or just a devout battle-brother.
Once he goes blue, I’m sure any doubts will go away.
Looking at what you are doing with him, and the book on his hip, I wonder how well that mini would work as a base for a librarian?
@6^ I'd recommend using the helmet with the horizontal crest from the ultramarines uprgrade sprue probably for his helmet, his chest, legs and sword are the difficult bits. I've given light thought to a sicarius kitbash on occasion, but he's quite a challenge I think in actuality. He has some form of mk.II legs, so I'd think you'd need a visit to FW to get the best parts, Some form of mk.II legs, and then a torso which has a neck guard piece, quite like some of the Imperial Fist torsos on there. I'd use one of the fantastic massive Suzerian eagle shoulder plates for the left arm with the plasma pistol, and as far as the cloak is concerned, I have no idea. Probably the most suitable might be the plastic captain solaq one - but not entirely sure on how the flow would fit with the other parts - come to think of it, I have all of these parts in transit towards me so I might even give such an idea a dry fit myself ))))
@Knightley as am I, as am I
@EDC to be honest my friend it shouldn't be too much of a surprise - i'm starting to feel quite guilty at this point because for the spending that I undergo to get parts to make these flashy characters, I could get sizaeable amounts of infantry and stuff like that, but the collecter-at-heart within me forbids it! I need unque flashy characters to sustain my vitality
@Fifty I agree actually. In hindsight it now makes more sense to do a more minor conversion and keep him as a chaplain but with perhaps just a head and arm swap or something of the sort.
Ah yes - that actually does quite an effective job with some refreshingly easily-acquired kits. Obviously if one was willing to go through the rigamarole of questing internationally to accumulate all the parts I suggested, the parts would all resemble his armour more or less accurately to the sculpted original - but Nevelon's version is probably a more realistic way and is practically equally as effective. Hahaha also Neve - believe me it's not going to be much of a mystery Although i'm branching out in some strange, experimental (COUGHexpesnsiveCOUGH :( ) directions to find unique parts to make nice characters
lipsdapips wrote: Have a sizeable 2-3 week break coming up in a little over a fortnight
That is awesome - what are you getting ?
I Love your conversions mate, I think you;re doing a terrific work at it. You've inspired me to build my own Chapter Master (40k, as im also building a large 30k force) for the Fists out of FW's IF bits . Perhaps I'll even throw Templars bits in there!
I enjoyed looking through this thread. I have lots of catching up to do, lots of cool looking models here. Some great painting and detail work and conversions!
Hey all,
To fill the time until my order(s) arrive (i'm so bloody pumped - so many juicy bits headed my way ), I figured i'd share with the miniatureverse my adventure to the Great War Exhibition at the War Memorial here in Wellington, NZ. Little known to many, it has a colossal diorama of the battle of Chanuk-Bair from the First World War in Turkey, where the ANZACs invaded the coastline alongside the Indians and the British. I took some photos and had to share because the scale, detail and feeling is incredible. Hope you guys enjoy, I cannot capture in photos what it was like being there, but its truly sensational. Sensational and humbling.
I don't know if you came across this while visiting the exhibition (consider me very jealous, by the way! ), but it was actually masterminded by the Perry twins and Peter Jackson, and the components were painted by literally thousands of volunteers across NZ and Australia. It really was an astonishing community project, and these pics definitely get across the sheer scale and detail better than most I've seen. It must be stunning in person!
Hey there everybody! So the LDP hobby machine is slowly whirring into motion - some of my packages arrived over the past couple days, including my bits boxes from home, some stuff from FW, and some bits from ebay - but alas, I fear that everything wont be here for some time, and i'm hesitant to begin my projects until I have all the bits that I ordered in the event that I conceive some cool assembly idea in hindsight with new parts and all that. Basically - what i'm doing, which will occupy at least the next couple months is a character project.
I have ordered bits from across the globe - far and wide - to make unique Ultramarines that are one of a kind, badass and brimming with personality. There probably wont be much 'coherency' between them beyond perhaps an occasional command squad, because you know what i'm like , it's more of a case-by-case project.
