I've taken a long break from doing actual physical hobby work with about a year's worth of pure house rules on my blog is testament to that. While I'm not keen on the way the Primaris marines were introduced in the background, I rather do like the basic Intercessor figs themselves. I've made numerous truescale attempts here in the past from deathwatch to space wolves to even primarchs so it didn't come as a suprise to me that I liked the IMO better proportioned primaris models. At first I thought of restarting my old Space Wolf truescale project with the new primaris models but there are folks that I've found that are doing that much better than I'd ever be able to (like this and this). Additionally, I wanted to try something new as well which only cemented my decision. Instead, I decided to revisit an idea that I ten years ago regarding making a custom chapter of Winged Hussar space marines. Winged Hussars were a Renaissance era heavy cavalry unit for the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth named after the prominent feathers attached to frames on their back. They wore suits of plate armor and were equipped with lances and sabres.
When I came up with the idea years ago, the only readily available bits in 28mm 40k scale were the Dark Angel Ravenwing bits which were too large for infantry figures (but were a good size for the 54mm Inquisitor Artemis figure that was also a brief resurrection of the idea for me a few years ago). Since then, 3rd party bits makers like Maxmini and Puppetswar have produced compatible "wings" and other accessories (especially Puppetwar as they're based in Poland) but they were a bit too scifi for the asthetic I was going for. Recently, I found some smaller scale historical kits from European manufactures that might fit better both asthetically and sizewise. I picked up two of the sword wielding Primaris Lieutenants with the goal of making a Winged Hussar character. Working from that basic figure, I swapped out the power sword for a custom built sabre made from a heat curved Grey Knight sword with an old chainsword pommel. Additionally, I trimmed down a small tabard and added it to the figure. Regarding the actual wings, the Zvezda kit that I got comes with two types, one straight and one curved. I blu-tac test fitted both as picture below as I'm not sure which one I'll choose (although I'm leaning towards the straight variety).
The plastic on the wings is definitely different that GW style polystyrene as it is glossy and more brittle and reminds me a bit more of the Robotech RPG Tactics plastic. I'm test fitting some of the sprue bits with my Testors plastic glue to make sure them work. Some other (expensive for one fig!) ideas I'm thinking about is getting some of the Puppetwars Hussar sabres and Cossack heads to give the model even more of a customized look.
They do have hussar specific helmets but I'm not sure of the size and not frankly particular to their look either. Thanks for reading and if anyone has any comments or advice then feel free to share.
Thanks! And I haven't decided yet although that would be a perfect choice for Cossack themed marines. White Scars are still an obvious contender but Polish knights (albeit the ones prior to the Hussars) fought against the mongol hordes that the White Scars are patterned after. That said... with Poland being at the crossroads of so many invasions... lots of things were borrowed from neighboring forces that contributed to the overall unique look. You have Turkish, Russian, and European influences mixed together. The traditional feudal European arrangement of the Hussars (nobility who provided their own equipment and came when the king called) puts them a bit closer to Knights than steppe hordes which opens up other possibilities like Templars or even Dark Angels (and ravenwing). At the moment, this is only a small modelling project and not a full army and probably at most will only have a single bike if any so the bike theme isn't a must.
very neat. the only thing that i am not sure of personally is that since the wings(?) are attached to the backpack they are pushed awfully far back. it kind of throws the model balance off.
unfortunately i dont see an alternative other than removing the backpack and i dont think that is really an option.
I agree with usernamesareannoying. You may want to see if there's a more imaginative, better balanced way of attaching the wings to the back that accommodates the pack more naturally.
It's a good point and something that I noticed on with the 54mm Inquisitor figure I tested out a few years before this. In that case, I was able to use the Dark Angel Ravenwing bits and test attach them in the gap between the backpack and the model. Given the sizes here, just pushing them in the top isn't an option and they're mounted as close as possible pressed up to the exhaust nozzles from the back.
What I might try is to cut off the exhaust nozels on a normal back pack (I only have two of the primaris kind) and put the wings a bit closer to the torso with the exhausts trimmed down a bit and glued back coming "through" the feathers. I'm not a good or even passable sculptor as my skills are limited to gap filling (both flat and out of the way crevice wolf pelt, lol) so I won't be sculpting the feathers organically flowing around it but rather just straight through.
Thanks! Hopefully this project consisting only of a single model at the moment won't be too boring with these micro updates, lol. One thing I forgot to mention above regarding precinct's and username's comment about model balance is that the model wasn't just seemingly but also *literally* was unbalanced and you can see it in the pics; I had to attach the foot of the model to the photo stand with some blutac in order to keep him from falling over.
I tried cutting off the exhaust nozzles on an old space marine backpack and test fitting the wings directly to the side sandwiched between the pack and the nozzle but it frankly looked horrible and wasn't even worth going upstairs to get the camera. I then though about revisiting the old idea that I came up with for my 54mm Artemis model of jamming it in between the pack and the torso. The curved wing had an odd number of wings in the kit I bought so I sacrificed the odd man out by clipping the bottom quarter of feathers and thinning out the frame they were attached to. Since I only have the one piece that I was willing at the moment to carve up, I took two pics with the same wing in both positions and then digitally combined them in MSPaint (no Photoshop in this budget build!). I definitely prefer this to the back mounting at least for the curved wings.
Thanks for the positive feedback. In the weeks since, I picked up the other more practical Primaris Lieutenant off of ebay and set about converting him as well in a similar fashion. The wings plastic didn't respond at all to Testors plastic glue (don't have any of the stronger MEK glue that I've heard is more popular in Europe) so used superglue instead. The taller, straighter wings fit better physically on the first lieutenant so I switched those to him.
I'm wasn't particularly happy with the sabres so I ordered some charnabal sabres from the Forgeworld Mk IV power weapon set from a bits seller. They're in the second row in the picture below.
It's hard to find actual full sized pictures of them in use unfortunately as it seems like every one of the images I found were on photobucket and subject to their recent 3rd party hosting terms of service change. Here's a link to a thumbnail gallery though with the swords used on some HH Sons of Horus figs.
I'm waiting obviously until I get them but I expect to change out my existing converted sabre on the original Lt and the bolt pistol on the new Lt to the forgeworld sabres. That was always the plan for the second figure but in the time since my first post the codex came out and the primaris options for Lts are unfortunately and unexpectedly (at least for me) quite limited. I may have to use them as normal Lts but in that case I'd have to add a boltrifle to the original fig. I'm hoping that the shoulder slung rifle from the upcoming multipart plastic kit will do the job nicely for me but in the meantime I blutac'ed some temporary bits just to see overall how it would look.
Initially I was worried that it might seem too crowded on that side but (at least with the smaller deathwatch bolter I tested) that doesn't seem IMO to be the case. I initially planned for this to be a small modelling project but with the hopes that it would also at some point be a tiny ally force that I could play as well alongside another army. With the breakup and limited customizability of the new primaris squads and models, I'm not sure what to do. My initial idea of possibly running a command squad has now turned into an Lt, a champion, an ancient and then either two honor guard or company veterans depending on the loadout I choose which really messed up the idea of using the smaller detachment that I had planned on using from looking at various online reviews.
edit: from looking at the pics close up, I've definitely got some mold line removal to do that I missed initially!
Thanks to you both. I have to admit that I was surprised that I couldn't find anyone who attempted a Winged Hussar/Lancer marine force online when researching this recently. There have been a few folks that I found that attached the ravenwing bike "wing" to a few figs but nothing more expansive than that. Perhaps it's my Polish bias (since that's my heritage) but with all the folks out there and especially all the 3rd party bits makers and painters in Poland specifically I would have thought someone more talented than me would have nailed it long ago.
