I'm going to preempt this blog with my usual warning that things I work on take a long time to get built, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm slowly adding to this thread over the next couple months. Abandon all hope [of regular updates], ye who enter here!

So, here's the run-down.

For a time, I was looking at starting up a Salamanders army. I bought a bunch of Marine stuff - Drop pods, rhinos, a Land Raider or two, some AoBR guys, some regular tactical marines, assault squads, and termies, you name it. I got all the parts ready to go.

Then, all of a sudden, GW ruined it for me by putting out the awesome Legion of the Damned models. The gears in my head started turning, and I had the following conversation with myself:

>"I really like these models, self, but they're an elites choice, and sort've impractical!"
>"When has impractical ever stopped you? You took a lumber saw to a squiggoth."
>"Okay, yes, but how would I really get much out of these models? I love their aesthetic, but I don't quite like their rules."
>"So what? Why don't you make a whole army out of just these guys? For whatever reason, GW's making like 30 minis for the 10-man squad, so you'd have a good amount of variation."
>"Hm... I could see that, I guess. Make each Legionnaire the equivalent of a Tactical Marine? Just run a whole army of the guys like they're your standard marine chapter?"
>"Yeah! You could even work the Salamander rules into this - add a Vulkan He'stan-type character, and crank up the fiery death!"
>"Awesome! I have to do this!"
Meanwhile, Ein's Wallet:

So, to sum up the basic idea: An entire army of Legion of the Damned. I realize they're an elites choice in the current codex. I don't care. Basically, all my 'standard' marines will be Legion troopers. I also realize that, as far as their background indicates, they're pretty limited in manpower and don't have much of an organized force. I don't care. My end goal for this is to make a 'counts-as' Vulkan He'stan and run the whole army as a sort of proxy Salamanders. Since the Legion is just as fire-themed as Salamanders, it does make a certain degree of thematic sense. The things I currently already have for Salamanders will be kept, since they're basically interchangeable - they already have flame motifs on them, so all I need to do is add skulls instead of scales and paint black. This has the added bonus of preventing me from having two green armies, and as far as I'm concerned I think the Legion scheme looks a lot sharper on a table. Plus, let's be honest - black is substantially easier to paint and touch up than lime green.

I've already ordered about $150 of the new Legion models that'll be coming out soon / have already come out - I should have the stuff that released in January by the end of the week, and the second wave that releases in Feb. has already been preordered. I'm also looking at sculpting, and then later casting, my own shoulder pad designs and accessories so that I can convert regular plastic marines into Legionnaires. I wish GW still had their bitz ordering system, because I'd love to buy a bunch of heads/arms/backpacks, but sadly I'm going to have to do without such a resource.

So, starting with the HQ seems like the most reasonable course of action. I need a 'counts-as' Vulkan He'stan character for the army. I do, of course, have my old Vulkan conversion to consider, but he doesn't seem very Legion-esque, all told, so I think starting from scratch'd probably be a good course of action.

After a bit of deliberation, I decided that I really liked this Chaplain as the base for the conversion.



He's already got the bone motif in the form of the ribcage on his armor and the skull helmet, and his arms-wide-open pose should lend itself to some easy converting.

Now, let's talk wargear for a moment. Since I'm making a counts-as Vulkan, I need to pretty much match Vulkan's armament. This means my character needs the Gauntlet of the Forge, Vulkan's Spear, and Kesare's Mantle; basically, a big flamer-glove, some sort of mean looking relic weapon, and a badass cloak.

The spear is probably the outright easiest of the bunch to replace - the chaplain model above is already holding his Crozius pretty nicely, and I figure I can hack the mace-like eagle head off the thing and lengthen it out.

Given that this is the Legion of the Damned we're talking about, nothing would be more appropriate here than a scythe for the Grim Reaper / Death connotations. With that said, I set about planning the scythe out a bit, and quickly produced the mock-up parts below:



You'll notice I have one blade that's basically nicked and rougher looking, and one that's otherwise normal. I think I'm probably going for the nicked blade design instead, since I doubt the Legion get to resupply or repair their stuff that often. Still, you'll get the idea of what I'm going for - going to hack the crozius down, lengthen the shaft a bit, and attach the scythe head right to it. If I feel really bold, I may take a shot at sculpting some flames bleeding upwards off the scythe blade - we'll see.

Now, the Gauntlet of the Forge stand-in is not nearly as simple, unfortunately. On my old Vulkan conversion, I used an Apothecary arm and replaced the drill/surgical bits with the flamer. Unfortunately, there is no right-arm Apothecary bit, so my options there are substantially more limited. I've been brainstorming a bit about what I could do for the right arm, and I thought I'd lay out the options I've come up with and see what all of you thought.

For point of reference, the Gauntlet of the Forge works like an Assault Heavy Flamer - Vulkan can just spit out flamer templates like nothing.

I have two arms that I'm currently considering using for the right side. The first one is an actual Heavy Flamer arm, taken from a 3rd edition metal terminator. The upside to this is that it's pretty clear why the dude's firing a heavy flamer template, and the 3rd edition shoulders for termies are almost the same size as current Power Armor... so the whole arm is pretty much properly in scale.









It's probably the most simple, and I could sculpt flames onto the shoulder pad to Legion it up pretty easily. The downside here is that it's not some crazy gimmicky gauntlet, just a dude with a heavy flamer, which eliminates some of the 'cool' factor.

The other gauntlet idea I've been thinking about involves the old Marneus Calgar model. He has a bolter in his glove, though, but I figure I could hack the ammo feed, replace it with a hose, and put a nozzle on it...







The downsides to this one are a bit larger - first, I'm ruining an older model that's hard to get nowadays. Second, the eagle-motif on the shoulder pad doesn't exactly fit Legion designs. Third, I'd still have to do some extensive conversion to make that stormbolter look like anything other than a stormbolter.

I could probably mock up the same kind of under-slung weapon design as what's on this arm onto the stock Power Fist that comes with the Chaplain model, but that opens up a whole new set of issues: mainly, the fact that Vulkan doesn't actually have a power fist.