With this in mind, the characters mostly fit under the fields of the Space Marine military structure that I enjoy hobbying with the most - so Captains, Command Squads, Veterans, Sergeants, Honour Guard, and things of that sort.
I have no overarching plans, but I do have a couple figures in mind based around the parts i've ordered - the rest I plan to just have some fun with and see what becomes of it It was a rather steep monetary endeavour and is by no means the most economical method of doing the hobby, but this is the way I way always destined to do it Some parts will be undoubtedly wasted - as sigils from other legions may be present that are too hard to remove and other such things, but if a kit has one or two parts that could look incredible, it's a risk that I willingly take.
Anyway, enough rambling about the near future - I eagerly check the mail every day for the packages that i'm waiting for, but I think some may unfortunately be some weeks off still :( I've been fiddling around with what things I have already, and have grown rather attached to the idea of making a captain (what safer a way to start for me than that?!), and the essence of which i'd try to capture would be a few moments before addressing his brethren prior to a last stand. I tried a slither of creative writing to sum up the scene and aesthetic of the miniature:
Spoiler:
Morian stared into the empty space a few feet in front of him, holding his breath for what felt like minutes, before slowly breathing out, smoke in the frosty air, and stood still for a moment, consumed by thought. The burden of the impending hours was etched sorely upon his face. But through those stubborn and angular features were eyes, all but unchanged by his immense physical augmentation. He never lost his compassion for loss - wastefulness - death - especially of those important to him.
And there he stood, amidst the rubble of a battered ruin. He may as well have been stood out in the open, flanked by the occasional low wall or crater. A ways in front of him, the remnants of his company formed a loose assembly, visibly battered from days of unending vigil. Surrounded by a thick mist that painted Morian and his brethren as deep and colossal figures, each stood resolute and defiant against what they all knew was coming. As the scattered remains of Morian's detachment assembled, reverence bled through the very air they breathed.
A long, peaceful silence followed the slow and loose grouping, broken only by the eventual footsteps of Morian himself approaching the company.
Throughout all of this, his pupils remained still, as though peering longingly toward something not of this world. He looked to the left and down, ever down. Then, a movement, slow as it was sudden, centred his focus, before his gaze rose to look upon his brothers. His disposition brimmed with an air of undying respect for his men, but beyond that, a mellow emptiness. Both aspects were obvious to the legends gathered before him. They felt it too. Despite his might and aptitude for killing, Morian was inescapably human.
I want a bare head that looks stern with a hint of sadness, which is surprisingly difficult to find, most of the marine heads of course showing plain anger. I am struggling with a few parts that never seem to fit, such as the legs and left arm, but i'm hoping the introduction of other bits will help me construct the miniature fully, hopefully, with the paintjob, capturing the essence of the writing above.
Anyway enough rambling, here are some very early, experimental-stage pictures, and I hope to update you guys more as soon as I can!
Promising start LDP, looks suitably relaxed in the midst of battle :-) I'd also love to know where you've obtained your plethora of bits that are arriving? if you don't want to take up the blog i'd settle for a PM ;-)
So, how many marines this time are you looking to make with your purchases?
@NF09 No problem - i'll let you know here. The stuff i'm ordering is as follows: -Invictus Suzerians (eBay) -Mk.II Command (FW) -Mk.III Command (FW) -Mk.IV Command (FW) -IF Command (eBay) -Ultramarine Upgrade Sprue (GW) -Masters of the Chapter (GW) -EC Palatine Blades (eBay - this one's particularly experimental ) -Sigismund (eBay) -Alexis Polux (eBay) -XS Artificer Brush )) -Some BaC arms and weapons (eBay) -Shadow Captain Solaq (eBay - bloody pricey this one, unfortunately :( ) -RG Mor Deythan squad (eBay - these have a LOT of potential, but are going to be rather intimidating to convert. I am excited.) -Etched Brass Ultramarine Symbols (FW) -SM Command Squad (GW)
All this along with my extensive bits box should go towards some pretty nice figures I hope
Will probably end up having the stuff to make like 20 characters but I doubt i'll do that much in the period, i'd be looking more realistically at between 10 and 15, and then some miscellaneous other dudes here and there over time in the future.