In any case, I'm waiting for my bits order to arrive from a European seller so I can test out my charnabal sabres. I'm not sure yet but in the I may additionally pick up either a easy build set to make the honor guard lancers (counts as axes) or the primaris ancient.
The bits arrived from Europe alot quicker then I expected and I did my best impersonation of an Iron Hand apothecary tonight with some amputations. I personally like the sharper, thinner look to the weapons as I think they look definitely less kitbashy and more like the sabres that inspired them. I had to admit though that they are extremely thin resin pieces so both models should definitely be labeled as fragile/handle with care. I already had to reglue last night a wing just holding a bit too tight while removing the previous mould lines.
I'm taking my time with this to not make any rash decisions in modeling (something that happened in my previous truescale attempt as I rapidly went from step to step in the same night) but I have to admit I'm still second guessing myself a bit. I chose the curved wings for the more serious Lt because their shape was sturdier on that model and vice versa but I think I prefer the wings the other way around. Also, I'm considering adding on a Rondel (or Besagew) to each axilla of the champion Lt (the other model won't accommodate them due to the shape). I had to look up the name but they're the circular discs that protect the vulnerable armpit in plate armor.
Looking great, I'm hoping any future bikers have lances?
Lol, I wasn't aware of the YouTube meme until I started doing research for this project. It's a catchy song though! Thanks. I'm not sure yet on the lances. My initial thought was to do the above mentioned honor guard with GK halberds (counts as a power lance in the rules) but they don't have bike or jump pack options. An alternative was to do them as jump pack lancers via the Sanguinary Guard with axe rules but that would lock me into Blood Angels when I'm still undecided on their primarch. Luckily for me, the bits seller I want to use for the landed is out of stock on other items I need so I have a bit of time yet. My default though is to add an ancient and two honor guard lancers to make it a battleforged tiny detachment.
Just jumped on this thread, and am intrigued to see how it will end up. My 2 cents on the sabres, the converted one you made are my favorite as they look like a power weapon while the others seem a bit small for the model. All your work on the wings has paid off they look like they are part of the model and fit the aesthetic of the Hussars.
Any idea what paint scheme you will be using?
Looking great, I'm hoping any future bikers have lances?
Lol, I wasn't aware of the YouTube meme until I started doing research for this project. It's a catchy song though! Thanks. I'm not sure yet on the lances. My initial thought was to do the above mentioned honor guard with GK halberds (counts as a power lance in the rules) but they don't have bike or jump pack options. An alternative was to do them as jump pack lancers via the Sanguinary Guard with axe rules but that would lock me into Blood Angels when I'm still undecided on their primarch. Luckily for me, the bits seller I want to use for the landed is out of stock on other items I need so I have a bit of time yet. My default though is to add an ancient and two honor guard lancers to make it a battleforged tiny detachment.
Chalk up one vote for Sang Guard winged jump-pack Lancers. Sounds like an awesome idea
No reason that would tie them into Blood Angels fluff-wise. You could just use the rules to represent models that are White Scars or something (although attributing a Slavic culture as close to Mongolian is probably a textbook example of lack of knowledge about eastern europe). The idea's sound though all rules are is numbers. Use them to represent whatever you like
Yorkright wrote: Just jumped on this thread, and am intrigued to see how it will end up. My 2 cents on the sabres, the converted one you made are my favorite as they look like a power weapon while the others seem a bit small for the model. All your work on the wings has paid off they look like they are part of the model and fit the aesthetic of the Hussars.
Any idea what paint scheme you will be using?
Subbed!
Thanks. You have a keen eye regarding the swords! The charnabal blade from what I've read isn't technically a power sword in the Horus Heresy rules but rather a grimdark katana-esque blade that grants an initiative bonus and the old rending (ignores armor on a 6 to wound) rule instead.
For my purposes though in potentially a 40k environment, it'll count as a power weapon. I had thought about adding the little wires with the bulbous tip to the sabre's blade I'm not sure I have the skill or parts to do it.
As for the paint scheme, I do have it mostly worked out unlike the chapter markings/decals. The chapter paint scheme will be based on the actual Hussar's colors with a base color of silver with gold embellishments for details. The joints and other exposed underarmor will be a darker iron/gunmetal similar to the darker color of the chainmail under the plate armor in the first picture of actual Hussar armor. The shoulder pads and knees where decals will go will be either red or white as will the short tabard while the various pouches and holsters will be brown. I had thought about doing the shins in brown as well to simulate the boots hussars wore but I think that would be too much and ruin the armor's effect. The feathers on the wings will obviously be white although I'm not sure if I'll make the aquilla on the chest in white to go with the wings or gold to go with the other armor embellisments (I'll leaning towards gold though). The end result will likely resemble grey knights significantly.
Decals are still completely up in the air. My initial thought was to use historical WW2 Polish 1st Armoured Hussars Tank division logo as the chapter marking
Spoiler:
which convienently has decals made in both 1/72 and 15mm by Plastic Soldier Company. The problem is that I'm not sure which ones would actually fit on a space marine shoulder pad and my multiple attempts to contact the company (email, facebook post and private message) have been completely ignored. Alternately, I was thinking about using the ravenwing symbol as a base instead.
Spoiler:
The benefits to using the ravenwing markings is that I know they'll fit and I've got a bunch already so they're free as well. I would just with a paint brush change the sword to a sabre instead. I've got some other markings including a polish eagle and the cross hatched red and white Polish air force symbol that I was going to use for squad/company/campaign markings as well.
Chalk up one vote for Sang Guard winged jump-pack Lancers. Sounds like an awesome idea
No reason that would tie them into Blood Angels fluff-wise. You could just use the rules to represent models that are White Scars or something (although attributing a Slavic culture as close to Mongolian is probably a textbook example of lack of knowledge about eastern europe). The idea's sound though all rules are is numbers. Use them to represent whatever you like
Thanks for the upvote. I'm still not sure how far I want to go down the bike specialization rabbit hole with them as cavalry as opposed to renaissance knights and am hesitant to lock it in as I want to make sure I can model things the way that looks the best (at least within the limits of my own ability that is!). Without seeing the rules for both Dark Angels and Blood Angels and comparing them to vanilla marines, it's hard to see what will be possible. I'd never have suspected that GW would limit character customization as much as they did with the Space Marine codex so I'm not taking anything for granted whereas Blood Angels don't have normal honor guard which locks you into jump packers via Sanguinary Guard. For now, I'll be making these two test models which already run into rules issues (neither my Lt models will be legal as primaris LTs).
I agree on the White Scars not being an autochoice thematically either. I think they'd be a good fit for a russian steppe Cossack themed force though but it's a bit of a historical disconnect to use clearly mongolian themed rules for polish knights when the poles were key in keeping the mongolians out of Europe in the first place, lol. That granted predated the hussars by several hundred years though and the hussars instead were instrumental in keeping the ottomans out instead. In any case, because of the cross roads and clashes in central and eastern Europe, many slavic armies incorporated styles from both the east and west. The structure of Winged Hussars were clearly based in western european knightly orders but incorporated middle eastern and steppe influences asthetically (the sabres being an obvious example).
The project is really piquing my interest now. I'm not sure if I'd call the White Scars rules "clearly Mongolian themed" though. The fluff by all means, but the actual rules themselves are pretty much simple game rules for elite mounted troops rather than something that makes you look at them and think "Ah yes, the Golden Horde!"
The Ravenwing transfers over the top of the Polish quartered design would look good, except that (obviously) the transfers are white. I think incorporating the quartering in some way would look great, though.