I'd be interested in hearing ideas from you guys. It's actually a bit of a shame that Vulkan's gauntlet is lefty, because I'd just as happily carve his arm up and put it on my guy if I could.

As far as Kesare's Mantle goes, I have that cloak angle covered... but that's secret for now!

First of all - love the light up Vulkan in your blog, he's awesome.

I was going to suggest using one of the older metal Apothecary arms as the base, in the same way you have used the plastic on on Light Up Boy - unfortunately, they seem to be far too integrated into the main body of the sculpt.

I also hadn't realised that Old School Calgar wasn't in the Collector's section of the GW Website, which I find a bit odd.

Oh Ein, how I have wished someone would make a legion of the dammed army.

Who better than one of the best modelers on Dakka to meet my wishes!

I would say the Marneus arm looks much, much better. "Snaz" it up with the hose, melta nozzle, some flames and maybe a giant skull instead of the eagle?

If you could make your own following the same outline as the gauntlet of ultramar... it would no doubt look better/ not use up an older model (like you said).

Just so you know, the Chaplain's power fist arm makes for a good Vulkan's flamer thing too.... I would know, I've done it

Keep us posted!! I look forward to seeing what other awesomeness you come up with

Cheers,

Jack.

While I was collecting parts to use for my Legion of the Damned army, I managed to get my hands on a pair of Forgeworld Chaplain Dreadnoughts through a couple trades.



I picked these guys up because out of all of Forgeworld's line, they seemed the most Legion-themed; skulls all over, a ribcage motif on the torso, and bones in the leg armor plates seemed hugely appropriate. The aquila plates on the front were the only questionable parts, but as you'll see in a moment, that's no longer much of an issue.

As is typical of Forgeworld, the quality was a mixed bag. One of the dreadnoughts was perfect - no miscasts, no bubbles, all the details were there, sharp, and lovely. The other? Not as lucky. There was a pretty blatant miscast on the front 'aquila' plates and the legs, and it just generally looked like hell by comparison. Both came new and mostly unassembled in their original FW baggies, so I think FW's Quality Control is more to blame than anything else.

In any event, I wasn't quite sure what to do with the one miscast one. After a bit of brainstorming, I decided I would grind the front plates completely off and turn the thing into an Ironclad because, hey, an Ironclad in an army with Vulkan rules is awesome - hello twin-linked burny death!

Of course, grinding the front plates off isn't quite as easy as it sounds. The skulls hanging off the front of the torso actually cover a bit of the aquila design, meaning that removing the design without mangling the skulls would be a bit of a challenge. I whipped out my trusty dremel, though, and with a bit of patience, sandpaper, and filing, I managed to essentially remove the entire front plate of the dreadnought. At that point, I grabbed some Apoxie Sculpt. This stuff is pretty fantastic if you need a putty you can smooth - a bit of water on your finger, and Apoxie Sculpt turns into a lovely flat surface.

I let it dry, and sanded it down a bit more so that it'd be flat, and viola, I have a dreadnought with no more aquila plates!





Now, my big issue is deciding where I'm going from here. I can see two options for the front plate, once I'm completely done sanding it down / cleaning it up. I can:

>Try and add Ironclad Assault Launchers to the front plate. I don't have the actual parts from the kit for this, so I'd have to improve something - perhaps the bits from a Terminator Cyclone Launcher.
>Add flames to the front plate to fit the Legion aesthetic, and maybe sling some sort of launcher-looking device underneath the plates, in the armpit area, to count as assault launchers.

Of course, I could just as easily leave the assault launchers off, as they're an optional upgrade and not necessarily the best wargear, but they always seemed iconic of Ironclads, which is why I'm considering. What do you guys think? Right now, I'm leaning towards cutting out some flames from thin plastic for the front plate and using those.

Hmmm... as for the dreadnought.. maybe add some round end studs to the inside edge of the front-plates... then add the plasticard flames a little further inset?

Then again you could also take a little chunk out of the center of each of them and add some bones to them (just like the shin guards).

Well, that's just my thoughts

Cheers,

Jack.

I'm not sure how well they'd fit, but could you acquire one of the assault launchers from a Land Raider Crusader, and trim them down to 2x1 strips (2 vertical, 1 horizontal)?

Mount them on the inside side of the front panel, then GS flames/skulls/whatever at the bottom and up the outside edge of the sarcophagus?

Dysartes - I actually tried that, hacked up an older metal one. The pair full the whole front panel (including that little C-shape indentation on the outside edges) and it'd conceivably work, but it seems a bit heavy handed, honestly.

Here's a quick mock-up of the flame concept that I did. It's a bit rough, but that's only because it's a pain cutting flame patterns out at that size.



Worth pursuing?

yes

That looks pretty nice.

PS. I know what you're using as a cape for Vulkan

Cheers,

Jack.

Blightdrone wrote:That looks pretty nice.

PS. I know what you're using as a cape for Vulkan

Cheers,

Jack.

I don't think so! It's not what I posted about previously.

The flames look good, Ein. They do, however, limit how much room you've got for Assault Launchers

I always wanted to make my cou8nts-as Vulkan with the plastic Terminator Heavy Flamer, possibly with a Storm Shield attached to the outside of it for his Invulnerable Save. In general I like the new style of flamers much better than the old cone style like the metal bit your showing there.

For the gauntlet how about a flame encased hand rather than a power fist? Just a hand covered in the ethereal flames of the Legion's Wrath?

Llamahead wrote:For the gauntlet how about a flame encased hand rather than a power fist? Just a hand covered in the ethereal flames of the Legion's Wrath?

I've had this thought - or something approximating Huron Blackheart's palm-mounted flamer - but do you think most 40k players would accept that as a Heavy Flamer? I wasn't entirely sure - certainly, you can just explain it to most players as 'this dude with the burning hand has a Heavy Flamer' and be done with it, but there'll always be the 'Oh, I forgot, that's not fair!' guy, or players who take umbrage with that sort of idea, which is why I thought the Heavy Flamer arm was more straightforward. Something to think about, though, as I do sort've like the idea of an open, upturned palm with a fire climbing up from it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So after a bit of deliberation, I've decided to add flames to the front torso, assault launcher positioning be, well, damned.





