"Regardless of where the blame truly resided, many within the Iron Hands Legion, now fatherless, dealt with this traumatic crisis on a personal level in a simpler and more direct fashion; they went violently insane."

- Horus Heresy Book 2 : Massacre


For me, if the Horus Heresy is about one thing, then it is about the death of hope. Mankind stood on the edge of a golden age, a pax imperialis, free from fear, free from superstition; but that fragile dream has come crashing down, and in the best traditions of tragedy, the Imperium contained within itself the seed of its own destruction.

It is a setting that I find perhaps far more compelling than the 41st millennium. Its characters seem more recognisably human and that makes the darkness all the darker, the tragedy all the more tragic.

For a while I had been in a hobby slump that I couldn't shake, this is until I realised that it was indecision which had made me grind to a creative halt. On the one hand, what had enticed me back to this hobby after a gap of over 20 years was the amazing miniatures I had seen coming out of the Inq28 community. So, my first tentative steps to rediscover the joys of painting and modelling revolved around acolytes and death cult assassins and their ilk. On the other hand, I had begun reading the Horus Heresy novels and had fallen in love with the stories and setting.

Yet the Horus Heresy hobby seemed the complete antithesis of Inq28. One was about creating small bands of lovingly crafted conversions, the other about 20 man tactical squads and giant tanks.

The solution was so obvious that I could not at first see it. The novels I loved to read were not just about huge battles; they were also about individuals. They were as much about small bands of Astartes, as much about the ships' crews, the astropaths, the remembrancers as they were about Drop Pod Massacres and Titan Legions.

An idea began to germinate and it has taken a long time to take shape.



The Doomed Ship

"... in the aftermath some Iron Hands units and, in some cases, entire Clans shunned the Medusan Council's assumed authority and went their own way, consumed by their own hatred and need for revenge."

- Horus Heresy Book 2: Massacre


Ferrus Manus was dead. This terrible news filtered through the galaxy, astropath to astropath, until it reached the escort ship Euripides. Now, lost and leaderless, the Iron Hands astartes aboard the Euripides will have their revenge ...

One ship, its crew; the space marines and mortal men and women who call it home.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Work is in Progress

There is more to life than space marines. One of the things I love about the Heresy era is the way that each fleet is a real community. Astartes, Imperial Army, emmisaries of the Mechanicum and the ship's crew all live and work together. So, having blown all my money on massive, leather bound books, I decided to begin on some crew ... while I wait for the Iron Hands to muster.

Lycia Jesh is the youngest, but perhaps most talented astropath aboard the Euripides.



Sooner or later, anyone who likes to convert GW miniatures must make something out of a cairn wraith. It almost feels like a rite of passage. How to make something both interesting and original out of a miniature which has been done so many time before? Well, this is my attempt. I'll write up some background on young Lycia when she's finished.

This sounds like a fantastic idea!

This sounds like an amazing idea, and already you have a great start there with your Astropath

Thanks Edreynaline and Marine_With_Heart

Sometimes, when I'm kitbashing, I have a definite idea what I'm trying to make but often I just playing around with no idea. There are those wonderful, organic kitbashes where everything just seems to work and then you sit back and try to work out what it is you've actually made. This was one of those cases. A while ago I made this chap;





Then he sat in a drawer ...

Now he's finally starting to get some paint and an idea is forming about who he is. He's still a long way from finished. I'm calling him the Quartermaster, though I don't have an actual name for him yet. He is the one who keeps the weapons and equipment of the ship's crew and he cannot resist tinkering with them, like a far future version of Q from the Bond movies.



Neither FW or GW make rules for spaceship crews and I doubt they ever will, so I'm going to use the Inquisition rules for my crew. The Inquisition is perfect in that it allows me to have a collection of the weird and wonderful that still feels human, far more so than any other published codex. With the Quartermaster I realised I could get a (counts as) Jokaero into the crew. Jokaero's are physically weak but can shoot powerful weapons so the Quartermaster is an old man and his weaponised servo skull provides a rational for his ability to shoot.