Azazelx wrote: The project is really piquing my interest now. I'm not sure if I'd call the White Scars rules "clearly Mongolian themed" though. The fluff by all means, but the actual rules themselves are pretty much simple game rules for elite mounted troops rather than something that makes you look at them and think "Ah yes, the Golden Horde!"
The Ravenwing transfers over the top of the Polish quartered design would look good, except that (obviously) the transfers are white. I think incorporating the quartering in some way would look great, though.
Yeah, I see your point in that I was conflating their background somewhat with the rules. Their rules for me are pretty spot on for specifically raiding light cavalry as opposed to heavy cavalry for which the Ravenwing rules I think overall fit better (although the background may be slipping in that determination again). I don't plan on using a quartered paint scheme although I'm not sure if that is what you're referring to. I have a set of troublesome to work with Polish airforce decals though that I hope to incorporate as a squad or campaign badge.
Additionally, I hope to sort of quarter (if you can call it that) the pennants that I'll be attaching to the power lances on the honor similar to those shown on the left in this pic
Initially, I had thought to use the polish white eagle more prominently but I'm slowly starting to think that it's a bit too much on the nose and might also conflict a bit with the inevitable aquilla you find on marines. As for my models, I'm still waiting on a bits seller to get more primaris models in stock (I want to order from one place and only one dealer has the particular armor bit I need... don't want to pay $4 in shipping for $1-2 in bits). In the meantime, I primed the model with the autoboltgun since he won't be using any of the bits and am finding out just how many of my paints have dried up in the past two years from disuse.
Again, I'm sorry for the slow drip fed pace on the blog but I'm still treading slowly in order to not screw up on relatively costly models ($50 so far for all the variant kits, bits, and decals for two models so far although I'll be able to use them for more).
Automatically Appended Next Post: Some days you just can't win... the models I've been waiting on for a week came in stock today.. and late last night the half dozen copies of the unique bits that no one has bought any of in several weeks all got bought by the same guy and are now out of stock... ughh...
I guess just have a good look at the rules forgetting the background entirely and then go with the ones that you feel fit your force best. I didn't mean a quartered scheme - I did mean the specific design that you've added in there as a shoulder pad design, hence the Ravenwing decal being difficult to pull off over the top of it. Unless you replaced the white in the quartered design with a cream or bone or something.
You could always use the White Eagle as the chapter's own take on the Aquila. That's what I'd do myself if I were doing a Polish-themed force.
Azazelx wrote: I guess just have a good look at the rules forgetting the background entirely and then go with the ones that you feel fit your force best. I didn't mean a quartered scheme - I did mean the specific design that you've added in there as a shoulder pad design, hence the Ravenwing decal being difficult to pull off over the top of it. Unless you replaced the white in the quartered design with a cream or bone or something.
You could always use the White Eagle as the chapter's own take on the Aquila. That's what I'd do myself if I were doing a Polish-themed force.
That would be a great idea!... but way beyond my gap filling and simple geometric shape sculpting capability. I'll probably just do the white ravenwing decal over a red background instead as the chapter symbol (or test out the opposite if I find any red ravenwing symbols in my collection to see what works best). I'll use my small quartered decals on the knee pad as a company or squad marking though (also over a red or white background to match the shoulder pads).
I lucked out in that I contacted the bits seller and he had a few extra of the rondel bits I needed in backstock so got them along with the rest of my order yesterday and did some hobby work finally. Yay! I was able to cut off the Blood Angel specific bits and I think they fit sizewise well over the axillae. Since this model will likely be a champion, I added on a relic bolter along with a 1mm craft jewelry chain as a shoulder strap. I'm curious to know if anyone thinks the model looks a bit too busy with all that added on. Finally, I did end up switching the wings on my two test models and definitely prefer this combo even if they're slightly less durable overall. I primed the earlier model already and, at least on that model, my reglues don't look too bad (I tried scraping off any residue) nor does my gap filling attempt with the putty look too bad once painted over.
Next up I'll finally be painting the first model as well as test fitting parts to my two lance armed honor guard models.
So far so good, the champion doesnt look too busy at all. Most leaders would have some bling going on to separate them from line troops. The sabres are growing on me also, can't wait to see some paint on them.
I was hoping you'd come around on the sabres! Hopefully the first test paint job won't turn you off. I've historically been a competent tabletop quality painter and don't have the skill nor the patience to learn the advanced techniques necessary to get to that next tier. In any case, here is the first test model painted up (but not based):
I ended up going with the polish eagle on the tabard as it didn't look like it clashed too much with the aquilla in the end. Additionally, I felt the model needed a bit of white in the center as well. I used decal solvent on most of the decals to mixed results. It worked well enough along with two relief cuts on the shoulder pads although the ravenwing icon kinked a bit on one side (of course facing the front of the model... and I didn't notice it until I was changing the sword on the decal to a sabre!). The solvent practically disolved the first eagle I put on the tabard literally in front of my eyes to a splotchy dull off white so I had to rinse that one off in pieces; I suppose FOW decals aren't compatible with testors decal solvent although GW ones are. The air force symbol wouldn't fit properly on the knee cap and was too small to put relief cuts into so I put it diagonally as a diamond instead of the historical square.
I don't expect to change the overall scheme much on the second model although I think I will change the order of painting operations significantly the second time around. Washing and highlighting the base armor was a PITA after the rest of the models was done so I think I'll do all the steps involved in the silver/chainmail armor itself (base coat, lighter top coat, two washes, cleanup and occasional edge highlighting) before I touch the rest of the parts/colors. Decalwise, I might switch to the slightly larger sized ravenwing decal for the chapter symbol as there is alot of blank red space on that side as well.
Keeping in mind my slightly better than tabletop quality skill level, I'd love to hear other possible tips that I could use.
Sweet! I'm really liking the scheme that you've picked. Definitely suits them and the background.
What sort of basing were you thinking?
One dead simple technique that I've recently discovered lifts a model to the next level with minimal effort/new skills is simple weathering.
Sponge-weathering I haven't tried yet, but simply doing a rough light drybrush of Rhinox Hide upwards over exposed edges you think would get dirty (like boots, the bottom of the leg armour and the lower edge of cloth tabards and such).
To a point it's the rougher the better, so it's not a very intensive technique to pick up
Seeing the finished models I now wholeheartedly like the sabres! Your choice of colors are spot on and your painting skills are more than fine, would enjoy setting across the table with an army painted to this level.
Can't wait to see a squad painted up to this level and what about that base? Can you give us a clue what your plans are?
Ynneadwraith wrote: Sweet! I'm really liking the scheme that you've picked. Definitely suits them and the background.
What sort of basing were you thinking?
One dead simple technique that I've recently discovered lifts a model to the next level with minimal effort/new skills is simple weathering.
Sponge-weathering I haven't tried yet, but simply doing a rough light drybrush of Rhinox Hide upwards over exposed edges you think would get dirty (like boots, the bottom of the leg armour and the lower edge of cloth tabards and such).
To a point it's the rougher the better, so it's not a very intensive technique to pick up
Thanks! I'm not sure about the basing as of yet which is why I just temporarily painted it black in the meantime. I haven't ever tried sponge weathering although I used to incorrectly (over)use black wash for some very bad weathering when I started 20 years ago with fantasy figs. I'll consider trying it for these guys (especially if I decide to do a "dirty" mud or soil basing) but I'm a bit hesitant to as I was going for a shiny, clean look. One thing I'll be trying with the next fig is to actually lighten up the metal further by painting directly on the black primer with the silver instead of adding a chainmail/boltgun metal middle step.