I went with this style of flame because it matched the general motif that can be found on Forgeworld Salamander Rhino and Land Raider doors, which I have and intend to use with a bit of modification.

After a bit of headscratching, I've come up with something that may be an acceptable substitute for the assault launchers. I hacked the central bit of a Cyclone Launcher off, and I'm considering mounting the launchers on either shoulder to count as a sort of Assault Launcher.



It looks a bit silly because of the lack of arms, so I took two quick shots of some test arms attached in place, borrowed from my old WIP Salamanders Ironclad.





It's large, but it does sort've fit with the characteristic shape I've seen of Ironclads. I haven't yet attached them - they're just resting ontop of the torso as a proof of concept. What do you guys think? I'm giving it some thought, but I can't think of much else that'd work. There's an empty area around the hip of the torso, near the armpit, where I could conceivably mount some sort of launcher, but I haven't had any clever ideas for it yet.

The flames look good. I like the position of the launchers on the shoulders. I see what you mean about them looking a little bit goofy without arms, but the added width with arms helps to alleviate it. If you do decide to leave them on the shoulders, maybe some sort of banner or reliquary in between them might help...

Very nice idea, like it so far.

Cheers

LFF666

Looking forward to following your progress.

What would the launchers look like if they were smaller somehow and mounted to the top of each arm?

Are ya gonna do big crazy bases for the dreads?

- Blackbone

As always - loving your work.

The flames look great.

The flames are a fantastic fit; as for the launchers, I think they'd fit better if they got the flame treatment as well. The extra height makes that Dread downright intimidating.

Subscribed!

This project is awesome to the point of almost being beyond words!

Looking forward to seeing it march towards completion..!

Very cool dread.

Love the idea.

Nice cant wait to see them all painted up

I'm realllllllyyy liking where this is going.

I shall now follow this blog fanatically, to the ends of the earth!

awesome

Awesome Dreadnought, i can't wait to see the finished product!

suweeeet

Gotta say I always like your stuff ein, and this is no exception so far, I am with the other guys on the embellishing of the rocket launchers, I remember an old WD with a LotD dread in it, and it had a halo made out of the semi-circular spiky bit from the chaos vehicle accessory sprue.

Also, hate to peeve you, but LotD used to have a mini-dex back in 2nd edition I believe.

How are you going to do Seargent Centurius?

You win extra points as I credit you with converting from a forge world model. Most don't have the gumption to do so as well they are expensive as piss!

Empchild wrote:You win extra points as I credit you with converting from a forge world model. Most don't have the gumption to do so as well they are expensive as piss!

I had exactly the same thought - jamsessionein is about the only gamer I know who can cut up a FW model for conversion and I don't cringe in pain.

And I love the idea of the CML for the assault launchers - I think the shoulder-mounted missiles on regular Ironclads look really dumb. But that? That looks sweet. Almost Robotech-ish.

Death By Monkeys wrote:

Empchild wrote:You win extra points as I credit you with converting from a forge world model. Most don't have the gumption to do so as well they are expensive as piss!

I had exactly the same thought - jamsessionein is about the only gamer I know who can cut up a FW model for conversion and I don't cringe in pain.

I don't so much cringe, as mutter in bitter jealousy at their ability to make that kind of expenditure.

Fantastic job,
when i heard you filing down the aquilla on the dread torse my heart skipped a beat, but it was obviously for the better. I love the picture thats second to the bottom, it makes it look bad a$$.

What if you put the 2 launcher parts as one piece, cut it down in size, and fit it at an angle into the top of the sarcophagus? Kind of like he's launching mortars.


Just a thought. He's looking pretty cool, though.

woOOoooo.. pretty
Great work!

Thanks for all the comments, guys.

I don't have a ton of updates - probably won't until the weekend, because my classes are taking up a ton of my time right now,

I did want to share this, though, as I think it's an interesting find. I dug this miniature out of The Warstore:



Link to it here.

I'm strongly considering buying it for the scythe head alone - I figure I can probably hack the area where the bone joins with the wood handle apart, and attach it in place of the crozius. Do you think this'd look good? The mini's only 7 bucks or so. I'm not entirely sure of the scale, which is my only other concern.

Edit: A quick photoshop as proof of concept.

I think that will work perfectly, just lenghten the handle a bit and it will be a truely menacing weapon

It looks great assuming that the scale is correct, it may be though that the scythe is too small as some reaper figs are much smaller than GW figs.

Edit: It seems that dark heaven figs are 25 mm scale which would make the mini too small.

Glad to see you up and building again sir!

I was thinking, for the heavy flamer on Vulcan, did you think about building it into the scyth itself? I was thinking of how St Celestine can shoot her sword as a flamer, and that got me thinking:

What if your Legion of the Damned commander had a Legio Custodes style pole arm/flamer weapon?

The bonuses would be (from my standpoint) that you leave the right hand free to do all manner of things, like pointing in a "Your time has come to meet the reaper" style, as well as giving a good reason to put some little flamey bits on the top of the scyth to balance out the long curving part, which visually always seems off balance to me. Scyths are really awkward melee weapons, after all

Looking forward to see where you go with all this!

Metsuri wrote:It looks great assuming that the scale is correct, it may be though that the scythe is too small as some reaper figs are much smaller than GW figs.

Edit: It seems that dark heaven figs are 25 mm scale which would make the mini too small.

Well, I bought it anyway, and one other reaper-esque mini, so we'll see.

Wehrkind wrote:Glad to see you up and building again sir!

I was thinking, for the heavy flamer on Vulcan, did you think about building it into the scyth itself? I was thinking of how St Celestine can shoot her sword as a flamer, and that got me thinking:

What if your Legion of the Damned commander had a Legio Custodes style pole arm/flamer weapon?