@EDC Tell me about it! Just need to wait for the rest of them :((((
Also here's another dryfit arrangement - you can see what I mean about the left arm being tricky. It's hard to make a marine who doesn't look badass but instead looks morose or even a little vulnerable. I dont want any mighty weapons aloft in honourable charging thrust or anything like that, a sword slumped near the ground or even in its sheath is more what I have in mind but even with parts that fit both of those poses nothing has looked right yet.
Have you thought about a shouldered/resting on hip bolter?
There are not a lot of at-ease weapons. The only one that really springs to mind is the sheathed sword from the sternguard kit.
If you are building tons of HQs, have you looked into 30k? They have a much more fleshed command structure, with an assortment of specialist officers. Something besides captains.
I can't believe it took me til now to stumble across this project - your work is friggin beautiful man. You inject so much character into every model with their poses and conversions, and the paint work is excellent too.
Brother SRM, thank you! It's a pleasure to have you aboard, my friend, and what better a time to discover it, being the post that gets the blog to page 50!
Thank you very much for your words - I hope to give everybody some more lovely miniatures as soon as, just waiting on a couple orders
New modelling is looking good as usual LDP. Thanks for sharing the ANZAC diorama as well, it looks awesome and I'm planning a trip to Wellington in the not to distant future and that is certainly on the list.
Did you contribute to the painting of the minis for it?
@mad nah I wish - I didn't know about it until it was too late :(
So, as always, until I get all of my arrivals, nothing is assembled or ready to go, but i've been having a lot of fun messing around and dry fitting like crazy. I assembled this today, and would love to know what you guys think, I went to a risky extreme and did some GLUING - glued his leather tabard on from the ultramarine deathwatch miniature, and cut the head from one of the SM finecast veterans and stuck the mkII standard bearer plume on it.
Hopefully it's obvious that he's a chapter champion, with his sword and ccw loadout. Want to know what you guys reckon. I'm also wanting to do a company champion so that you can compare between the two, and though i dont have all the parts here for it yet - you can get a sense of the gist of the pose that I want for it.
Thanks LDP, after checking your list you seem to be doing the same thing as I am with the same models lol! except i'm going Imperial Fists :-) can't wait to see what you do as always!
From a wargear POV, the company champion should have a combat shield, not a full-on storm shield. Minor difference, but the WYSWYG pedantic in me wanted to point that out. Also, from a game play POV there is almost no reason to swap out the chapter champs boltgun for a CCW. From a modeling perspective, I think we can all agree you are taking good advantage of the option.
For the company champ, I think his head might be better lowered in prayer, or lifted to the heavens, seeking terra and the holy Emperor.
Seeing the two guys together, I’m getting flashbacks to some old D&D mini packs that Ral Partha used to make. You got three minis, all the same guy at different stages of their career. The one I owned was for a cleric. First was a robe wearing acolyte with a staff. Middle was chainmail and a morning star, Last was full plate and a heavy mace. Seeing the two champions here, I wonder if they are the same guy, at different parts of his journey. I’d like to see him as a young assault marine, with a knife and chainsword. I was going to say captain/CM, but if you are in the champion’s role, you are not really on the leadership path. You just blend things.
@Nerd Ho man! Really!? Great stuff, can't wait to see what you produce with the fists - I didn't know that was the approach you were taking, but i'm very much looking forward to comparing how we both go with our projects
@Neve Could you show me some photos of these D&D miniatures? As soon as I read your comment I showed my friend who I play D&D with and we both got really inspired they sound awesome! I agree with your comments on the company champion helmet - I will try to angle it down, because that'd be my favoured pose, but with many helmets its too difficult to make it noticeable :( - and as far as the storm shield is concerned - put your WYSIWYG concerns to rest, my friend I feel the same sympathies towards it as you - and the SS was a stand in. I have since found a combat shield from my assault marine sprue, and will sub that in instead. Also I think its obvious at this point, but i've never seen a hyper competitive player, and love fluff and cool minis over useful stats, and you are right in thinking that i'm taking good advantage of the weapon option
@Biohazard Good to hear from you as always! Thanks for checking in, and thanks your comments
Cheers LDP I'm just as excited to see what you do! :-) my guys will be a command squad for use with the Lysander & Kantor I painted, so I want them to be different and as ornate as the Ultra's usually are.