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Yorkright wrote: Seeing the finished models I now wholeheartedly like the sabres! Your choice of colors are spot on and your painting skills are more than fine, would enjoy setting across the table with an army painted to this level. Can't wait to see a squad painted up to this level and what about that base? Can you give us a clue what your plans are?
Thanks. Not sure about the basing as posted above. For the next fig, I'll be trying to lighten up the metallic colors by getting rid of the darker middle step. Additionally, I'm considering changing the aquilla on the chest to white feathers instead of gold/brass but keep the aquilla frame metallic (to mimic the back frame/feathers). With the red on the shoulder pads and tabard, it looks to me like the main part of the model could use a little bit of white as well in addition to the wings and that's the part that thematically and physically would fit. The armpit guards on the next model also will be gold so it might be too much of a gold overload on the model. As for the next models, I've got most of the parts I need to convert hopefully two honor guards with powerlances/axes (depending on which honor guard they'll be.. index or codex). I'll try a single wing on each of them instead as they'll have decorative penants on their lances to give them additional flare.
If anyone has any thoughts (especially on the chest aquilla color change to white from gold), feel free to share as I'm still up in the air on that one.
I quite like the layered metal stuff. I've found just doing a flat layer of metallics over primer sort of makes lem look a little flat.
If you want to keep the clean shiny look then perhaps restrict any weathering to the boots and lower legs. Even on clean designs i find it helps tie a model into its base really nicely and adds just a dash of realism, to the point that seeing unweathered/dirtied models looks a little odd to me now, like they're sort of floating above the battlefield or stopping every couple of paces to polish their boots
Ynneadwraith wrote: I quite like the layered metal stuff. I've found just doing a flat layer of metallics over primer sort of makes lem look a little flat.
If you want to keep the clean shiny look then perhaps restrict any weathering to the boots and lower legs. Even on clean designs i find it helps tie a model into its base really nicely and adds just a dash of realism, to the point that seeing unweathered/dirtied models looks a little odd to me now, like they're sort of floating above the battlefield or stopping every couple of paces to polish their boots
It's been a while since I made any progress on this small project for some reasons under my control while others were not. Regardless, I decided to try and finish my second model (along with a final Tau suit) before the end of the year. I decided as mentioned above to try and lighten up the overall look of the model. I decided to change the aquilla on the chest to white to better mesh with the wings (as well as to not overload the center torso with gold due to the gold armpit shields). I also skipped my middle step of a darker metallic on top of the primer by just using the brighter corresponding metallic instead for both base coats and post wash highlights (so silver instead of chainmail and gold instead of brass).
The second pic shows the differences between black primer/chainmail, black primer/chainmail base coat/silver highlights, and black primer/silver base coat and highlights (from R to L). While I like the lighter overall tone (not exactly shown well in flash photography with my camera), I'm not sure about the change of the chest aquilla to white from brass/gold. It does form a nice connecting line from the wings to the chest to the knee but I liked the look of the previous gold aquilla on the armor and how it related back to the sample Hussar armor I posted in the OP for this thread. Let me know if anyone else has any preferences in that regard or other thoughts. Apologies for the multiple edits but I've been trying to get a working animated gif 360 image added.
Thanks! Yeah, I've very noncommital on the aquilla. I might keep it white on this model as an elite/hq leader type and then switch back to the gold for my next two honor guard that I have planned. I also didn't notice until uploading that the blue wash on my powersabre somehow rubbed off for the part closest to the hilt. Weird....
You know, I was just searching for conversions of Death Korps cavalry and a set popped up with the feathered Hussar banners (ironic given the Death Korps' inspiration) and I thought 'I wonder where that kickass Hussar/Primaris conversion's got to'...and lo and behold your thread pops up
I'm liking the new guy. Scheme looks great, although my personal preference is for the darker metal (not that either's any better than the other, I just have a personal penchant for darker metals).
I'm happy with the bone aquila though. Ties it in nicely with the one on his leg (although again, both in brass would look just as good).
That a good plan having 3 varieties makes it seem like it's an intentional variation, and will help to break them up and make them look varied. You could also alternate between light and dark armour so each Marine looks like it's unique.
I'm not sure on the history of Hussars. Did they provide their own equipment (so it would be varied), or was it provided for them?
Ynneadwraith wrote:You know, I was just searching for conversions of Death Korps cavalry and a set popped up with the feathered Hussar banners (ironic given the Death Korps' inspiration) and I thought 'I wonder where that kickass Hussar/Primaris conversion's got to'...and lo and behold your thread pops up
I'm liking the new guy. Scheme looks great, although my personal preference is for the darker metal (not that either's any better than the other, I just have a personal penchant for darker metals).
I'm happy with the bone aquila though. Ties it in nicely with the one on his leg (although again, both in brass would look just as good).
Thanks for the compliments. I'll put you down as a maybe for going back and changing an aquilla.
John Prins wrote:You could do the Aquila in red as well.
I have to admit that I never thought of that. I really like the look of the brass/gold one on the original fig but was afraid of bling overload on the second one due to the circular armpit shields. I'll have to try and see if I can cobble together some sort of comparison with red as that would fit nicelly in between the shoulders and tabard.
Ynneadwraith wrote:
That a good plan having 3 varieties makes it seem like it's an intentional variation, and will help to break them up and make them look varied. You could also alternate between light and dark armour so each Marine looks like it's unique.
I'm not sure on the history of Hussars. Did they provide their own equipment (so it would be varied), or was it provided for them?
While I'm not sure how they'll end up, I do prefer that something as prominent as the chest aquilla should be consistent across the models. YMMV. As for the equipment, my research (mainly online searches and wikipedia) when I started indicated a bit of both. IIRC, the individual Hussars provided their own horse and armor but the king provided the lances.
Hopefully a quickie amateur color swap on the chest aquilla can help visualize the options better.
Yorkright wrote: I think it is a good thing Warboss, with just the red on the "loincloth" your focus is there and not the face or head of the model.
Agreed. You've got a silver model with silver weapons and some gold trim, the eye will be drawn to the big red loincloth (and shoulderpads) more than anything else. Looking at the image of the sample model you did without the helmet, the shoulderpad and loincloth really draw the eye.
Or you could just paint the helmets red. The gold faceplate gets kind of lost in the sea of bright silver anyways. Gold + silver is hard to balance well - IMO Grey Knights benefit from a darker silver/gunmetal for this very reason.
First off, let me say thanks for the advice and back and forth. Normally, I just vacillate alone on this kind of stuff and it's nice to have new varied viewpoints.
John Prins wrote:
Yorkright wrote: I think it is a good thing Warboss, with just the red on the "loincloth" your focus is there and not the face or head of the model.
Agreed. You've got a silver model with silver weapons and some gold trim, the eye will be drawn to the big red loincloth (and shoulderpads) more than anything else. Looking at the image of the sample model you did without the helmet, the shoulderpad and loincloth really draw the eye.
Or you could just paint the helmets red. The gold faceplate gets kind of lost in the sea of bright silver anyways. Gold + silver is hard to balance well - IMO Grey Knights benefit from a darker silver/gunmetal for this very reason.
I don't think that I'd be willing to change the helmet as I wanted that part to stay true to the original historical armor representation that I'm basing it on. Similarly, I'm hesitant to change the aquilla to red in part for that reason (white was different symbolically, see below) and also for consistency with the rest of the potential force (loincloths will be limited to veterans/leadership) but I am slowly coming around to your idea. The extra red on the aquilla does look nice on that model but I'd plan on keeping it gold on the rank and file so I'm a bit torn. My inital idea with the red was to form a "V" between the shoulders and loincloth under the white "V" of the wings and aquilla (a nod to the polish flag similar to the white eagle on the chest/leg and the flag). I agree though that in practice it hasn't turned out as well as I hoped.