The bonuses would be (from my standpoint) that you leave the right hand free to do all manner of things, like pointing in a "Your time has come to meet the reaper" style, as well as giving a good reason to put some little flamey bits on the top of the scyth to balance out the long curving part, which visually always seems off balance to me. Scyths are really awkward melee weapons, after all

Looking forward to see where you go with all this!

It's an interesting idea, but then the whole right arm'd end up being a bit plain, no? Plus, I already thought I'd ignite the top part of the scythe anyway, since a burning weapon seems par for the Legion. Adding a flamer to that might clutter it up a bit.

And who says they're all that awkward?



This neat gif was actually part of the reason I chose the weapon in the first place.

Well, it would be a bit plain in that it wouldn't have a weapon built into it, but I suspect you could make it sufficiently fancy with icons and the like. You could even mix the flaming hand thing with the flamer weapon for extra flame.ness.thing. I do rather like pointing models though. It always seems to tie them in with their surroundings, especially when they seem to be issuing a challenge.

Have you thought about a shoulder mounted flamer? Might be neat too.

Can't see the .gif; work blocks DeviantArt (can't imagine why ) Trust me though, weapons shaped like large carpenter squares are really awkward to use. Even a kukri is pushing it a little and takes a good bit of practice to use passably. Not saying that it can't be done or look cool, but just that they always look out of balance.

Given that a scythe really needs to be wielded with two hands, I don't think that combining the weapons into it would look bad at all. And as stated, something interesting could be done with the other hand, like pointing but wreathed in flame itself.

That .gif is utterly incredible and I want to see someone use something like that at this year's flame festival.

And whenever I read the title of this thread, I think someone is doing an Alpha Legion army...

I am going to keep an eye on this.

oh, now i love the LotD so much. I would kill to get a n army like that.

Looking brilliant so far! Can't wait to see how it develops!

For the Dread definitely keep the launchers on the shoulders- it makes it far taller and intimidating. All it needs is a little something to fill the gap IMO. EDIT: Perhaps something similar to the Iron Halo on the first Dread?

For the Chaplin, I'd just use the standard powerfist and sculpt two little flamers on the back of the palm. As long as they have some sort of nozzle and piping, I should think most people would get what it is.

Finally, how about using regular Salamander models as 'Elite' LOD? That'd seriously confuse your opponent!

The Flaming Scythe would truly be the icing on the top of this magnificent cake, the Dread is absolutely amazing, love the concept of the CML on the Shoulders, just thinking out loud here, what would a banner or flames on the base of the dreadnought add? possibly nothing that great just thinking, and converting the Chaplain that is coming along absolutely great. The Scythe was a great touch, as a current salamander collector you sure are doing our chapter proud with your work keep up the work.

So I've got a couple things going on with the Dreadnought at the moment, most of which are drying and won't be ready to be finished off until later tonight. I hate waiting for putty!

I sanded down the top of the torso a bit, so that the Cyclone launchers I had would sit flush and straight on the thing, since previously they were angled out a bit and crooked. I glued 'em down, filled some gaps, and now they're on there for good.

In the meanwhile, I thought I'd try something. My buddy Zsoulless is a pretty great sculptor, and I asked him how I might go about sculpting ribs onto things. I thought it'd make good over-detailing to stuff like the cyclone launchers and maybe dreadnought shinplates or the likes. He recommended I get a baking clay like FIMO or Sculpey, and make a 'negative' of the ribs first. I gave it a shot, and figured I'd throw the results of the experiment up here.



This is my mold. It's not that great, but whatever, I'm just trying things out.

Here's what happens when you press GS into it and pull it back out.







It's not great - I probably won't leave that on there - but it's an interesting idea, nonetheless. I may have a go at making yet another mold with the ribs spaced a bit closer together, since I sort've like the idea of ribcage details over the cyclone launchers. I just wish I was a bit more of a sculptor, so I could just smear GS overtop this thing and somehow make it look like ribs, like all of those talented blighters do.

I also smashed together what I think will be the Seismic Hammer for this thing - it's pretty simple, all told. A metal furioso dreadnought arm is the base; the standard Seismic Hammer head is the impact surface, and there's a part off the thunderfire cannon kit between the two that helps space the bits out a bit - joining the seismic hammer bit straight to where the dreadnought's fist would normally go looked too stubby compared to a stock seismic hammer.



It's nothing too extravagant. I was having difficulty coming up with something that would fit as a seismic hammer on this thing, but still be thematic, so I figured simpler was better. This way, the weapon is obvious - I figure most people recognize the seismic hammer bit by this point - and because the hammer is recognizable, the fact that the dread itself is intended to be an Ironclad should be made clearer.

The arm itself will be added to - flames, bones, and scrolls where appropriate, you all know the drill.

The other arm I was looking at using, for the left side, is a standard dread CCW arm with a flamer slung underneath and a revised claw bit. This completes the wargear assembly I wanted for the Ironclad by providing lots of burny, close-range death. My concern, however, is that the styles of the arms are too different from one another to mesh properly on the same model. Have a look:



The old metal furioso shoulder on the model's right side is a bit smaller and sits closer to the body than the other one. I think I'm going to try to bulk it out a bit by putting some thin styrene between the arm and the torso, so that it matches the width of the other shoulder.

I imagine the fact that one is metal and the other is plastic is contributing to why I'm seeing them a bit uneven, too.

Anyway, more tonight once the putty work and stuff I'm doing to the legs has dried - I've been filing more and more bits off the stock Chaplain parts because of how unhappy I am with some areas of the FW cast.

Great work on the dread man. I like where you are going with the rib motif. Just one request: is there any chance you could put a thunder hammer in place of that seismic hammer? I never really dug the way GW represented that... too much like a digging drill or personal massager.

