Hi all!

Long time lurker here, finally decided to have a (proper) go at an actual thread. I started a few threads years ago when I was a load less involved in 40k, but after 3 years of Uni in Nottingham, and going to Warhammer World at least once a week, you could say that I'm a bit more competent with the whole thing. So I'm counting this as my first actual thread...

Right. So. Loads of people are doing Custodes, and due to the new releases, I've decided to join that comfy looking bandwagon and start my own army of Custodes and Imperial Militia/Guard (depends on if I'm playing 30k or 40k). Right now I've basically just started and only finished 2 of the Custodes for the (admittedly small) Custodes side of the army. The aesthetic I'm going for is a darker gold, trying to make the armour look truly ancient, as I believe it should. This, along with the Webway-esque bases is supposed to make it appears as if they exist during the War Within the Webway (you have ADB and his Master of Mankind book to thank for this). So to stop myself from rambling for too long, here is the first few finished Custodes. I enjoy the idea that each Custode is basically a completely unique Character, so I plan to at least partially convert each one and write some (kinda bad) fluff for each. Do note, however, that these first few guys are just basic Custodes, not actual characters. The only discrepancy between these guys and basic Custodes in the planned list is that these guys *technically* have Adrasite spears (I know FW have/are going to release an actual kit for them soonish, but I've already built the first few guys, and I'm not really going for full WYSIWYG, as can be clearly seen with the second Custode, who rules-wise has an Adrasite spear, but model-wise clearly has a form of axe, so yeah...)

Custode 1 - Tribune-Hasatari-Castorum Adolfus Devante Ahisamach, The Wolf’s Tooth



In his time as Custodian to the Emperor, Ahisamach has earned many names. The one he is most fond of was earned during the Ullanor Crusade, where he fought alongside the then Luna Wolves. During the celebrations at the end of the crusade, he was gifted a white wolf pelt from Horus for his feats on the the battlefield that impressed even the Primarch, and he would wear this pelt with great honour in the years following.
Ahisamach fell during the War Within the Webway to the Sons of Horus, those he had once called friends. The white pelt made red with their blood as he took many of them down with him.

Custode 2 - Gloriarbiter-Securis Aloeius Ysbadden



Famed amongst even the Custodes for his fears of pure strength, Ydbadden towers over all men, reaching nearly the heights of the blessed Primarchs themselves. So large is Ysbadden, his armour is that of an Allarus Custodian’s, heavily modified just to fit his frame. With his mighty castellan axe, Secouri, Cleaver of Fates, he has laid low many a terrible warrior that wished to defile the hallowed Emperor.

This guy is really quite massive thanks to the Slaughterpriest legs (standing at 45mm v. ~40mm of a normal Custode)



Custode 3 -WIP



This guy is next on the table, and still needs a fair amount of work (cape and additional greebles). Any thoughts on him for both looks or fluff would be greatly appreciated.

So there you have it. The 'first' thread of mine (ignoring the ones from 2011/2012, when I was nowhere near as competent in 40k as I am now). Please feel free to leave your comments and criticism as I am always learning and would really like this army to turn out as best as possible. You should expect this project to be a real slow burner, however, as I'm a slow painter at the best of times.

Thanks!

More WIP pics of the third Custode. This guy's cape was a right pain in the posterior. It took way too long to get it to work (and wasn't helped by a sore thumb), but I eventually got the basic shape done yesterday, and finished it up today with the over the shoulder part. There's still more to do on him (such as clean up the ammo drum, and add a few bits of rope with tassels), but he's on his way and I'm pretty pleased with how the cloak has turned out.

Front view, showing the over the shoulder part, with a small broach (made from the skull from the bottom of a sword) to 'keep it attached'



Rear view. Here you can see the fabric creases, which, whilst in no way perfect, are a fair bit better than most of my other attempts to do fabric, so I'm happy with how it's coming along.



Please feel free to give C&C, and any help on making capes easier (but still with GS to keep everything in line) would be super useful.

Thanks!

I'm currently a bit stuck with the third Custode, as I feel he isn't finished, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what else to do. I believe I want to add some rope and tassels, like those on the first and second Custode (might not be totally visible in the images above, but they're there. You just have to believe me, ok?), but there's no real place to put them. Any ideas for completion, or if I should just leave him as is, would be greatly appreciated.