Wow, I guess I missed this the first time around.

I really Like the idea for this, great kitbashes so far, looking good!

Zone mortalis is kind of meant to represent fighting on ships. If we are all lucky there may be something in the next FW HH books when they introduce the solar auxilia and hopefully the Imperial Fists.

Excellent work and fluff so far, subbed!

Thanks OneManNoodles. I think this may go down the lines of being a Zone Mortalis project rather than a full scale army. I'm very much looking forward to the Solar Auxilia. The early renders I've seen look simply amazing.

I'm collecting the Horus a Heresy books over time and I've bought the first two so far. I wanted book 2 before embarking on this venture because I want my marines to be Iron Hands. I love the idea of Astartes traumatised by the loss of their primarch and the suspicion with which they are viewed by the human crew. Nothing like a bit of tension to keep things interesting.

I'm also thinking of collecting an enemy force so that I can have little solo battles at home. Emperors Children are the obvious choice, but I'm leaning more towards Word Bearers. That's a way off though. For now I've ordered a few marines to get me started and I'll continue to kitbash crew members in between painting batches of Iron Hands.

Nice work so far. I love your inq28 stuff, so I'll be following this.

 OneManNoodles wrote:
Wow, I guess I missed this the first time around.

I really Like the idea for this, great kitbashes so far, looking good!

Zone mortalis is kind of meant to represent fighting on ships. If we are all lucky there may be something in the next FW HH books when they introduce the solar auxilia and hopefully the Imperial Fists.

Excellent work and fluff so far, subbed!

Aren't the Imperial Fists already included in Horus Heresy 3: Extermination?

 Malika2 wrote:

Aren't the Imperial Fists already included in Horus Heresy 3: Extermination?

Indeed they are and they will also be in Book 4. There is a preview of what's in Book 4 here;

http://battlebunnies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/horus-heresy-book-4-conquest-details.html

Great idea Inquimunda 30k seems like an excellent setting to explore

I am digging this.

Very nice man Cool concept too.

Work on the Quartermaster is continuing. His face is done and I'm starting on the fiddly details. Photographing him close up has made me realise there's a massive mold line running along his left hand though :(





However, work on him was slowed down when these chaps turned up to distract me;



I've always thought that Astartes should be going into battle with plenty of equipment, so I've made sure that each of them is carrying a post pistol and extra ammo.

And to distract me even more, my lovely over half bought me a present off ebay;



Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him, but he's such a beautiful miniature, I'm too scared to hack him up. I can't just go out a get a new one if I balls it up. I've recently finished reading "Battle for the Abyss". This book is really what inspired me, more than anything else to collect the crew of a single ship. "Battle for the Abyss" features the Armsmen, the chaps responsible for maintaining discipline and security among the crew. I'm thinking perhaps the Imperial Enforcer could be the basis for the Captain of the Euripedes' Armsmen. I've got a rough idea for a simple head swap, but the difficult part will be working out how to make some Armsmen for him to lead.



Thanks for reading.

lovely conversions...
the sallet helm looks perfect on the Arbite model...

i don't know if you've seen the report from the Forge World Open Day in the News & Rumors section, but you armsmen are going to be coming up...
have a look at the Solar Auxilia troops...
they look perfect for the job...

keep up the good work...

cheers
jah

Thanks jah-joshua.

Yes, I've seen the Solar Auxilia and I'm totally blown away by them. I think I'll be looking at something else though for my Armsmen simply because I want to use the Solar Auxilia as they are intended.

Three ideas for the Armsmen
* More Arbitrators
*Plastic Stormtroopers
*Scouts

Thanks for all the replies. I'm giving Armsmen some serious thought before I rush into anything.

I go totally distracted from the Quartermaster (he's next on the 'to finish' list, by the arrival of the Astartes and I was compelled to do a paint test. Here's my attempt to do very battered and weathered black armour by not actually painting it black;

Very nice, perfectly achieved the'black without black' look.