Also, to the scythe, that gif actually shows part of the reason they are awkward weapons: imagine him catching a tree branch ~3/4 of the way up. He has to back the entire distance from the tip to the shaft before he can get free motion again. He might be able to rotate the shaft a little to mitigate that (as one can do with an axe) but the curve makes it tough to clear the tip. Plus, if he swings and misses with the tip, there is no blade to catch anywhere (as there would be with kukri or falx) and so he has to pull back to hit.
Just reinactor geek chatter, but that's why they look awkward

Wehrkind: It's a good thought, and where I originally intended to go with it, but if you read the previous post you'll see why I decided to go the route I took with the seismic hammer instead.

Well, I'm still working on it, but I felt like taking a break from trying in vain to sculpt some sort of bone details, so I took some pictures instead.





I stuck a quick plasticard spacer between the dreadnought's right arm and the torso - I'll use a bit of putty to smooth that whole area out overnight, since I can't be bothered to deal with waiting for the stuff to dry while I'm still working on things. The arms are also magnetized on now, in the event I need to remove them for game reasons (weapon destroyed) or I ever feel like making a hurricane bolter arm.

I also decided to see if I could play on the skeletal appearance of the dreadnought a bit. I filed the groin plate down and puttied it smooth, and then used some of the newer skeleton plastics to make a pair of legs hanging off the front and curling down between the legs.





I think it's a neat look with the ribs and skull right above it - better than the dodgy-cast purity seal that was there earlier. There were some bubbles on the underneath of that whole groin plate that I got to fill while doing all this.

I need to add some sort of additional armor plating to the upper leg area, on either side of the hips - nothing really clever's struck me yet, though.

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with it so far. I need to add an engine to the back, and then do a fair bit of legion-related detailing - see if I can't get some bone textures and flames on the open spaces, and skulls everywhere else. I've also been thinking a narrow banner that hangs between the two launchers up top might be a nice touch, but I'm waiting to see what I do to the launchers themselves before I start filling that area in.

One last picture for fun's sake:



More to come!

really cool project, hoping to see more soon
how big are you planning this army to be?

Cheers

LFF666

I liked the plasticard scythe in the first post better than that other one - the other one seems a tad puny for 40k.

That dreadnourght is sweet!
Love the guardsmen too! Very characteful (both models)

Steve

So I think I'm probably going with the ol' Termie heavy flamer arm for my counts-as Vulkan. I gave slinging a flamer nozzle under the stock chaplain fist a shot, and I'm really not happy with it. I've just kind've roughly puttied it on there, to be sanded and filed once it hardens, but truthfully my sculpting skills have never quite been up to par and this is a prime example of that in action.





The concept's there, I guess but truthfully I think the heavy flamer arm'd end up better in the long run.

I definately prefer your other drill as to the one you just showed. It was unique and had a finess to it that fits with the model.

Empchild wrote:I definately prefer your other drill as to the one you just showed. It was unique and had a finess to it that fits with the model.

You mean, Flamer?

I did not realize that was meant to be a flamer.... well way to make me die a little inside.. GOOD JOB(comment resended).

I found this earlier and it's of no interest to me, but I suddenly remembered this blog, and realised it may be of use to you.

This Guy's tutorial for a Vulcan isn't great, but he has a neat technique for converting terminator lightning claws intoa multi-nozzle flame hand. I thought it was pretty neat, you may do too...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kNe9bVr-l4Q/SWOFhRBNr2I/AAAAAAAAACk/Y8wVvxQiFtA/s1600-h/03.jpg

Why not just use that flaming brazier on the backpack. I actually reckon a flaming brazier or the Witch Hunters Flame Gun might work very well for this....

Random thought... If you have extra `Nids around, their chests would make for good rib cages.

Aduro wrote:Random thought... If you have extra `Nids around, their chests would make for good rib cages.

I don't have any extra Nids around. However, there are a few Chaos Chosen Space Marines that have rib designs on their torsos that would work that I've been doing some looking in to.

Llamahead wrote:Why not just use that flaming brazier on the backpack. I actually reckon a flaming brazier or the Witch Hunters Flame Gun might work very well for this....

I actually have a fantasy torch that looks like it'd strangely do the job, but I think I'd prefer the heavy flamer arm over that.

Tek wrote:I found this earlier and it's of no interest to me, but I suddenly remembered this blog, and realised it may be of use to you.

This Guy's tutorial for a Vulcan isn't great, but he has a neat technique for converting terminator lightning claws intoa multi-nozzle flame hand. I thought it was pretty neat, you may do too...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kNe9bVr-l4Q/SWOFhRBNr2I/AAAAAAAAACk/Y8wVvxQiFtA/s1600-h/03.jpg

It's an interesting approach, but I don't know if I like it, honestly. It gets the job done, but it's a bit basic.

I want to pitch this up here, as I've been receiving some reasonably good ideas and I wanted to show what I was thinking.



I actually really like the idea of the gauntlet-flamer being something like what Huron Blackheart has. I've talked to one of my talented sculpting friends, Zsoulless from over at The Waaagh, about maybe having a custom arm sculpted up, because the more I think about this design the more I like it.

I've considered using Huron's actual arm, and modifying it a bit, but I'm not entirely sure if that'd work - it's a very chaotic piece, and the hand would have to be totally remodelled.

In any case, this is something I'm going to endeavor to make before I default to my heavy flamer arm backup. I sort've want to take a crack at maybe sculpting it myself, just to see what happens but I have no idea where to begin - probably an armature of paperclip or something, and then the basic cylindrical arm shape, but I can't imagine sculpting fingers like that properly.

Now! A couple more baby steps with my Legion Ironclad!











I wasn't sure what to fill the top of the dreadnought in with, between the two launchers. After a bit of head-scratching, I dug a neat little iron-halo-esque bit out from god knows what kit (I'm pretty sure it's non-GW) and then spiked a banner on there behind it. The banner's from the Vampire Counts Skeleton Warriors box, with a flaming skull added from the Warhammer Fantasy wizard kit. I've been thinking it might be really interesting to paint the banner up as a burnt, tarnished, and otherwise mostly destroyed Fire Hawks standard, as a homage to the Legion's fluff background. Something to think about, anyway.