However, to stop myself from stalling this project thanks to a minor issue with the third mini (which has happened too many time before), I've gone ahead an started on the fourth. This fella is also WIP, but mostly just needs a bit of (obvious) gap filling. I'm probably going to leave this guy basically as he is, as whilst the conversion is very minimal, I like how it has turned out. I might add a few smaller bits if I find them/they work, but unless anyone has any major suggestions, he'll probably not change much.

Custode 4 - WIP



Again, and comments or criticism on any of my guys would be super useful and help make them the best possible.

Thanks!

The fourth Custode has now been finished, but the GS still has to dry before he can be painted. I added a few greeblies and some lenses to the falconry hood to make it look like the bird has gotten a little too close to a member of the Mechanicum, which to me makes it fit a load better into the 40k universe. The hood will be painted up to look like a metal case around the head, with the wee ties at the back made to look like some wires going into the back of the bird (the bird is probably supposed to be a falcon, but to fit with the Custode theme, it'll be painted up as some sort of eagle).

I'm still a bit stuck with the third Custode as I feel there’s something missing, but I don’t know what. However, at this point I might just say to the Warp with it and paint him up anyway as he stands. I also have bases for these two guys to do, but that's not terribly hard.

Custode 4 WIP



Close up of Bird



Other side of Bird



I'm fairly pleased with how it has come out, but I think the large left side lens might be a touch too big. However it was a right bollocks to get to where it is now, so I doubt I'll readily change it. Any C&C welcome as always.

Thanks!

Your conversions are clean and your painting is excellent. The detail with shading and highlights on faces is impressive. Very well done work, glad I checked it out.

Thanks loads Skalk! The faces might look a bit different in real life as I'm using a pretty cheap lightbox for most of my finished photos, which just has a row of LEDs at the top to light everything. Not perfect, but good enough for me.

So its been a wee while since I've shown anything here. Not because of any outside reasons, just because I'm one hell of a slow painter. So, to keep this thread alive, here is part of the fourth Custode that I've finished, his wee bird friend!
For this army I plan to mostly try to keep the speed up in terms of painting (which for me is reaaalllly slow). However, I also don't want to get burnt out on just doing the same simple thing over and over again. I also tend to enjoy painting things with a bit more detail, and in my opinion it's always a good idea to paint certain focus points in a bit more detail. I like to think of is as how you see people speed paint on computer software, where the majority of the body, and especially the legs, tend to basically just be scribbles, but the head or any other point of interest is slightly more detailed.
This draws the focus, and means if anyone looks at my army, specifically the less usual parts, they'll see higher quality art than what the actual army is like, and as such the army seems better painted overall. This is normally the faces, as humans are naturally drawn to faces thanks to evolution and all that, but other points of interest tend to be those that are particularly odd (I can't really describe why a certain area is a point of interest, it just is).
In the case of this Custode, the bird is a fairly obvious point of interest, and as such I decided to have a go at making it a bit better than just basecoat > wash > highlight (also I sometimes like just painting something to a higher quality to change things up a bit. I dunno if I've said that already, but I'm not really going to read back through all the nonsense I've just written to check ). The main inspiration was Golden Eagles, simply because they seemed fitting for an army of guys who serve a being that really likes skulls and eagles, but the model is that of a falcon (or something like a falcon at least), so it's not entirely perfect.

I don't have much more to show on this guy yet as all I'v really done is the armour and leather (and that wee tasselly thing), so I still need to finish his cloak and weapon. And head. And base. And probably something else I'm forgetting right now.

Anyway, here's the WIP of the current guy

Front of robo-bird


Back of ro-bird-toe the robot bird


(also, sorry for the kinda shittilly lit photos, but it's just a WIP pic. There'll be more better photos when its actually done)

So that's it for today. Please, continue to give and comments or criticisms as they are always welcome and helpful (unless they aren't)

Thanks!

Very cool! All painted up the lenses look appropriate and functional.

Some lovely conversions and painting here, great work!

Thanks Wolf_in_Human_Shape and Apollinaire! Always nice to get positive feedback.