The Quartermaster is finished.







For anyone who's interested, background for this character can be found on my blog:

http://deusimp.blogspot.co.uk

These are all wonderful.

Very nicely done!

Just a quick update. Not much time for painting in the last couple of weeks but I did find time to tweak the Quartermaster a little.

I had some feedback about his hands not being so good. Bare hands painted black do not make convincing gloves. So, I managed to sculpt a more glove-like glove and this is the result;

I really like the look of Miletus. He appears professional and rugged like a veteran Legion serf should. Would you mind telling me where his servo skull is from? I love the integrated weapon on it!

Thanks ephrael. The servo skull is from a Forge World tech priest.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Titans/TITAN-TECH-PRIEST.html

Excellent work!

Thanks Paradigm

I’m embarrassed about how long it has been since I posted an update. The truth is that other things kept me away from modelling and painting for a while; I lost all momentum and the muse deserted me. I’ll been 2 months in the hobby doldrums and now I must make an effort to get back.



I have started to make some progress on my cairn wraith conversion. My initial thought with this miniature was that she was going to be one of the ship’s astropaths. However, as I finished working on the conversion I found myself adding more cables and a servo skull and, by pure coincidence I’m sure, was also reading “Mechanicum” by Graham McNeill. Now I’m coming round to the idea that she may be a servant of some Mechanicum Adept who has taken up with the crew of the Euripides. I love how a miniature can evolve as you work on it and how I don’t always know what I’m building.



So having decided on a Mechanicum contingent, I’m thinking of all the weirdness I can make. The Imperial Enforcer who was going to lead the ship’s armsmen may end up being a Mechanicum servant too – perhaps the Adepts factotum or herald?



Something which has troubled me is the thorny issue of scale, or rather the scale of Astartes. We all know that in the background of 30/40k, the Adeptus Astartes are now portrayed as giants; towering slabs of power armour and muscle. The miniatures, sadly, do not convey this. I had hopes to create the illusion of them being towering warriors by elevating them on their bases. It does put their heads above the heads of ordinary men, but I’m still not happy that it works.



Is that man a giant? Oh, wait, no … he’s just standing on a box.

This problem bothered me enormously until I got my hands on Horus Heresy Book 3 – Extermination. This was my eureka moment. Book 3 has rules for Strike Forces … 1 to 3 characters plus up to 350 points of troops, vehicles etc. That’s potentially just a very few models and it means the prospect of creating an art-scale, Heresy period Strike Force is not an impossible dream.

There are several people who have modelled amazing art-scale marines, but I’ve been studying how both Migsula at Legion of Plastic http://legionofplastic.blogspot.co.uk and the Spikey Rats http://spikyratpack.blogspot.co.uk do it. It’s inspiring stuff. I’ve got as far as a simple test using grey knight terminator parts as the base for the marine and I love the height and bulk it gives. Obviously it needs a lot of work, but I’m going to set myself the challenge of making a few art-scale Mk3 Iron Hands.



Thanks for reading, as always.

Loving the cloaked lady. For the scale thing their is another solution use more true scale human models than GW

 Llamahead wrote:
Loving the cloaked lady. For the scale thing their is another solution use more true scale human models than GW

Thanks!

It's true what you say about using smaller humans, but I just adore the new Solar Auxilia models.

I'd suggest checking out my way of doing it, but using Heresy models makes that a little more difficult. It does avoid all the common pitfalls of using terminator bodies though (usually weird waist proportions).

I love the rest of your project though. That quartermaster model is very inspired.

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:
I'd suggest checking out my way of doing it, but using Heresy models makes that a little more difficult. It does avoid all the common pitfalls of using terminator bodies though (usually weird waist proportions).

I love the rest of your project though. That quartermaster model is very inspired.

I've seen your marines before and I do think they are amazing. Your method of extending the legs fixes the problem with standard marine minis of the legs looking too short, and produces a very good and believable marine. I did consider using your method and spent a while pondering how difficult it would be to result the detail on the back of Mk II legs, if I sliced them in half.