I also added a couple bits to the sides of the hip joint, in those open areas that were bugging me. One is a sensor module, hacked free from a pintle-mounted hunter-killer missile launcher assembly, since most dreads seem to have some sort of sensors located around that area. On the opposite side, I just pinned some simple scroll canisters there.

I added a second layer of flames overtop the first. It looks a little messy, because I did some pencil sketching right onto the model that since got smudged; primer will hopefully make the torso look a fair bit sharper. I riveted the top layer of flames, since it seemed appropriate.

I like the current pose it's in; it's somewhat turned, which makes it less static, and more interesting.

There are a couple areas I need to address before I'm happily done with this model. These are the arms, and the engine.I'm not entirely sure I know what to do with these areas - I could try hacking more flame designs out to glue overtop, but I don't want to turn the whole dreadnought into some sort of hotrod. Alternatively, I could try sculpting bone motifs, but I'm not particularly talented with greenstuff, or for that matter sculpting, and I'm leery about ruining parts of the model.

Anyway! Work continues. I'm open to ideas and suggestions.

That banner is ace, and while I think the angled legs look better for the more dynamic look, it does tend to lose the skeleton bit that you attached to it's crotch and keep it from lining up like you had before. Maybe have the skeleton bit hanging down from between the wires?

Aduro wrote:That banner is ace, and while I think the angled legs look better for the more dynamic look, it does tend to lose the skeleton bit that you attached to it's crotch and keep it from lining up like you had before. Maybe have the skeleton bit hanging down from between the wires?

Yeah, I've noticed that when the torso and lower body aren't aligned, it's posture looks better, but the skeleton image I was trying to evoke goes out the window a bit. I may reduce the twist a little bit just to bring that back, though I think it'll work fine once it gets some paint - the white bone against the black armor should keep the overall lines unified a bit better. As-is, the bones are on there so solidly (and with floral wires holding them in place, to match the reliquary bands in the shin pads) that I couldn't remove it if I wanted to without a dremel.

this is just a wild suggestion for the back, but dont all skeletons need a spine?
i belive something could be done like that

Cheers

LFF666

Thats an intimidating dreadful (as in full of dread not badly executed Dreadnaught) What I really like however is how intimidating you've made it while keeping it a Imperial Dreadnaught. It still manages to look loyalist which a less well sort out version on the same them wouldn't have. Well Done!

What kind of dremel are you using to do all the removal work. Because you seem to do a great job with it and I have been thinking about getting one myself.

Ghost in the Darkness: It's just a regular dremel, I guess. A dremel-brand one. I've had it for a couple years, so they no longer make the exact model I have, but it's a variable-speed model that I usually leave on the lower end of it's settings just so it doesn't get out of control. For grinding the front plates off, I just grabbed a sanding drum and went at it. Believe me when I say that I'm as surprised as the rest of you that I didn't ruin the model right there.

So, I have to share this, both because it's a nice step in progress on the model and because of how awesome it's going.

First thing's first: Because this guy is going to be sort've a figurehead for my army, and because I can't sculpt worth a damn, I'm now working very closely with a friend of mine named Zsoulless from The Waaagh.com. Z is not only a disturbingly talented artist but a truly excellent sculptor, and I've managed to talk him into helping me make the Huronesque flamer-fist design I'd previously whipped up.

Well, Z's come through in a big way. He's gotten a start on the Gauntlet, and it's looking really fantastic.





These are his pictures, so they're not quite as large as my usual, but I think the details are still fairly clearly awesome. The fist borrows the concept of having the flamer nozzle in the palm from Huron, and Z's added a very convincing mechanical assembly on the back of the gauntlet that includes a fuel tank and hoses. There's a plug on the bottom of the gauntlet for an eventual cable that will lead up the arm and, presumably, into the backpack with the brazier and big fuel tanks.

Z's also come up with a brilliant substitute for Kesare's Mantle by making a skull press-mold cloak. Now, instead of being layered in dragonscales, the Vulkan counts-as will have souls of the damned screaming out from his tattered cloak. I think if I could paint them up to look a bit ethereal (maybe some grey-blue highlights on a black cloak, to make them look ghostly) it'd be awesome.

The scythe bit is something I figured out before I sent it over to Z. After looking around for inspiration, I actually discovered a great miniature with a very nice scythe - Reaper's Death Priest. After eyeballing the dimensions of the scythe up a bit, I ordered one, and it seems to be a pretty perfect fit. There's a paperclip running down the middle of the styrene tube in the handle that serves as a pin for the scythe's head; wraps that match the chaplain's existing handle will hopefully be sculpted up to the head of the scythe over the white styrene part. I was also thinking that it'd look great if the skull that serves as the base for the blade were lit aflame, so that'll need some attention. Going to have to practice some OSL if I want this model pop, I think.

Anyway, I'm really excited about where this model's going now that I have Z's help on the greenstuff end.

As far as the Ironclad is concerned, I honestly think I'm done with it. I could lose my mind trying to sculpt bones over the arms and engine, or I could just simply paint what I've got and go with it, and I'm leaning more towards the latter simply because of how bad I am at the former.

?

Yes, that is sort've what it's modelled after. I just really liked the mental image of a firestorm coming from this guy's palm. On the plus side, if I ever tried to run the Legion as some sort of Chaos Space Marine army (since they nearly look the part anyway) I'd have a Huron Blackheart already made.

Except your Huron actually looks good. Anyways, I love the dread an the chap. Good work!

Awwww.... He just wants a hug!
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Oh god! The burning! Make it stop!

Agreed - if this is ever a 'counts as' Huron, well, it will certainly be miles ahead of the official version!

And...

...is Zsoulless accepting commissions from strangers?

That looks awesome is it going to be a regular arm or a gaunt skeletal looking bionic?

Alpharius wrote:...is Zsoulless accepting commissions from strangers?

You'd have to ask him! Truthfully, he came to me about sculpting some Legion of the Damned stuff, so I think he just sort've sculpts where his whims take him - I just have the good fortune of working on something those whims fancy at the moment.