Yorkright wrote: I think it is a good thing Warboss, with just the red on the "loincloth" your focus is there and not the face or head of the model.
Thanks for clarifying. I thought maybe you considered it too busy with red up there. Out of curiosity, do you and John think the same of the earlier model? He too had a red loincloth but it doesn't seem to draw the eyes to his crotch in that case. I agree with you both, now that you pointed it out, that I can't stop looking down there initially. I don't know if it's the pose or the white aquilla that made the change or if it's just me.
Here's a couple more digital "what ifs" that I cooked up before I start to dangerously strip only part of a model *queue dramatic music*. This should be the last time I ask so I again appreciate the advice. Any preference among these?
Seeing variants of the little shield, gold is best. One thought I had was to keep the aquila in white and paint the gorget red - it might emphasize the shield and helmet's colors better and draw the eye upwards in the same manner. It would also make the shoulders/shield/gorget look like a mantle/cloak, which might be neat.
John Prins wrote: Seeing variants of the little shield, gold is best. One thought I had was to keep the aquila in white and paint the gorget red - it might emphasize the shield and helmet's colors better and draw the eye upwards in the same manner. It would also make the shoulders/shield/gorget look like a mantle/cloak, which might be neat.
That's an interesting idea and definitely one I wouldn't have thought of. It's definitely striking and succeeds IMO of drawing the eyes.
Thanks for the tips! I tried to bright up and differentiate the white a bit as it looked dull after the appropriately named dull coat varnish as well as changed the gorget to red. Over the past week, I've also slowly been working on converting my first power lance armed honor guard. These guys should be a midway point between the standard marines and the more ornate officers. I wanted to keep the tabard for officers (and somehow incorporate a leopard print sash for a future captain) but veterans will still get a single wing on their back. I'm still mulling over the paint job for these as well regarding the aquilla. I'll definitely add the red gorget though to chapter standard paint scheme especially as they'll be missing the red previously on the tabard. I'm not happy with my multiple cut/pin/glue/gap fill job on the Grey Knight power lance when incorporating the pennant but it's hard to tell how it'll look prior to the primer. I basically had to mangle the power lance to get the pennant as well as have it on the left hand. It's a converted two handed spear where I got rid of the second hand (filling the gap) as well as had to cut and reposition the blade's edge at a different angle as well as extend the gap to fit the pennant.
edit: I have primed the honor guard and it doesn't look too bad on the staff after some filing down prior to priming. After seeing the pennant, I'm debating though whether to continue with that model immediately or do a second pose of the same lieutenant I just finished but with a different loadout. I really like the model (it's probably my favorite 40k sculpt since the release of the 3rd edition Space Hulk board game in 2008ish) and I'm curious how a jet pack and lance with pennant variant would look. I have both regular jet packs, original Rogue Trader ones, and a Sanguinary Guard pack to choose from. I wasn't entirely confident how my conversion would go so I actually got two of my favorite pose just in case.
I worked on correcting the ugly gap filling job on the Honor Guard Lancer this weekend along with assembling another primaris Lieutenant model (this time with a jump pack). For the former, I just corrected/filled down the flag wrap around that I did when connecting the pennant to the spear. The latter was a bit more work. With my previous just finished Lt from the same pose, I was worried about how the whole thing would come together when assembling my first two models and didn't want to overdo the Hussar theme. When it turned out well thanks to help here, I was a bit emboldened to try again and go full hussar this time. I decided to try and incoporate armor details that I skipped the first time around like the pennant on a spear (instead of the sabre), the crest on the top of the helmet, and the leopard skin pelt.
The pennant went easily enough with some test fitting as I was using the much less troublesome right arm spear this time around. I temporarily entertained the idea of wrapping the flag around the spear but my troubles with the other model dissuaded me from doing so. For the crest, I tested the method out first on my remaining Ancient head and I think it worked out well in the end. The leopard skin was definitely the biggest issue this time around. While the glue was drying (and redrying as I changed course mid assembly and had to reglue several things), I decided to try out a homemade painted pelt out of a tiny bit of fabric. I'm not sure of the results though and would definitely like some advice about whether adding the fabric to the model would constitute "too much" crap and whether the plastic paw bit I glued on is enough to convey that aspect of the model.
I decided to go with a Sanguinary Guard style Mk IV jump pack as it allowed me to attach the wings much better than a traditional modern jump pack would. I realize the typical go to choice for the model should theoretically be on a bike as it's supposed to be heavy cavalry but I didn't actually have a bike handy and, more importantly, I wanted to keep the rest of the model primaris style intact and wouldn't have been able to do so with cutting the legs off to fit onto a bike.
Just a minor update with an animated gif and group shots of the primed/painted models. I tweaked the new captain model of the Lt character by adding a second skin under the other armpit shield as that side was looking a bit bare along with a few other minor things (like repositioning the model on the base for better balance). I'm hoping to use this model in both poses as my RPG character if I ever restart 40k roleplaying. Next step should be painting!
Feel free! Just for the record, the standard jump pack looked good as well when I test fitted it and made it a bit clearer from the front that the model had the pack but I couldn't fit the hussar wings on with it. The position of the air vents to either side of the head didn't leave me with any room to mount the wings except way down or way back. I just lucked out that I had bought a single sanguinary guard jump pack 5 years ago with a bits order otherwise I'd have to use an old Rogue Trade style turbofan.
Here's a preview of the alternate paint scheme I tested out. I'm still obsessing over the aquilla so tried it out with gold again. I used modern Ultramarines as a basis for a gold aquilla/trim pattern so changed the shoulder pads to match as well. For the tabard, I initially kept the purity seals white but it looked like it would be too white so I changed them to red secondary cloth. I'll have to see if adding the white eagle decal will be enough white to brighten up the torso. It's hard to explain (and maybe I'm imagining it) but visually in person in natural light the gold aquilla looks better but blow up with flash macro focus photography the white aquilla look improves significantly. Maybe someone more experienced in photography could explain that.
For the original model, I added the fur pelt to the left chest after I decided the two pelts on the jump pack model didn't look right. I added a bolter to the jump pack model as well as the side looked empty (and that actually helps by making the model WYSIWIG if I use it as a captain or lieutenant). Additionally, I added the crest to the helm. Both the fur and the crest are minor additions but typical historical hussar embellishements that I was hesitant to do with my initial modelling. Next up, I'll put on the decals and see if I need to change up the tabard seals back to white. I might try now to photoshop that right now to get a preview of how both would look. Advice on the above would be appreciated.
I think the gold aquila looks better. The problem you're having with the photography might be due to the white background messing up the white balance; try it with a green or blue background to see what happens.
John Prins wrote: I think the gold aquila looks better. The problem you're having with the photography might be due to the white background messing up the white balance; try it with a green or blue background to see what happens.
Thanks as I hadn't thought about that. I'll try that with the finished pic with a different background as you suggested. Additionally, I tend to use the dakka gallery's autofix function for pics hosted there and that might be contributing to it as well. The pic below is exactly as taken without any tweaks. Here's my virtual digital paint swap spoilered below; I think I jumped the gun too soon on thinking the purity seals would make the tabard too white along with the decals.