After a lot of thought though, I decided that this method just wouldn't give me the sheer bulk I was after. I want my Astartes to look like the Giants they are described as in the Horus Heresy novels. I think using s combination of grey knight terminators and Forgeworld parts is the way to get the look I'm after.

Hmm, try to get your hands on some FW (or maybe even Iron Hands) Terminators to use as a basis for your marines. That way you can more easily recreate the older types of power armour. You might want to check out Apologist's stuff for that, he did some amazing work on his Ultramarines.

The Tartarus terminator legs look great for true-scaling, but the cataphracii pattern looks closer to the mk3, but maybe a little more difficult to pull off... Love to see what you do here

Fantastic work as always, I look forward to seeing more of your solar auxilia

A quick update for Christmas.

@Malika2 and @OneManNoodles, thanks for your advice. Cataphractii legs are indeed excellent and I've started working on an Iron Hand using a pair I just happened to have (I bought them from a bit site last year and up until now, had no idea what to do with them). This is where I'm currently at;



I've lengthened the legs a little to give him extra height. He has exactly the height and bulk I was after.

The Quartermaster is getting a bit of a make over. I've disguised his ruffled, medieval sleeves to better fit in with the dieselpunk look of the Solar Auxilia and I've replaced his sword (which I was never happy with) with an ornate laspistol. He still needs a bit of work to finish his painting.

For my Solar Auxilia, I'm going for a very dark colour scheme. There is nothing cheery about the crew of the Euripides. These are people who think they have lost everything and are determined to fight to the last man to take revenge on the traitors. Gloomy, gothic and mechanical is what I'm aiming for.

Thanks for reading and a Merry Christmas.

Interesting Project! can't wait to see the rest of your Marines. I love the Iron Hands fluff!

He looks so good (size-wise) when compared with the rest. Really well done mate.

Nice work there bro.

My first art-scale marine is now built and ready for some paint.



Since I'm trying to represent the Iron Hands after the death of their primarch, I'm going for a slightly unhinged, brooding look with these marines. This still remains something of an experiment, but if I can pull it off I'm hoping to build a few more later.



You can read more on my blog: http://deusimp.blogspot.co.uk/

Beautiful work.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Beautiful work.

Thanks. Much appreciated

This Iron Hands marine is one of the finest conversions I've ever seen. I love the additional armor plates you've sculpted over the GK torso. The rivets and trim are absolutely perfect in my opinion. Would you mind explaining what bit you used for the back half of the torso? I can't tell if it's a shaved down back half of the GK terminator torso, a regular power armor torso or something else entirely. A picture of the side and back of the torso would be most welcome if you have one. I almost forgot to mention the extra armor plates and rivets over the Cataphractii's pturges, they perfectly tie the torso and legs together.

ephrael wrote:
This Iron Hands marine is one of the finest conversions I've ever seen. I love the additional armor plates you've sculpted over the GK torso. The rivets and trim are absolutely perfect in my opinion. Would you mind explaining what bit you used for the back half of the torso? I can't tell if it's a shaved down back half of the GK terminator torso, a regular power armor torso or something else entirely. A picture of the side and back of the torso would be most welcome if you have one. I almost forgot to mention the extra armor plates and rivets over the Cataphractii's pturges, they perfectly tie the torso and legs together.

Thanks Ephrael. I did use a complete GK terminator torso as the base. The 'hood' part was cut away from the back and I filed down the big rectangular lump at the back. There is still a big rectangular lump there, but it doesn't stick out as far and gave me a nice area to glue the backpack onto. I don't have a picture of the torso under construction, but the back now looks like this;

Woah! Love the size of your art scale miniatures, makes space marines seem like giants which makes me feel all awesome, I can picture being a screwed guardsman before a massive marine clad head to toe in thick plate armour strides over me
Subbed! Keen to see the paintjob~
LDP

Thanks for the fast and informative reply MonkeyBallistic! I tried making a true scale torso from a terminator GK and did exactly the same thing with the back of the torso. I lack the sculpting skills to modify and improve the chest like you have. It's good to know that such beautiful results can be achieved with the proper artisan and putty.