So, thanks to Zsoulless' help, Redemptor Thanasius looks to be pretty much done, with some minor exceptions.





The "Hellfire Gauntlet" (which is simply what I've decided to call it; Vulkan's has a fancy name, it's only fair) is now finished-off, though not yet actually attached, so don't worry about the gap between the body and the arm. I'm well aware he looks like he wants a hug, but I think it's really only due to the open palm, since the posture is identical to the standard Power Armor Chaplain now. Either way, I still think he looks great.

I'm going to add a bit of cabling hanging from the plug in the bottom of the gauntlet that runs up the arm and to the fuel tanks in the backpack... and a skull has also been added to the knee pad of the leading knee, just because it seemed an appropriate place to put it.

I am probably going to have to do a fair bit of practicing on some older metal marines before I'm comfortable painting this guy. He shouldn't be the first thing I paint for the army, at least, since I want to do a decent job on him and I need to get the hang of painting black armor first.

Anyway, he's pretty much done. I'm not certain if I'm keeping his 'Redemptor' title, since it sounds a bit inquisitorial, but I wanted something as catchy as 'Forgefather'. The name Thanasius is staying for sure, though; it's a corruption of the greek word 'athanasius', which means 'immortal death', if the internet is to be believed.


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I've been working on this on the side, as it were. I've always liked the idea of a Librarian, and back when I was working on my Salamanders I was collecting parts for a nice conversion. Most of those parts are no longer helpful to me, as I've switched over to the Legion, but I still want to make a Librarian for the army, so off I go.

The start of this conversion is actually a Terminator Chaplain. The reason for this is really simple. I was looking at the Terminator Librarian model and thinking to myself, "That's not going to work for the Legion. The head needs to be a skull." Fortunately, before I set about trying the miserable task of dremelling out the head cavity, I remembered that the Chaplain Terminator was... well, pretty much exactly the model I'd be making, so why not use one as the base? It's one of GW's best models, anyway, covered in a ton of rich detail.

It just so happened that I did have a Terminator Chaplain around, so I started working on him... and these are the first few small steps.







I'm waiting for the greenstuff to fully harden before I set about cleaning it up by sanding it a bit, but you get the idea of what's going on here. I carved a psychic hood that'd fit right over the normal Chaplain Terminator armor, and then greenstuffed the seam over - after sanding, it should hopefully be seamless.

I also yoinked a rather neat sword off a fantasy model -Archaon, from WHFB's Warriors of Chaos. (Side note: I still have the entire rest of the model, horse and all, and nothing to do with it. If anyone wants to buy it, drop me a message. ) It's a good-sized flaming sword that I originally intended to use for my Salamanders - but it fits the Legion just as nicely.

When I get around to the left arm, I'm probably givin' em a Storm Shield, since that seems to be the preferred wargear loadout of everyone I've asked. Not sure what it's going to be, or how I'm going to make it yet though.

I also have no idea what this guy's name is, yet. Feel free to pitch ideas.

I love the cloak, and the arm is better than anything I've done yet with finer detail. The cloak solid awesome, stretched out into thread form, and woven.

Why did you get rid of the bone haft bit below the scythe's blade? I'd have thought for a Legion fig that would make it all the more suitable.

And he indeed just looks so darn friendly! I'd give him a hug but I'd probably regret it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
P.S. Name the Librarian after me! Aduro Terrarum, rough Latin for To Set Fire To The World.

Aduro wrote:Why did you get rid of the bone haft bit below the scythe's blade? I'd have thought for a Legion fig that would make it all the more suitable.

It looked a bit odd next to the handle - didn't mesh right. Dunno, whatever, I can't put it back and I'm reasonably happy with the way it is now. I think the whole handle of the thing is going to be painted like a spine anyway, since it does sort've resemble one.

P.S. Name the Librarian after me! Aduro Terrarum, rough Latin for To Set Fire To The World.

I actually like that a fair bit - I think that'll stick.


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Here's a bit more on the Librarian, now tentatively named Aduro Terranum unless something better comes and unseats it.

I found a cloak, courtesy of the... well, very, very, very old Von Carstein model from 4th edition WHFB. I certainly wasn't playing back then, but I picked this up off eBay on a lark, and I'm glad I did - it fits the back of Terminator armor like a glove.







A little dremelling in the small of the Terminator's back was needed, right below the vents, to get the cape to sit properly, but it's just the right height and width to go there. It splays out more to one side than the other, but I think the asymmetry adds a bit of interest to his pose. I'm currently picturing the left arm swept out, like he just swung it around from the front (which would work nicely with the cape). On the base, there'll be a ring of fire encircling the front left quarter of the miniature, gaining height as it nears the cloak and his hand. It's hard to explain, but I have a pretty clear image of it in my head, so you may just have to wait.

I'm hoping this miniature firewall on the base will be acceptable to most players as a storm shield, because the pose I'm picturing wouldn't be too hospitable to me strapping a shield on the left arm. We'll see!

Ein I built some LOTD terminators before GW put them in the white dwarf codex for the 13th founding chapters would you like to see them?

Have you considered naming the Vulcan count-as "Pyrus Manus." Roughly translated means "Fire Hand..."
Your legion project is great. I hope everything in the future is just as good as this. I particuarly like the dread.

sonofruss wrote:Ein I built some LOTD terminators before GW put them in the white dwarf codex for the 13th founding chapters would you like to see them?

Sure thing.

Here is the group shot



Some individual shots











Here is the dread

Not bad, Russ. I'm working on some custom Termie additions that I may end up casting down the road for mine, but yours are pretty characteristically LotD.

as usual james...WOW I really love that chaplain especially the scyth.

I do love that old school Chaplain in Terminator armor...

I think I have 2 or 3 of those still myself!

This Blog has fast become one of my favorites - I look forward to seeing where you take it!

Just to get some input on this, since it's something I've been pondering all morning: How should I base the legion?