With the extended weekend, I finished my second attempt at this particular primaris (jump) lieutenant. I prefer the gold accents/aquilla moreso than the white as long as there is some white on the torso to balance it all out (like with the purity seals). I won't be repainting the infantry version of him though. I also managed to acquire some old bits on the secondary market that get me one step closer to my initial idea for this project, the 54mm Inquisitor Scale Hussar. Now I just need to acquire a 54mm sabre! It'll probably be a while before I start working on this next model both because of the bits as well as having a space wolf on the way that I'd like to paint up first.
As recommended above, I took some additional pictures with different backgrounds to see if that changed how I view the models side by side. I'm not sure if changing the background affected the visualization of details on one model more than the others although it did reduce the glare somewhat.
Yeah I'm with the gold aquila as well. Balances it nicer when viewed from a distance.
If you're mucking about with digital paint swapping, could we see a version with the white purity seals and no sigil on the main tabard (and a version with red seals and a sigil)?
Not to make your painting even harder, but what about a split red/white tabard with the same cross motif as on his banner?
Either way we're quibbling over details here. They look great!
Ynneadwraith wrote: Yeah I'm with the gold aquila as well. Balances it nicer when viewed from a distance.
If you're mucking about with digital paint swapping, could we see a version with the white purity seals and no sigil on the main tabard (and a version with red seals and a sigil)?
Not to make your painting even harder, but what about a split red/white tabard with the same cross motif as on his banner?
Either way we're quibbling over details here. They look great!
Thanks and sure (at least to the best of my abilities). I didn't think of some of those but I have to admit that the white over red horizontal division and divided knight's cross similar to the pennant looks quite nice. I wouldn't be able to use the decal with it but it's a good alternative IMO. I spoilered the image below as it's quite wide so as not to screw up browser windows accidentally.
Ynneadwraith wrote: Not to toot my own trumpet but I rather like the divided one with the cross
The white purity seals with red tabard and decal also balances the colours out nicely
These are going to be absolutely stunning as a fighting force
Sorry it took so long to reply but I didn't see your post during the project hiatus. I completely agree but it's unfortunate that I can't sculpt or free hand worth a damn and doing that digitally is probably the only way I can accomplish that.
My interest in the 40krpg scene recently had despaired my interest in building some more Winged Hussars. I placed a large bits order and picked up two more models. I had planned on getting a combat squad of multipose intercessors but my local store was out of stock. The cheapest ones online from the bits store was surprisingly the starter box lieutenants ($7 for both) so I got them again. I plan on varying the poses and loadouts significantly as the first one will be a tactical/Intercessor character fig and not a lieutenant. I've got some variant bits like tabards, shoulder pads, arms, and weapons that I'll be testing out with blutac and posting here.
So this weekend I finally properly restarted work on my Winged Hussars Primaris project. As I mentioned before, the next fig will probably be focused not on the wargame but rather for use as an RPG figure. I previously made various Lieutenant rank primaris figures (shown above) but this will be a more standard marine theoretically. I say theoretically because I'm finding it difficult to make him less ornate as befitting a standard intercessor sergeant. I've spoilered the bigger image below the more reasonably sized version.
Spoiler:
The top left row of three are from one Lieutenant base type fig whereas the bottom one is from another (please excuse the missing tabard on the bottom left). I've incorporated the longer tabard instead of the shorter loincloth and also added a Deathwatch style shoulder pad on the left shoulder on the various examples. The main difference is the body and rifle type. The top one is more "open" and feels IMO more heroic but the bottom one has the helmet off allowing the figs face to be shown (not easily possible with the above figure due to the left arm). Similarly, I think I prefer the bolt rifle (with the scope) but I also like the shoulder strap on the larger bolt carbine... but the reiver SMG style carbine (with the front handle) also looks cool and is a bit better proportioned IMO. One option possible might be to cut the strap away and add it to the scoped bolt rifle instead. Alternately, I previously used a small chain as a strap and could do so again instead.
All of the variants though with the combat blade left arm preclude the addition of the armpit shields and hanging fur strip that I think added alot to the design previously and linked it further back with the historical hussars. On the right column, I tested out the pistol arm (and back mounted chainsword) as another alternative along with some chest grenades. The more open left arm would still allow the shield and fur strip even with the grenades although I'll have to check for sure one I finalize the other details. I like the addition of the extra grenades on the chest on various Deathwatch faction and Reiver figures and I think it fits well with the intended RPG nature of the figure which wouldn't have the full logistical support of an entire company of space marines and therefore need to be outfitted with more gear.
At the moment I'm leaning towards the bottom far right pose and combination but I'm open to other suggestions. Obviously I have yet to clean off the sprue connections and mould lines on some parts but they will be done before assembly.
I worked some more on my RPG model Winged Hussar sergeant this week after blutac testing out some configurations above. I chose to go with the more "closed" stance Lieutenenant that typically comes with a bolt pistol and autoboltgun. While I love the pose on the other one, I had already used it twice and wanted to do something a little bit different for this sergeant instead. The body and head are from the autoboltgun Lt but the left arm is from the other Lt whereas the right arm is from the Ancient (cut and reposed to angle away from the torso). I cut away the moulded on shoulder pads and replaced them with a Deathwatch and Ravenwing pad instead so as not to use decals this time. Since this is an RPG character, I figured he has to carry more with him typically on missions since he won't have the logistical resources of an entire Astartes company to resupply him with so I intended to use alot of extra bits on him. About halfway through the build I started calling him "the busy marine" due to all the extra bits and bobs but I wanted him to have primary and secondary ranged and close combat weapons as a backup. I liked the Reiver and Deathwatch style grenades on the torso so decided to do that here but chickened out on filling off the aquilla. I had hoped that it would be more visible but it's pretty busy there on the chest and in retrospect I probably should have left those off.
As a sergeant, I wanted him to be less ornate than the Lieutenants so only gave him a single "wing" on his back (drilled into the top of the pack instead of glued in between it and the torso). I initially planned on skipping the armpit shields and animal fur strip but had second thoughts about it because they're so iconic to so many historical Winged Hussar displays and art. It made the chest a bit busy (see the grenade thoughts above) but I decided to go with it anyways. I changed up the short Ultramarine style loincloth to a longer Black Templar style tabard as well. Finally, I previously used a small chain shoulder strap on the holstered bolters and decided to continue that with this model as well.
Let me know what if any thoughts potential readers may have about the changes compared with the previous design. I'm still undecided whether I'll paint him up in the traditional Winged Hussar colors shown earlier or if I'll put him in Deathwatch colors instead given that I added in the shoulder pad. I intend the Deathwatch shoulder pads to be a permanent addition going forward with my custom chapter so they don't necessarily indicate service in that order. The intended use for him though as an RPG character figure means though that service in the Deathwatch is an easy way to explain why this sergeant is away from his company/chapter of Space Marines.
I worked on a second marine based on my thoughts after seeing my first model close up after finishing it. I used the other Dark Imperium body but changed up the arms and added other bits as needed to make him a veteran Winged Hussar tactical marine.
I borrowed the head from my spare Ancient as it was the only normal head that I had that wasn't specifically a Lieutenant one with the skull on the forehead. It was my first attempt at adding the ribbing/fin to the top so, upon extreme close up view, it's a bit crooked. The right arm and armpit shield/fur were a PITA to pose and I'm not entirely happy with the results as I would have preferred to see the fur more flat on from the front angle. I also need to relearn the lesson of letting plastic glue dry fully before tinkering with further bits on the same area as I had alot of errors/reposing that I had to do when working on the right arm area because of a lack of patience on my part. I skipped adding the chest grenades due to the busy marine looking a bit too busy and instead just added a pack on to the hip. Finally, I wanted to add a chain to the gun as with the other but my test bit looked worse with it due to the stiff angle in front because of the foregrip on the autoboltgun.