So rather than work on the actual Custode like a normal person, I decided to do up his base (I like to do bases separately because I have less 'bad habits' and more 'bad everything').To keep it tied in with the War within the Webway, I've added a wee spare Mk III Space Marine helmet from one of the Legions that fought there, in this case a World Eater. I may add more helmets to other bases in the future (or maybe even full dead guys on some of the larger bases (looking at you jetbikes when I finally get to you in the year 2099)), with a few different schemes from different Legions that fought there (Sons of Horus, World Eaters, Emperor's Children, and Word Bearers), and I may add some more daemon-y stuff if I can find any in my assorted bitz boxes.
Back to the base, I enjoyed painting this up, as I really like trying different schemes, which the World Eater allowed for, with a mildly off-white look. I also applied more effort to that helmet than I have to the armour of my actual Custodes (4 layers and 3 washes v. 2 layers and 1 wash).
"But didn't you just say that you should really only spend time painting up things that will be points of interest, and not just a random helmet on the ground? Especially since this is supposed to an army you're painting faster than normal?"
Well why don't you shut up me.

Anyway, here is the base now ready for the Custode to stand vigilant on with his little bird friend



Again, please feel free to tell me what I'm doing wrong (ie everything), or any suggestions to make it less wrong.

Thanks!

No love for the base? Well how about if there was something on it! Yes, that's right. I've finished the fourth (technically third) Custode! I truly am just speeding through these guys.

So here he is (with a wee bit of fluff)

Magister-Nuncio-Onithos Vireiis Corveydettum



Vireiis is an accomplished philosopher amongst the Custode’s ranks, having learnt many things from the books of the Old Earth. Amongst the books studied was one on the ancient art of Falcorii, the altering of feathered beasts to work as the eyes and ears of their masters. Vireiis keeps a large collection of personal creations that he has spent many hours carefully crafting.

And a few more angles for you lovely people

Left side


Right side


And his back


I didn't really do anything fancy with his cloak, mainly to try to actually get him done (I was having a bit of a painter's block on the cloak. No reason for it, I just was).

I feel I need a better lighting setup, as the colours never really come out correct with the kinda gakky lightbox I'm using at the moment. It might also have something to do with the camera (iPhone 6 camera), so I'll see if I can borrow a few fancier ones and see if they work better. They might also give a higher quality picture so you can actually see what's going on (although I'm not sure I'd want that). It might also just be compression from me sending from one device to another, or from dakka itself. I'll have a wee play around with everything to see if I can fix it.

But anyhow, I'm now 3 Custodes in (out of 5 for this squad, and 12-ish for the entire Custode half of the army). I'm probably going to start the guy I've been putting off for a while before I build another one, so please feel free to go back and look at him and tell me how to improve upon him.

Thanks!

Hey all,

Not many updates recently thanks to Uni taking up all my time, but I thought I'd better try to keep this thread alive rather than just having it die on me, so here's a pic of the most recent work I've done, which I did longer ago than I'd like to think (you may note a wee bit of dust on the model. Just ignore that...).

Custode 3 WIP


I'm not sure how I feel about the armour on this guy and the last 2 if I'm perfectly honest. The very first Custode ended up with the dark-old gold I really wanted, but each subsequent mini has had fairly significantly different colour. The two recently finished guys are a lot lighter than I'd like, which I'm putting down to too heavy of a drybrush with the lighter gold, Auric Armour Gold. The armour on the guy above is different yet again, and I believe the reason is that I was actually able to drybrush the model with the Auric Armour gold. Every other time I've used the gold, it was incredibly thin, making it hard to get an actual drybrush with it without it looking like nothing is actually coming off the brush. This ended up making me go too far with the drybrush and making Custode 2 and 4 too light. For Custode 3, I somehow got some gloopier paint on my brush, meaning I was actually able to properly drybrush (after wiping off most of the paint obviously), but that then resulted in really strong highlights, which is different to the subtle highlights of Custode 1.
All in all I' just finding the drybrushing a bit of a pain in the rear end. For now I'm going to explain it away by saying that each armour has its own individual history, meaning they look very different now. For future armour I'll try to get back to what I had originally, which I was most pleased with.

Either way, I hope you like what you see here. Any comments or criticisms are welcomed with open arms, as you can never stop learning.

Thanks!

Hey guys!

So the next Custode is now finished, bringing the squad up to 4 out of the final planned 5 for these guys. He took quite a while thanks to Uni work, but that's basically out of the way now, and I was able to sneak him in amongst it.

I'm quite pleased with how the conversion work came out o this guy, but I know can do better. This is just a good stepping stone on to something actually good, and a great practice piece for realistic cloth (you really don't want to see the dogs frak I made of the second Custode's cloak ). I'm also quite happy with how the base turned out, as I've been having difficulty trying to keep the Webway aesthetic with the minimal amount of Eldar/Elf bits I have. So overall quite chuffed, and ready to move on to the next guy.