Right now, I'm sort've liking the idea of them being atop some temple ruins, since that sort of thing adds to their mystery a bit. I've found two commercially-made bases that I'm considering right now:

Dark Age Games Groundwerks - Temple Ruins:


These are nice, but I'm not sure if I like them because of how well they're painted, or because of the actual designs. There's a very limited selection of them - only 3 smalls, two mediums, and one large, so I'd end up with a lot of repeating elements across the army. I'm not sure if that's good or not.

The other potential right now is Micro Art Studio's Temple bases:


These are nice, but a little hard to get (from Poland) and I'm not sure how much I actually like the repeating text elements in the floor.

What do you guys think? Any other ideas? Can anyone tell me from personal experience how either of these bases are? I can only seem to find painted pictures, so I'm not sure of the quality or detail on the actual pieces.

I'm also open to other ideas. I could just do the same old simple rock-basing I do for everything, but I felt like these guys deserved something a little more elaborate. Lava bases are practically cliche at this point, and would have too much of the same colors as the rest of the minature.

Dragon Forge is great price wise and varients wise plus they are based here in the U.S. Is this army for you or a client, or is it ebay sales?

The second option for temple bases are PHENOMENALLY better.

It might be the painting, but the first set simply looks rediculous

Empchild wrote:Dragon Forge is great price wise and varients wise plus they are based here in the U.S. Is this army for you or a client, or is it ebay sales?

Army's just for me, and I've looked at Dragon Forge, but nothing particular has jumped out at me from their lines as 'yeah, that'd look great for legion!'

If its between the two, Id go with the Microarts bases. I do like the other ones, but the selection really is pretty small. The microart, you can probably break up nicely with some rocks, sand and static grass.

Cloak looks killer on the terminator btw Really like the look of that. as for the shield. you could possibly mount one hanging from his belt on the backside or mount it on top above all the other gubbins. Tough call really. Id pick one up attach it to different places and see what looks best. Making a small wall seems like a cool idea, but I dont know if everybody would let you run with it. In casual games people should tho

or you could check out the tutorial by guynamedfleck, which is pretty cool as well: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/277121.page

So apparently, Scibor Miniatures makes a line of very nice temple-themed bases.





The downside is that they're absurdly expensive, and he seems to only sell them in 'random selections' which suggests to me that I'll end up with a bunch of duplicates. That said, these bases are still really nice, and I think I'll be picking up a few.

HOLY CRAP!
Love your models I wish i could make a Vulkan like you. Because my chapter has warriors called Head Guardians which are all Vulkans each one stands for a different element of power (earth,wind,fire,water,etc. in total there are 12. Can you make an insturctions on how to do what you did?)

I recently bought some MicroArt cobblestone bases for my Malifaux figs, and they are nice and crisp. Quality wise excellent, no bad castings, no clean up and only few small air bubbles on some bases.

They also came as random selection so I have more of some bases than others (there are 7 different cobblestone bases and I ordered 30).

Hmm, well, I'm sure whatever bases you choose will suit them nicely. And I do love the Chaplain Librarian's name, Aduro Terranum, it does suit him, and because 'Tim the Biovore' is just out of the question...

I wish these independent companies would sell their basing stuff as "kits" you put onto your regular base instead of making the whole thing out of whatever resin they use that's as heavy as lead.

Breotan wrote:I wish these independent companies would sell their basing stuff as "kits" you put onto your regular base instead of making the whole thing out of whatever resin they use that's as heavy as lead.

The idea is that it is a hell of a lot cheaper to sell resin castings than to custom sculpt bases for every person that orders them.

MasterSlowPoke wrote:

Breotan wrote:I wish these independent companies would sell their basing stuff as "kits" you put onto your regular base instead of making the whole thing out of whatever resin they use that's as heavy as lead.

The idea is that it is a hell of a lot cheaper to sell resin castings than to custom sculpt bases for every person that orders them.

I think what he meant was that instead of selling a resin base with a wrecked temple slab cast onto it, they could instead just sell the slabs for people to position, carve up, and attach as desired.

Anyway, I figured I'd get some paint onto this thing soon, so while I was messing around with the airbrush this morning I set about putting some color onto it. I primed black, and then used some Vallejo Model Air German Grey and US Grey to brighten the thing up substantially in the hopes that after a black wash or two, I'll be able to tone the greys down to a nice, richer-looking black armor.









There's a couple places where I could have done better with the spray, but I figure the washes'll help blend it all together decently enough. I just wanted to kind've define brighter and darker areas on it to start with. Before I do those washes, though, I'm going to set about base-coating the colors on this thing properly, which means picking out the bones, metals, scrollwork, and any other details.

Ooh, nice! The plasticard blends in nicely with the model. I hope to see it painted soon!

So I was playing with this a bit.



So I hit it with some paint.



I'm not that great at freehanding, but I suppose it'll work after I'm finished touching it up a little bit. It doesn't have to look too terrific, since I plan on weathering the hell out of it to make it look centuries old. The back of the thing will look like parchment, which is why the parts that are hanging folded over are starting to be tan.

Just for those who are unfamiliar, the Legion of the Damned are rumored to be the remnants of the Fire Hawks Space Marines chapter after a trip through the Warp gone horribly wrong. Their chapter symbol was a mushroom cloud, because as I understand it their homeworld was destroyed in a nuclear event.

I love the idea of hinting at the LoD's Fire Hawks past in your miniatures. The one thing I would say though, is the bright yellow banner looks a little garish. The weathering you have planned will no doubt help, I'd just be a bit wary of the yellow.

Like I said though, I love the idea

I personally like the yellow. He's going to weather it down, regardless.

The yellow will look nice as the black carapace will complement it nicely, as well as the weathering which will take the brightness down couple notches.

Epic awesomeness !

While looking for some bases for my own army , I found these :

http://www.back2base-ix.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=43

I LOVE your army. i was searching for more LoTD armies as i am just begining one with mostly basic models i dont know what codex i wil be using but any how. for the bases i use black marble because i like it. it does make the models look really dark but i think that suits the image.