LDP-
Here is a link to a collecting page about the 3-stage characters. Old minis are old, obviously. It’s the concept I like more then the minis, most have not aged well.
I’ll see about getting a pic of mine, not that they are anything to write home about.
Hello! So most of my orders have arrived, and i've assembled some characters - very excited to start painting, the first of whom to be painted being Mr. Fist and Sword for NF's competition.
-I ended up switching helms for the chapter champion to one of the ultramarine Suzerian helms, and threw a plume onto that I cut off a helmet from the ultramarine upgrade sprue. I think it looks better. -I assembled a company champion also, and changed the pose in the end. Modelling with metal bits is such a pain, and I am glad that i've chopped the emperor's champion to pieces now and have no more metal models. His parts were all put to good use <3. -"Mr. Fist and Sword" as I named him earlier was a fun build, and can stand in for anything really. I made him to be a captain, but that's pretty much what I make every miniature to be - so he can stand in as a veteran or whatever with ease. I spilt a smidge of superglue on his head which is why he looks a little funny at the moment. -I built an apothecary as well - and opted not to use the very static command squad narthecium, choosing instead to throw together a different arm that I think is very fitting, and will hopefully fit the aesthetic nicely when I paint up a medical display on his wrist screen - Also glued a wee angel baby onto him because it looks cool and felt natural to his aesthetic, as well as a servo skull that I like to imagine follows him around and judges case by case which casualties are worth working on. -I built a captain out of the sigismund miniature as a base, and could only really do a head and backpack swap. I put the mk IV plumed helm on because it fits his pose so well to me, and have shaved off the fist on his shoulder, in anticipation to replace it with an etched brass ultramarine symbol which I should be receiving tomorrow I hope
I'll hopefully develop some fluff and background for these guys as I work on them.
ANYWAY, here are some photos - i'm so eager to get painting again! Next update should have lots of blue
Cracking stuff! Can't really pick a favourite, but the Apothecary definitely feels like the most natural and innovative conversion. Got to love a medic with a power fist...
Hey hey! Finished this veteran to see where my abilities stand. Feeling good to go into the next miniature, who I actually assembled today - pleased with the build. Undertook some risky conversions but glad in the end because I think they've paid off.
Looks good! Though if I were to make one small criticism, he is very blue when viewed front-on; some freehand scrollwork/symbols on the knee pads or the back of the fist might liven him up a bit.
He is stupid cool, nice work as always LDP. He is beautiful and almost elegant. I hate criticizing your work especially but his should pad the white is extremely boring, there is no depth to it at all.
I am excited to see the thammer and SS guy painted. You did a seriously awesome job of converting him
Lovin' the champion! The blue power sword is well done, but I feel a different spot color could have been better for it. Really like the look of the TH and SS guy, what head did you use for the champion though?
@Para I felt somewhat similar, but the base model has lots of ornate markings on the armour in places where I wanted to put squiggles.
@Spacewolverine Yeah I agree, but those strip sorts of things have always been a big problem for me - never quite sure how to tackle them
@Knightley - It normally is green, but I felt that blue power weapons look so much nicer :( Will probably switch back to normal green however because it does blur the composition into one quite a bit
@Justaerin the helmet was actually the helmet that the base miniature that I used is holding in his power fist, had to caaarefully cut the fist away to get it :(
Even a thin black null oil line between the rise and the pad would break it up, not too much just enough for separation between the mold raise. Then again I paint my white a little cartoony.
it was a slaughterfest! Sorry we didn't take photos of that one 