Immunes-Mortia Golgotha Veritus Satius



A warrior of few words, Satius rarely joins his brothers in conversations on philosophy and the arts, preferring to simply listen to what others have to say. Thanks to this, he rarely leads others into battle, but has been known to work particularly well with the Sisters of the Anathema Psykana.

Left side


Right side


Back


I still need to figure out a better setup for my photos beyond just a phone, but the ease of use makes it quite tempting to just stick with what I have.

So with this guy down, I have one more to do before I go over to the more exciting side of the army, the Imperial Militia. I'm kinda waiting to see if anything more comes out for the Custodes in the next wee while before I continue on with them. I already missed out on getting the actual Adasite Spears for them as I started building them a few weeks before the spears were up for sale (doesn't help that I forgot they were coming out ), so I'm going to give it a bit on the off chance that some of the other stuff I want comes out for them (for example, I prefer the plastic GW Allarus Custodians over the Aquilon Terminators, but I want to arm them with Firepikes, so I either have to find a bits place that sells them, or hope that FW will maybe make an upgrade kit for the Allarus at some point in the distant future). Hopefully you guys will enjoy what I have planned for the Militia however, as I know I'm excited!

Please feel free to give any C&C, as there is no useless help.

Thanks!

These are great Custodes, much more character and individuality than maybe any I've seen. Excited for whatever you've got coming up

- Salvage

@Salvage, thanks! That's exactly what I'm going for for these guys. I love the idea that each Custodian is their own fully fledged hero with a history of mighty feats left behind that are worth countless poems and sagas each.

So I have the 5th and last Custode in the super preliminary stages of work, with only the basic conversion work done, but no GS yet. There is still a fair amount of work to be done to him, as I want to give him the skirt(?) thing you see on the Custode Wardens (mostly to hide the conversion of the leg). I also plan to add a fair few more tassels and things on this guy for no other reason than I feel like it. The base he's currently sitting on isn't going to be his final base, just a spare I had lying around to get the feet in the right position. His head also needs a fair bit of work done to get it into scale with the other Custodes (it's just a Marine head from the Mk III kit. I need to thicken up the neck a bit and I was thinking of altering the hair in some way. Maybe a short floppy mohawk, sort of in between the 1st Custode and the one with the bird). But other than that, it's nice to get back into the Custodes as I have a bit of time off Uni.

Custode 5 WIP


A bit of sad-but-good news, upon completion of this Custode I won't be carrying on to the Militia. However, before you get all annoyed as I said I'd be getting on to them, this is because I was able to get some Vertus Praetors on the cheap (I say cheap, bu they were just £10 cheaper, so not a massive bargain, but enough to not pass it up)! So they'll be up next, with conversion to fit them in better with the planned 30k loadout for them, 2 Adrathic Devastators and a Twin-Linked Corve Las-Pulser. I'm probably going to use a few spare lascannon pieces I have lying around for the Las-Pulser, but I'm not quite sure what to use for the Adrathic Devastators, so any ideas would be of great help!

Anyhoo, please feel free to butcher my conversion work and tell me strigh just how bad it looks and what you'd do to salvage it.

Thanks!

Progress continues on the 5th Custodian! I've gotten a fair bit underway with his GS-ing, but there is still a bit to do. I wanted to fancy this guy up in a bit of a different way to the rest of the guys so far, who all basically just have capes and that's about it. So, to get the alternate fancy-ness, I browsed the interwebs for assorted Custodian images, and came across a few bit of inspiration I really like. To start with, he has some weird cloth things on his shoulders (well, one cloth thing and one tassel-y thing). He's also getting a Custodian Warden-esque skirt that is currently still WIP, as I need to let the back dry so I can actually sculpt something there without it just collapsing in on itself every time I apply the smallest amount of pressure. When that's all done, and the top and bottom are glued together (currently the body is just sort of resting on the legs. Not exactly secure, but it allows me to actually get to the leg areas to sculpt stuff) I'm planning on adding a couple of streamer things to the chest (sort of how the 30k Ahriman from the BoP set has them), and I still need to sort out an actual base for this dude. Also, I've done the head too.

Custode 5 WIP 'Golden Angle'


Front


Back (? It's kinda the side but also the back. Good thing facings aren't a thing for infantry models )


Again, apologies for the rather potato level quality of the pictures. I'll get better ones some day...

I'm quite pleased with how this guy is turning out, and the whole process of these guys is really teaching me a lot about how to sculpt cloth, which is great!
Hopefully I'll have him fully made and painted before the month is done (and my studies start up again).