Very impressive. I'm not typically a fan of Tallscaling, but that works very well.

Great stuff. I love all the models, but the marine is especially wonderful. I really feel like GW missed the mark on the marines. I love mine, don't get me wrong, but way back in second when I pretty much switched to orks only, my marine player friend would always talk about how there should be only a handful of marines on the table compared to other armies and they should be big and very powerful(game wise).

But honestly, they wouldn't have sold as many if you couldn't field a large marine force and the game may not have taken off. That being said, I still have my RT marines and man are they small.

Your Iron Hand marine is quite imposing. Great thread.

Beautiful work. I'm adding a comment just so I can keep following this!

I know some people like to see work in progress photos, so here is the Astartes in his current form. All dark and grubby and awaiting ... well pretty much everything.



I've developed a painting style which could best be summed up as, slapping it on and hoping for the best. Like my first attempt at an Iron Hand Astartes, I'm avoiding painting him black. I'd rather suggest black using shades of slate grey. This time I've added some brown in some of the recesses to add interest and warm him up a little. This Iron Hand is going a bit rusty, I think.

A long way still to go to finish him.

He's looking very cool!

I must say that your WIP painting looks great so far. I like the way that you've painted the black armor and the weathering too.

That Iron Hand looks awesome

I'm a bit confused by how you said you painted him though; you mentioned painting him black using shades of grey? Did you start from a dark grey (Eshin grey?) and then added some black to the grey with each layer?

Gorgeous work – a new favourite, I think!

Thanks everyone.

 Ezra Tyrius wrote:
That Iron Hand looks awesome

I'm a bit confused by how you said you painted him though; you mentioned painting him black using shades of grey? Did you start from a dark grey (Eshin grey?) and then added some black to the grey with each layer?

If you take another colour, green for example. One way you can paint a mini is to use a mid tone as your base colour, then use darker shading and lighter highlights to produce a good 3D effect. The danger with black is that if you use a black base, you've nowhere to go with your shading. You can highlight black, but then missing the deep shading can make it look flat.

To get round that, I'm using a base colour of a charcoal grey. Using black ink washes for shading and lighter blue-grey highlights. The effect is more interesting than a black base coat. Iron Hands are meant to have black armour, but I prefer my charcoal grey. Once the armour is weathered it should look like it could once have been black, but is now dirty, chipped and generally battered.

Wow this is some amazing stuff. I am really liking your cairn wraith conversion.

 MonkeyBallistic wrote:
Thanks everyone.

 Ezra Tyrius wrote:
That Iron Hand looks awesome

I'm a bit confused by how you said you painted him though; you mentioned painting him black using shades of grey? Did you start from a dark grey (Eshin grey?) and then added some black to the grey with each layer?

If you take another colour, green for example. One way you can paint a mini is to use a mid tone as your base colour, then use darker shading and lighter highlights to produce a good 3D effect. The danger with black is that if you use a black base, you've nowhere to go with your shading. You can highlight black, but then missing the deep shading can make it look flat.

To get round that, I'm using a base colour of a charcoal grey. Using black ink washes for shading and lighter blue-grey highlights. The effect is more interesting than a black base coat. Iron Hands are meant to have black armour, but I prefer my charcoal grey. Once the armour is weathered it should look like it could once have been black, but is now dirty, chipped and generally battered.

So you paint all the armour charcoal grey first, and then work with dark washes for the shades and lighter greys for highlighting (but still starting from a black primer)? Or is the primer itself charcoal grey?

Sorry if these questions are a bit silly, my painting skills and knowledge are questionable at best

No, not a silly question at all Ezra. I use a black undercoat and brush the charcoal grey over that. The whole mini was then given a wash of agrax earthshade. I've worked a dark rusty brown into some if the recessed areas and joints and the next step will be to shade with black ink and highlight in lighter greys. So far, only the mini's right shin plate is close to completion, but that will give you an idea of the look I'm aiming for.