As always, let me know if there is something that I can improve on with this or alternately future figs. I'm happy with the results of the single wing on these veteran (tactical and sergeant) figs as well as the overall look but there are, as always, definitely things that can improve.
It's been a long while since I did a hobby update but I finally put some time into finishing off of one of the half done 2018 bucket list figs on my painting table. I did a quick build post a while back for this guy back when I was trying to set up a local 40kRPG group at my local FLGS. My RPG efforts unfortunately didn't garner interest in enough players and it frankly took the wind out of my sails for finishing those two figures. In the months in between, I purchased some very sparkly silver primer (didn't realize just how sparkly until AFTER priming this fig!) and primed him but only recently finished him up.
In the linked post above, you can see some progressive Goldilocks variations on my Winged Hussar style. This fig is still purposefully more ornate than a standard primaris model as well as a bit more "practical" (if you can use that term in an over the top universe like 40k!) in the sense that I added visible grenade and ammo bits. I chose that loadout that visually would allow me to use him as both a tactical marine or an intercessor in RPGs. That's probably more than enough text for what amounts to just a single figs worth of hobby effort. Here is a 360 view of the fig as well as a comparison with some other previous ones using the same core starter set Lieutenant fig. I suppose that it could show a progression of the same character across different ranks (L to R: Captain, Veteran Sergeant, Lieutenant).
I love this blog. It's nice to see your ideas develop and change over time - that red gorget was a stroke of genius.
Cool to see the different wing setups for different ranks. Probably too late to change now but I'll throw my hand up for the white chest eagle - I thought it tied everything together and broke up the metallics a little bit. Gold is also good though.
Bummer about the RPG fizzling out. I'm not really familiar with the rules of Kill Team but that might be an option as a bridging game to get people involved in smaller skirmish-style battles. You would only need a handful of these guys if you play them as Primaris to get to the points limit.
Decals are from some vehicle manufactured during the Soviet domination in Poland, I think?
Thanks! The Polish white eagle is indeed from the FOW Soviet decal pack whereas the other one is from a garage kit decal manufacturer and was labelled as for the Polish air force. I used a bunch of the eagles for another scifi project I did a while back and picked up a couple of packs (and then sold of the other 3 sheets keeping only that one).
tzurk wrote:I love this blog. It's nice to see your ideas develop and change over time - that red gorget was a stroke of genius.
Cool to see the different wing setups for different ranks. Probably too late to change now but I'll throw my hand up for the white chest eagle - I thought it tied everything together and broke up the metallics a little bit. Gold is also good though.
Bummer about the RPG fizzling out. I'm not really familiar with the rules of Kill Team but that might be an option as a bridging game to get people involved in smaller skirmish-style battles. You would only need a handful of these guys if you play them as Primaris to get to the points limit.
Thanks again. Yeah, I've gone back and forth alot on some of the colors especially the aquillas including just now when reviewing the thread (and also re-liking the white aquilla!). I even selectively stripped and repainted it on my first fig. It may sound odd but the white looks slightly better in the super close up pictures but the gold looks better in person at arms length IMO. As for the gorget, I agree completely but can't take credit for it; it was John Prins idea and I'm glad he came up with it. Figuring out how to tweak things digitally really helped. I fully admit that this isn't a particularly ambitious project for this forum subsection and most of the progress has come in the form of little tweaks.
Thats a good idea about Kill Team. I thought about getting into Kill Team but hadn't considered my Winged Hussars since I've mainly been doing high ranking characters up until this last fig. I'd have to figure out what a normal intercessor would look like in terms of bits and ornamentation. They'd have to have less than the sergeant. I'd like to keep at least two of the four (wing, tabard, armpit shield, fur). The wing really is the defining feature but I also like the idea of having it denote rank so I'm a bit torn. Perhaps just the wing and the armpit shield as they're more parts of the armor rather than decoration like the fur and tabard?
@everyone: If you folks don't mind me picking your brain, any thoughts on the longer/thinner tabard vs the shorter more loincloth style one I used earler? It's a bit more Black Templar-ish but I wanted to try it out as a variation.
I didn't have any concrete plans for more Winged Hussars when I finished my last fig but I've got a few more conversion ready bits to go and one upcoming model really attracted my attention, the convention exclusive primaris lieutenant. I've traditionally converted ultracheap starter set figs bought as singles on ebay but I may have to splurge on this one as I really like the sculpt. I'd love to covert him into yet another Winged Hussar and did some purely digital tweaking and color swaps to test out how he might look.
I'm not sure about the head as it's not exactly the look I'm going for but it's the closest in the GW line for the facial hair slightly wild look that I want. I wish he wasn't screaming but the next closest one I found was either a no-facial hair scarred head or a bald full beard. Ideally, I'd love to use some of the heads I initially wanted way back at the beginning of this meandering miniproject, the Puppets War Cossack heads, but I can't find a single pic of them on a space marine figure let alone a larger primaris one. The only one I found was a genestealer cultist and I'm afraid that they'll end up looking too small. The key ones I'd want to use would be the top right and bottom left heads.
Technically, yes... they're cossack heads which would make them one of the traditional enemies of the Winged Hussars historically but they also remind me of the Polish king Jan III Sobieski from the Day of the Siege movie that featured the Winged Hussars in one of their most famous battles. It's not exact but it's close enough I think to be a younger version of him. Skip to the 2:00 mark to see the look I'd like to emulate.
Also not pictured is the leopard skin fur that I traditionally put onto the models. My usual method of adding a claw/leg strip under the axillary shield won't work on this model due to the tight space constraints. Instead, I plan to put a Space Wolf pelt on his back under the backpack but adding that digitally is beyond my simple cut/paste/recolor abilities. Same thing applies to removing the Lt helmet markings and adding a traditional dorsal helmet fin. Usually I'd want to add a boltgun of some sort to make him a functional marine in his equipment but I think I'll skip that this time for the same space constraints. I can't fit it chained under either arm and it'll be too tight likely in back to put it on the butt plate with the pelt there. Finally, I'd love to use the ravenwing and deathwatch shoulder pads as I did for the previous model but I'm not sure yet whether or not the pads on the model here will be molded onto the arms or swappable.
It took a while but I finally got my hands via an online trade on a Lieutenant Amulius figure to convert into a Winged Hussar. For those following the blog, I did a digital mockup above as I couldn't wait to get the actual model. I'm a big fan of the pose of the sculpt and the detail they put on it and I was quite excited to put my Winged Hussar spin on it.
It took some conversion efforts, regluing, and clipping after a few false starts and revisions but I'm happy with the overall look of the final model. I had to repose and reglue the wings and backback several times both due to clumsiness on my part as well as parts simply not fitting (namely with the shoulder pads) but in the end it all works (and hopefully the excess glue isn't too visible). I added a fur cloak to the back as I said in my digital test but it wasn't enough so I also added a fur limb strip to the front. Afterwards, I was trying to (unsuccessfully) add the axillary shield that I've typically done but then I realized that the fur bit I used actually has a crescent shaped metal disc down near the paw which was enough for the effect IMO.
I initially planned on a custom head from Puppets War but I couldn't justify the price of an international purchase and shipping for a single tiny bit that I'd end up using as I didn't have any plans for the others. Instead, I used an ebay coupon and opted for a slightly more feral scarred head than the standard one that comes with the model. Afterwards I hemmed and hawed a bunch as to whether I was busying up the model too much by making him practical with a modelled scabbard for the sword and a bolter stowed somewhere. After blue-tacking it all in place and taking a few close up pics (which revealed some mould lines and gaps that needed filling, I was glad to see that he looked both practical without reaching a cluttered state like a previous model I did (link here). I hope to have this model painted up sometime in the next week or so.