Please feel free to leave any comments or criticisms. The ones people have been leaving already are an absolutely great motivator for this project.

As always, thanks for looking!

Hey all!

I've finally finished the last member of the first squad! I'm really happy how hes turned out, and I feel I've already learnt a fair bit over the course of making this squad which I can hopefully carry over to the next models in the army.
So here he is in all his painted glory

Peunator-Luvenis Abinav Fridusius


A recent addition to the ranks of the Ten Thousand, Fridusius is quite hot headed for a Custodian. Preferring to show his mastery with the Guardian Spear than join his brothers in discussions of philosophy and art, Fridusius is often found at the front lines in combat. His superiors had reckoned that this fire would eventually die down, but Fridusius still fights with the same passion and zeal from his initial inception.

'Side' view


Other 'side' view


Rear view


There are plans for a group photo, but I'm currently trying to tackle with the DSLR to actually take it, so that may only be up tomorrow, alongside some higher quality photos of each guy if people are interested.
Now that this squad is done, I'm going to start on the Vertus Praetors, who I'm going to run as an Agamatus Jetbike Squadron in 30k, mainly because I prefer the models (and they're a helluva lot cheaper ). They probably won't be as heavily converted, but I have a few plans to make their bases interesting, and am aiming to try to make them all without flying stands. After that, I really want to get into making a few of the Imperial Militia guys, maybe starting with the HQ choices before anything else just to have a bit of a change (unless I happen across any of the Custode stuff for cheap elsewhere ).

Anyway, thanks for looking at my stuff, please feel free to give any C&C as it's really useful.

Thanks!

I really enjoy the little bits and pieces of fluff that you make for each individual Custode. Just really nicely done.

The gold is amazing, so much better than GWs chosen shade. Adds so much depth and interest to the models.

@War Kitten, thanks loads! I'm sort of using this project to basically try to fill in all the gaps I have in my abilities when it comes to the hobby. I like to think I'm a fairly competent painter and converter, but I can usually take weeks on a single model. This army is sort of my go at 'fast' (for me anyway), as well as allowing me to increase my sculpting skills. But alongside that, it gives me a chance to have a go at writing little bits of fluff, as I'm not really that good when it comes to creative writing in general, so this project allows me to practice that. It's great to get positive feedback on it!

@TheEldanariPrince, thanks also! It's actually quite a simple process that I came up with for speed more so than anything else, but I really wanted to get a dark and old looking gold rather than the shiny new stuff you see in most other Custode armies. My thinking behind this is that in 40k (which these guys will be used in alongside 30k), the Custode's armour is at least 10,000 years old, which even for something well kept is really damn old. I wanted to make the armour look like it has existed for every one of those 10,000 years (and I'm also a fan of darker colours in general, alongside a lot of Inq28 and Blanche stuff). The actual process, if you're curious, is simply a heavy drybrush of Gehenna's Gold over a black undercoat, a fairly heavy wash of Agrax Earthshade, and finally a light drybrush of Auric Armour Gold (I'm still trying to figure out just how light a drybrush I want, but I feel I'm getting closer to the desired effect with each new model)

I finally got round to taking the pictures with the DSLR earlier today, and ran them through Photoshop to get them looking pretty (hopefully they look like they actually do irl, but it's near impossible to really get the exact colours). I'm not really an expert on how to use Dakka, so I don't really know how to get you guys the highest res images possible (I believe the Dakka Gallery compresses photos, so the ones you see here are probably not as high res as the actual photos are, sorry )

The full squad, ready to put down some heretics


Immunes-Mortia Golgotha Veritus Satius


Tribune-Hasatari-Castorum Adolfus Devante Ahisamach, The Wolf’s Tooth


Gloriarbiter-Securis Aloeius Ysbadden


Magister-Nuncio-Onithos Vireiis Corveydettum


Peunator-Luvenis Abinav Fridusius


Hopefully you guys enjoy these models. I'm really happy with how the entire squad turned out, and am excited to start the Jetbike dudes next. As always, please feel free to give any C&C you want

Thanks!

You should be happy with how this lot came out, as they look really, really good!

I'm nowhere near as good of a painter/kitbasher as you are. Matter of fact there are days where I feel I can barely put together a tactical marine!

Now I want to buy some Custodes. Dang it.