 MonkeyBallistic wrote:
No, not a silly question at all Ezra. I use a black undercoat and brush the charcoal grey over that. The whole mini was then given a wash of agrax earthshade. I've worked a dark rusty brown into some if the recessed areas and joints and the next step will be to shade with black ink and highlight in lighter greys. So far, only the mini's right shin plate is close to completion, but that will give you an idea of the look I'm aiming for.

Hm that is interesting, and kinda the same path I will be taking for my 30k dusk raiders. Glad to see that it works

Aaah, now I understand Thank you for the explanation, it's always good to gather some new painting tips!

Because as you all know.... knowledge is power.


I mean, uhm, THE FLESH IS WEAK!

*sound of several, totally-not Blood Ravens escaping the armoury with valuable Iron Hands relics*

I freely admit that I have a problem when it comes to sticking at a task. I'm just too easily distracted. So, I broke off from working on my art scale Astartes to finish painting my first Solar Auxilia.



I bought these chaps on a whim because I loved the sculpts so much, I'm not trying to build an army here, so it may take me a very long time to get round to painting all twenty of them. However, they may also turn out to be a nice change of pace whenever I want to take a short break from converting. It could be good to just have a few miniatures which I build straight out of the box, as it were.

Excellent stuff as ever! Your blacks and metallics are fantastic!

Great stuff really grim feel

This is a busy time at work and I'm not getting as much hobby time as I'd like. My first Astartes is coming along though. I'm going to try a big push this weekend to get him finished.



As always though, a big reason he's taking time to complete is my total inability to stick to one job at a time. Lately I've been distracted by this;



... and this;







More details on my blog http://deusimp.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks for reading.

Love those builds MB. What are they? Inquisitional retinue?

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Love those builds MB. What are they? Inquisitional retinue?

Thanks Gitsplitta. No Inquisitors here though, my current stuff is set during the Horus Heresy.

He's finished and I'm very happy with how he turned out. I'd love to be able to say that's the first of many, but more likely he'll be the first of a few.





And because size does matter, here's a couple of scale shots.

Hes a big fella. Looks really good too!

Very, very nice! That is art!

Good on so many levels!

Thanks chaps. Your comments are always appreciated.

It's been too long since I posted anything. This is the busiest time of year for me at work and a bout of the flu completely rendered me incapable of even thinking about miniatures for several weeks. Things are better now and I've dived into hobbies again and found the time to finish a mini I started a very long time ago. Jaysha Kree is the personal astropath to the leader of the Mechanicum contingent aboard the Euripides;







Thanks for looking.

Beautiful.

Why is that kit so fethin versatile

10 out of 10 would 10 again.

Nice use of bits, the astropath looks spot on.

Love the upsized Iron Hands, they look amazing. Proper smashy!

Thanks guys. Greatly appreciated.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I should maybe mention that I've been experimenting with how I photograph my miniatures. For the first time I'm actually happy with the results;



The credit should go to the chaps at Iron Sleet. Their tutorial on taking photos with i-devices is just brilliant.

http://ironsleet.com/2015/03/14/photographing-miniatures-with-idevice-the-definitive-guide/

Those look awesome

Thanks Llamahead.

A couple of people have said to me that they can't tell how big the Iron Hand is, so I quickly put together a standard plastic marine to give it some context.



Iron Hand number 2 is on its way. He's still at a very rough concept stage, held together with blutack.

Love that size comparison. #2 is looking fantastic as well.

Fantastic.

Specifically like the copper wear layer that is showing on the shield.

Looks great so far! I like how the hunched minion still has a porcelain-like visage. It's bizarrely pristine.

The models are wonderful, but IMO, the new marine holds his pistol like a thug, which looks rather silly.