I am liking it. The wings look really good and I like the way the Polish color scheme is working as well. I am using a similar look on my Horus Heresy White Scars Outriders and Jetbikes.
The Riddle of Steel wrote: I am liking it. The wings look really good and I like the way the Polish color scheme is working as well. I am using a similar look on my Horus Heresy White Scars Outriders and Jetbikes.
-Rids
Thanks! The hobby space definitely needs more White Scar content so I'll be on the look out for yours. I'm trying to incorporate some of the White Scar asthetics as the hussars and Poland in general during their era was an interesting mix of Eastern and Western asthetics (hence the fur and scimitars from the east alongside ornate plate armor from the west).
Well, I've completely finished my first Winged Hussar Primaris marine! I've been working on various marines over the past year as part of that extended project but I never decided on a basing scheme so they were never technically 100% finished on their naked black bases. The Lieutenant Amulius model comes with a texted base as part of the model so I couldn't procrastinate my way past this model like I did with the others.
I tried to consciously do a better job with this model as I don't currently have plans to make any further Winged Hussars at the moment since I'm running short of bits as well as sculpts that inspire me (although I reserve the right to add more in the future!). I was frankly embarrased at some of my efforts in the past year (especially the faces) so I tried to better catch mistakes before it was too late. I'll expand on that in the next post over on my blog next week (link below in my sig) as I don't want to add a mini rant on aging in the hobby with this post. With this model, I took close up pictures after my initial painting and first wash steps to improve on tiny spill over painting mistakes. Just looking at the animated gif above, I missed a few of them (one that I can correct at least on the backpack) but I think the model shows some moderate improvement compared with my previous efforts. Here are the full static views spoilered below if for some reason someone wants to zoom in further (just click on the images to get to the interactive gallery).
Spoiler:
There are things that looking at the images after the fact could have been improved upon though. I'm not entirely happy with the Polish eagle decal placement on the leg but it was a last minute and fiddly change as it initially was placed on the knee instead. Unfortunately due to the curvature, I couldn't get it to sit right even with a strategic cut and some decal softener so had to remove (and ruin) that decal with a second one placed below. It looks like it rode up a bit (or perhaps I just didn't see the placement correctly with my vision... more on that in my next blog post) higher than I would have liked but whats done is done. There are a few other paint missteps that are visible zoomed in (one or two of which I can correct but not all) as well. As always, feel free to comment/criticize below.
Thanks. I'm getting alot (of frankly warranted critical) feedback on the eyes which admittedly have issues. I tried a half dozen times to get them right even wearing magnifying granny glasses and that's the best I could do. I might try and go back (even though I've already overcoated the model) and fix the areas around the studs and the left eye at the risk of worsening them further.
Really impressive work. I endorse!!! Im glad the husars are getting the acknowledgment nod they deserve for being the best heavy cav in history(125 year win streak) Hope to see more. Are you of polish descent at all?
Culturaly we are still very proud of the hero hussars. You can see the image being adopted by lots of small businesses. Not sure if you know, appologies if you do, they also commonly carried a short warhammer/pick. Once the state provided lance broke on the charge they switched to the sabre. And if that got knocked away in rare cases they could draw another weapon.
Are you planning on any dramatic bike conversions with the wings on the rider?
Thanks! And, yes, I am Polish but grew up in the US so wasn't aware that businesses used them in symbols (though I'm not surprised). I did see in my initial research early on in the thread that they also used the hammers/picks but I felt the sabre was probably more iconic both to hussars and space marines.
I wasn't planning on doing a cavalry version as it is a bit too close to the ravenwing in game but I do have most of the parts for a 54mm Inquisitor scale version.
Definitely let me know when you do it as I'd be interested in following the progress. I'll probably do some minor tweaks tonight on this model as I'm getting more comments about the eyes.
I'll spare everyone here my whiney rant about aging in the hobby (click my blog link in the sig if you want to read that) but I got a lot of (negative) feedback elsewhere specifically about the googley eyes on the model so decided to try and touch it up a bit as well as addressing a few other issues that I noticed with my new granny magnifying glasses and improved lighting in the painting area. I redid the decal on the shin as it had ridden up a bit surprisingly after drying and touched up a few other spots that I wasn't happy with. Looking at the pic, I swear that the dark recess wash goes all the way around the shoulder pad in person but I'll have to double check (and correct that if need be) when I get home tonight. In between the animated gifs making fun of it, I did get some genuinely good advice on how to improve the eyes on the next model and I hope to do better with the upcoming Sister of Battle model recently previewed by GW.
It's been a while since I worked on my custom chapter but I've been experimenting with 3d modelling. I'm not a 3d modeller so I'm basically limited to resizing/reshaping various existing 3d models into something that I like similar to how I've been converting marines from my bits box as opposed to sculpting details myself. I practiced first with both samurai and Ultramarine 3d models (link here) but I've finally gotten around to creating my Winged Hussar variant using the same pose inspired by the Amulius model.
I made a custom shouder pad using the hussar symbol of the Polish 1st Armoured Division that served with the British in World War 2 (link here) as well as a Polish eagle converted into a double headed 40k style Imperial Aquila. Hopefully that along with the actual wings on the back and a suitably slavic moustache will give the model enough visual flare on the tabletop. If you're interested in downloading the model for free and printing it out yourself, feel free to check it on thingiverse here:
Thanks! I'm considering printing out a small version that I've reoptimized for true 32mm scale that matches my old Star Wars prepaints minis. I don't play 40k so printing out a full size primaris that can't fit on most rpg playmat squares doesn't make sense for me. I've enlarged a few things like the head, sword, and helmet while not buffing the overall xy axis dimensions to match my real primaris like in the pic above. I'm curious if the detail will resolve on the shoulderpad or if I'll have to redo those.
It will be a bit smaller than the tiniest Rising Son marine I did in the pic below. In that case, I was trying to match the primaris after the initial primarch scale test print rather than shooting for a potential rpg fig.
I appreciate it. In a self serving way, I kind of had to come back to the project to save myself some money. I was getting too close to paying $40 for a Lazarus Dark Angel model to convert into a Winged Hussar! I can get a full liter of resin for that price! I won't get around to supporting the full plate of models tonight but I did do some test images to show the different scales.
The bigger fig is the full primaris size matched to my Amulius model (43mm to the top of the head iirc). It looks absolutely huge compared with the normal human (my stand in fig from Star Wars... a Clone War Republic Training Sergeant/Mandalorian) but ironically he is exactly as big as he should be given that he is a steroid superfreak in 8ft tall power armor (and that's just for normal space marines whereas primaris are supposed to be even bigger). It's just not practical for me on the RPG tabletop so I'll be trying out the 35mm scale beside him instead that will fit comfortably on a 25mm base. Compared with the preview pic above, he is closer to the original 3d model that I start with once I'm done building/converting. I learned from my samurai model print that he needs a 5% xy plane thickness boost relative to the height to get the bulkiness of the primaris. He is missing that but instead got a full 5% xyz boost on the head and helmet. The blade of the sabre got a 25% boost in width as it would have been closer to a rapier at that scale with the printer resolution and broken very easily. I have my doubts about whether or not the shoulder and shin icons will resolve as they don't look very deep shrunk down. It continues to amaze me how much you have to change from a normal looking 3d model to get something practical on the tabletop.