@War Kitten, thanks again, and without trying to sound vain, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out too. As for your own skills, there's only really one way to improve and that's to practice! You really don't want to see some of my early GS attempts, less still some of my first models. They're kept hidden in boxes that are themselves hidden under more boxes. But how good you are now shouldn't stop you for aiming high, and you'll eventually reach where you want to go. I'm still on that road myself, but with every step I get closer to where I want to reach. Also, if you want to get some Custodes, remember that you don't actually have to start an army with every miniature you buy! You can easily just buy Captain-General Trajann Valoris and have fun making him and painting him up to then have just sit on a mantelpiece as a wee sculpture. I have a few of my own non-army models that I really enjoyed painting up, and it allowed me to try different colour schemes and such. At the end of the day the aim of the hobby is to have fun, and how you get the fun out of it is entirely up to you.

So it's finally time to move on from the Custodes squad, and what better way to do that than with the Vertus Praetors (or as I'll be calling them from now on, the Jetbike Custodes, because I don't need to stick to the trademarking stuff GW seems to love using recently). These guys are going to be run primarily in 30k as counts-as Legio Custodes Agamatus Jetbike Squadron, equipped with 2 Adrathic Devastators and a Twin-Linked Corve Las-Pulser. I'm still a bit stuck for ideas on how to represent the Adrathic Devastators as there's nothing they're really like in 30k/40k that I could easily convert, so I started with the Twin-Linked Corve Las-Pulser, which is essentially a type of lascannon. To this end, I've nicked the nose off a couple of lascannons that I had sitting around (I planned to replace the ends with some of the Chaos vehicle equipment daemon head-things anyway, so no loss there) and sort of jammed them in the place where the bolters/missiles would sit. The first guy is still in the early stages of conversion ad needs all the GS work to be done yet, as well as actually getting a base.

Jetbike Custode 1 WIP 45 degree 'Golden Angle'


Apologies for the sight of my ungainly hand, but as previously mentioned the Custode has yet to receive his base and cannot currently stand up on his own.

Jetbike Custode 1 WIP Front


This front view better shows the angle of the jetbike. The aim is to get it to look like he's doing a bit of a turn rather than going straight ahead. From this angle you can also see the pillar that I'm using as the flying stand for this guy. The plan for the squad it to have no obvious flying stands, and I'm looking forward to some of the ideas I have around that...

Jetbike Custode 1 WIP Rear


Here you can more easily see the pillar I'm using and even the small bit of wire connecting the jetbike to it. It's currently not glued (just surprisingly well balanced), so when I'm finished you shouldn't be able to see it at all.

As I said at the start, he's currently a WIP as he still needs GS-ing, especially where I changed out the weapons and in all the gaps in the model.

Unfortunately with these models, when they arrived at my ouse in the post, my young pup got to them before I did and chewed her way through the box. Fortunately the sprues themselves weren't too damaged and I am able to make the models without too much additional work, but unfortunately there are a couple of small bits missing, primarily the right-hand rear tail fins for 2 of the jetbikes. For now I'm probably just going to leave both tail fins off util I can come up with some sort of solution (my current ideas are either to press mould the one right-hand tail fin I have, or try to find them on some bits site, but I've come up short on that second idea so far). If anyone has any ideas as to how I should get around it, please suggest them as it's a real shame the pieces got lost.

Anyway, expect a few more photos of this Jetbike Custode within the next few days when all the GS-ing has been done and he's ready to be painted. He's currently in 4 separate parts (Jetbike, Body, head, and base) for painting, but sits very nicely.

Thanks!

I quite like how that jetbike came out. He does look like he's going into a bit of a turn, or perhaps trying to get a better angle to impale someone with that lance of his...

@War Kitten, thanks! The exact angle of attack is still not set at the base and bike are still separate and being held together with basically friction alone, so between the previous WIP pics, these newer WIP pics, and the final piece, there may be a bit of variation.

As I've just mentioned in my reply to War Kitten, yes, there are indeed new WIP pics for the first of the Jetbike Custodes. I now have his base finished and all the GS done, so he's ready to be painted starting tomorrow. I initially wasn't too certain on how to do his base, but I went for a fairly simple thing that I think currently looks decent enough to pass. It's not going to win any awards on its own, nor be the centrepiece base, but it fulfils its job. Bar that, there's really not much more to say about this guy as most of the GS was just filling in gaps really. I still need to figure out how I'm doing the right tail fin, but I'm probably just going to procrastinate on that for now and wait until I can think of a decent solution/find somewhere to buy one. Anyway, here's the pics

Jetbike Custode 1 WIP


Jetbike Custode 1 WIP, other angle


Jetbike Custode 1 WIP, tertiary angle


This picture and the previous are really he best angles to show off the base. As I said, it's not really anything special, but it works for what it is.