Ah but if you google the Swat type people who use these shields a lot that is how they hold their pistols. admittedly for different reasons (to do with being able to aim through the window) but it made me think "mmm this guy has done his research"

All of these models are fantastic, but the two Iron Hands are some of the best artscale marines I've ever seen. Love the rusted, worn paintjob on the armor too. Can't wait to see what you do with the Sydonian Sister and the murder servitor.

My second Iron Hand Astartes (I do prefer 'Astartes' to 'space marine') is under way. Today I managed to do some work on the legs and torso. The torso is actually finished unless I think of some detail to add. The legs have been extended and just need the armour plates adding between the legs to cover the pteruges.



I've also built a second Murder Servitor. I'm getting a bit Mechanicum obsessed (well, isn't everyone these days?) and I'm playing around with various ideas. Still very much in the thinking stage though.

 Edreynaline wrote:
Ah but if you google the Swat type people who use these shields a lot that is how they hold their pistols. admittedly for different reasons (to do with being able to aim through the window) but it made me think "mmm this guy has done his research"

Bingo

Thanks guys. I've had very mixed reviews on the positioning of that Iron Hand's pistol, but mostly negative. I'm thinking I'll probably go with a more traditional grip, but thanks for the input.

I like it the way it is. Makes him look like the bionic ally enhanced transhumance super trooper (read 40K Gangsta ) that he's suppossed to be. He can hold his pistol any way he darn well pleases because the bionic link he has to his sight doesn't require it to be held right side up, and his wrist is strong enough to take whatever recoil is created.

Built Iron Hand 2 today. I decided not to go with the controversial sideways pistol grip.





I'll probably set him aside now and paint up the servitors next.

This is epic truly epic. i cannot wait to see more even if it is only a few more. Great work

Very formidable... must be shooting at gretchin!

I think I may have th rebuild my Iron Warriors in this manner - this just looks too damned good! XD How do you do your rivets?

From the conversions to the painting I'm blown away!

Thank you everyone. Your comments and kind words are greatly appreciated.

 Kepora wrote:
I think I may have th rebuild my Iron Warriors in this manner - this just looks too damned good! XD How do you do your rivets?

The rivets are done using the small beads from a cheap water filter refill. It's an old technique. I'm sure if you google ( or bing) water filter rivets you'll quite easily find a tutorial or two. However, basically a lot of water filters contain these tiny ceramic beads. With a bit of care and a good pair of tweezers, they can be either squashed into greenstuff, or in the case of plasticard, glued into pre-drilled recesses.

Ahhh, alright! I've always meant to try that, but never got around to it....

I must confess that, when I began the ‘Euripides’ project, I had only the vaguest of ideas of what I wanted to do. I certainly had no definite end product in mind. I knew I wanted to explore the Age of Darkness. I also knew that the idea of a rag-tag group of shattered survivors appealed more to me that the full glory of an Astartes Legion in all its strength. Like everyone who starts a project without a plan, I suffered false starts and dead ends, but recently I have begun to feel shapes, structure and themes emerging organically from the chaos.

My last finished model, the Astropath Jaysha Kree, now feels like a turning point. She is a miniature that grew and evolved and took on a life of her own. It almost feels like I built her and then worked out what she is. I fear now I may have been slightly wrong in saying she is of the Mechanicum. Time to rewrite history, or at least tinker with it.

In the last few days, I built a new miniature and again, I’ve had to work out what it is I have built. The answer feels like for the first time, I know what I’m doing.

This is Duke Ko, the Herald of Myleth.

The Knight World Orasto was discovered late in the Great Crusade. A Mechanicum Explorator fleet made first contact and were welcomed as long lost brothers. Orasto had been isolated so long that they were surprised to learn that other humans existed. When these new machine-men were able to repair ancient, long dormant knights, surprise turned to delight. Treaties were signed, oaths sworn and the Mechanicum established an embassy in Orasto’s chief city.

Now, a mere twenty five years later, the Knights of Orasto find themselves caught up in the wars of the Age of Darkness. Their loyalty is to the Omnissiah and they eagerly joined the forces who combat the Traitor. Given the short time that the Mechanicum has been on Orasto, the Knight Houses still enjoy a large degree of independence. Unlike other Mechanicum aligned houses, which have become virtual thralls to their Forge Worlds, the men and women of Orasto regard the Mechanicum as allies and brothers in arms rather than overlords.