Jetbike Custode 1 WIP, final angle


So there you have it, the last WIP pics of this guy. If you have any suggestions for him, now would probably be the best time to suggest them before he becomes fully painted.

Thanks!

These all look amazing. Wow

Some nice work here Solid conversions and lovely paint, bravo.

I don't really have any suggestions for him. He looks great right now

Wow! Super cool conversions and indeed the gold you paint looks really nice.

@McMagnus Mindbullets, monkeytroll, War Kitten, and Crimson_, thanks guys!

I haven't really done that much in the past few days, thanks to Uni starting up again and just my general laziness when it comes to everything, but I suppose that's why I added the 'slow burning' part onto the title. But rather than just respond to people, I always like having something to show for myself, so I've got the completed base for the first jetbike Custode. Nothing massively fancy, just a little thing that I'm relatively pleased with as it fits in with the rest of the bases without being too extreme (and I've been having trouble recently trying to come up with ideas for bases as I'm running out of 'Eldar' bits ).

Jetbike Custode 1 base


You can see at the top of the pillar the wee pin coming out that attaches to the jetbike itself. There's also a bit of verdigris on the copper sections that's a bit hard to see in the picture. The quality of the photo is a bit bad overall, so it might not show everything as exact as it should be. But it was taken just as a quick update rather than a proper photo of the model.

The actual Custode will be coming in a bit, but I've had a bit of inspiration that I think will make my guys look a bit more unique and cool (if it works ), so he'll still be a bit yet as I get round to actually implementing said inspiration.

Thanks!

Tremendous work with these Custodes! Nothing much to add other than kudos and keep it up. Looking forward to seeing your color choices on this jet bike

@genom.cor, thanks, I will, and you won't have to wait any longer because the Jetbike is done! (bar rider...)

It's been a while, but here's the Jetbike minus the rider. I kept it quite simple to fit in with the rest of the Custodes, but I feels some of the gold turned out really nicely so I'm happy with that (although I messed the back up a little and have become a bit to burnt out on this model to properly fix it. I did the best I could to save it, and I don't think it ruins the model, but it was kinda annoying that it happened at all ). The angle might seem a bit extreme, but that's mostly because it is. However, I think it should all work out once the rider is added, so don't worry. Also, I was a bit inspired, so the rider looks a wee bit different to the last time you saw him. But you'll have to wait until he's painted to see what I did . Anyways, here's the jetbike attached to the base.

Jetbike front


Jetbike back


There is quite a lot of silver/gunmetal on the model at the moment, but when the rider is added he should cover up the majority of it with his assorted colours, so it'll be fine (hopefully). Feel free to give C&C for this, and expect to wait a bit longer than usual for the rider thanks to a slight bit of burnout on my part mixed with Uni.

Thanks!

That's a fine looking jetbike there.

Is the rider getting a different scheme to the foot-sloggers? The red cloth should break it up nicelt, but you mention his assorted colours...

I kinda like the basic pau scheme of the vehicle actually, speaks to the dark age's simplicity. That said, I want something to pick the eagles out a bit, even if it's only the first one. Maybe white? Red? I'm not sure. Not a deal breaker though Take it or leave it.

@minkeytroll, thanks! The rider isn't getting a significantly different scheme, but the model itself has a lot more areas of cloth and leather, so there will be more reds and browns that on a normal Custode. Hopefully this should break up the 2 toned look of the jetbike and add some much needed colour. The lance will also add a bit more variation with the light blue all the power weapons have had so far (although the jetbike actually already has some of that same blue in the exhausts, you just can't see it in the photos).

@genom.cor, thanks! When you say 'pick the eagles out a bit', I'm guessing you mean the big fething eagle right at the from of the jetbike? If so, I was thinking about doing some variation in the colour of the Custodes in general, maybe going for 1 or 2 white or black guys/squads to represent the different factions within the Custodes. The eagle would be a perfect place to represent this (especially some large marble eagle. That would be pretty cool ), however I've sort of decided that I'm going to try to stick to one scheme throughout to keep the force tied together. This includes keeping the palette fairly reserved (mostly reds/browns, with a bit of blue as a spot colour), you I'm not certain there will ever really be a vastly different scheme than what I've got going on now. It might be a bit boring for the individual models, but hopefully when the entire army is together you (and I) will be able to see the idea come together.