The Euripides found a small group of battered and bloodied Orastian Knights, survivors of a massacre, and rescued them to fight another day. Their leader is Yol Myleth and Duke Ko is his herald. Proudly displaying the colours of his house (now incorporating the symbol of their Mechanicum allies), Duke Ko announces his leader, reciting the litanies of blessing, the lineage of his house and the deeds of notable ancestors: all of this amplified through the speaker of the cyberskull which never leaves his side.

Right now ideas are coming thick and fast of things to build. I feel like I have to get them started, so painting might be put on hold for a while as I concentrate on forming plastic and resin into interesting shapes. I’m really quite excited.

Fantastic conversion! Can't wait to see paint on him!

I just love that pose. Wow.

Duke Ko looks fantastic, really nice pose and the head fits great!

Just a quick update. It's been a long time, but I've not been completely idle.



I've started to paint my second art-scale marine, being very careful to make sure he matches the style of the first. Duke Ko has also had a touch of paint. Still early days with him, but I'll get there.

Love the way the new additions are coming along. The colors on the marines are just so nice.

Splendid work!

Brilliant does this mean your doing a knight?

 Llamahead wrote:
Brilliant does this mean your doing a knight?

At some point yes, I'm working up to it. I doubt it'll be the first thing I do though. I'd rather spend some time working on the members of the Household first.

Superb stuff, keep going good sir !

I seem to have a problem actually finishing miniatures at the moment. Very good at starting new ones, but not very good at finishing ones I've started.









This mini was something of a test. He's one of the foot soldiers of my Knight Household. Converted from a Solar Auxilia rifleman, I wanted to create a fusion of the deiselpunk style of the Solar Auxilia and the gothic design of Imperial Knights. I'm very happy with the way he's worked out so I'll be making some more to create a small squad.

Very nice indeed!

Nice convertion ! And good call starting him before finishing the rest, never let a good idea go to waste. Now that he is started, you don't have a choice and must finish him as well ^^ !

It's been far too long since I posted anything on here and it's high time I got this thread back up to date. After the last post I made here, I was invited to an Inquisitor event at Warhammer World. It was fantastic to be invited and a joy to take part, but it led to weeks of frenetic building, painting and mild panic to get a decent warband together - hence my neglect of this thread.

So, first up is a companion to my Household Armsman. Ultimately I'd like to have a small squad of these chaps, but they're not a quick and easy conversion and the squad will grow slowly.









I also finally finished Duke Ko. This mini had been sitting half painted on my desk for far too long.



To round off the warband, I continued in the same vein and completed another mini that I'd actually started months ago. This tech-assassin was inspired by the assassin in the Horus Heresy novel 'Mechanicum'.







... and the final warband for the event;



The chap at the back, with the gold breastplate was a hastily kitbashed mini to make up the numbers. We don't talk about him .. shhhh!

Beautiful warband, really embodies what makes 40k cool

Hopefully the event was a smash? And if it hasn't happened, here's to it going smashingly? Recap if you got 'em? I miss 28mm INQ, great times.

- Salvage

Brilliant update full of brilliant models. Plussing the event going smashingly !

Those are sick, in a very positive way!

Beautiful work... very inspiring.

The duke and armsmen are just perfect!

Any pics of the WHW event?

Thanks all! The event was great fun, but sadly I was so involved in the games I totally forgot to take any pictures.

Moving on ... latest work in progress is a swordmaster for the Knight Household.

That is one badass dude, especially liking that prosthetic hand, a bad memory from a duel fought long ago ? Very nice touch anyway.

Brilliant work, can't believe I missed this thread.

How to did you achieve that bluish look on the Iron Hands. It came out beautiful!

Looks fantastic MB! Excellent pose & build.

Beautiful stuff.