Unfortunately Uni work started up again at the beginning of this month, so it has been beyond slow with the actual painting. However, rather than leave you guys empty handed, I quickly painted up the head of this guy (I really enjoy painting heads, and always find they go so quickly for the quality you can get out of them). The resolution is the of the most high quality of potatoes, so apologies for the basically complete indiscernible-ness of it. I promise it doesn't look quite as bad irl (and it's also a fairly different colour irl, with a lot more reds, but apparently my phone doesn't like taking photos of what stuff actually looks like ).

Jetbike Custode face


So there you go. That'll probably be it for a while unless you guys for some reason want to see a very partially painted miniature. C&C as always is welcome with open arms.

Thanks!

Good face. I don't mind seeing wip so show the partial paint I say. May motivate you do take paint breaks between the studies. Also, you never want to start off too strong at the beginning of the semester always better to show progress throughout the semester. Oh yeah, a few red eagles would pop. Or if they are post golden throne, then black for mourning his passing

@genom.cor, thanks, and yeah, I should probably post more painting WIPs to actually keep this thread alive at least. So that's what today is!

Yes, you heard right! I'm still alive, and so is this thread (if barely). I've recently (ie today) joined a small group of local painters who meet up every so often to just paint and chat, so hopefully this'll get me going when it actually comes to painting and stop me from procrastinating. I have now got the majority of the rider finished, with only the lance needing done before he's complete. Then it's simply on to gluing him to the bike, and his head to his body, and that's the first of the jetbikes done. At this rate, it'll only be a matter of years before the squad is complete, which is pretty fast for me .

Jetbike Custode Rider WIP


Again, apologies for the low quality images, but I can't get much better without significant additional work, so this is the best yous are getting for now.
You may notice a slight addition from the original conversion, but it's a bit hard to see here. I was looking through my bits box, as I am wont to do now and again, and I realised I have a load of old Bretonnian stuff just lying about. This inspired me to make the Custode just a touch more fantasy and add a shield to the left arm, and a pennon to the lance, in line with the Knight of the Realm models. I was wanting to make my Vertus Praetors a bit more uique, but none of the conversions I had done up til now had really done it for me. However, I think that the simple additions I did have really changed the model for the better. Hopefully you'll agree with me when you see the finished piece.

Anyway, please feel free to leave comments or criticism as always, as it's always great to hear what others think of your work, and even better to get suggestions on how to make it better.

Thanks!

Having had that bit of painting done on Saturday, it motivated me to complete the mini, seeing as all that was left was the lance. So, I've finished it. Here is the first of the 3 Vertus Praetors/Agamatus Jetbikes.

Vertus-Celeres-Patricii Navjeiiv Abulhassa, The Second Sun


Abulhassa is said to ride with the fury of that which rivals the Sun itself. He has worked alongside a number of the greatest of Mars’ Adepts to further the power and speed of his Dawneagle jetbike, to a degree that outclasses some of the most masterfully built jetbikes seen in the Imperium. There are even rumours that he has even outridden the Great Khan, although who is to know the full truth. All that can be said for certain is that none live to tell the tale when confronted by a furious charge of Abulhassa and his fellow Custodians

Side view


Other side view


Rear view


He has some transfers on his shield, specifically an Aquila and the Roman numeral 'II', but the angles of the photos don't really show it off at all, so whoops

Again, the photos don't seem to be great here on the forum, but feel free to go to the Dakka gallery to get slightly higher quality images.

I'm fairly pleased with the finished product, although the pin that attaches him to the pillar is a bit bad and hasn't glued in properly no matter how many times I try. I might add a small amount of GS or something just to stop the model from rotating around the pin, and then just paint it black to hide it. I'm going to have to learn quickly if I want the next one to turn out well, as it'll be even more of a challenge than this guy was (I might do him last instead, really depends how I'm feeling at the time). Please feel free to leave suggestions/comments/criticism as always.

Thanks!

Hey all!

The slowest thread around continues to meander along at a pace that would make a snail jealous, but it continues on none the less. I've now started on the next Jetbikes Custode, or to be more specific, the next Jetbike for the Custode. This fella and the next are equipped with an Adrathic Devastator, which, if you don't know, is essentially a longer range but weaker melta gun, with 2 shots, armourbane instead of the melta rules, as well as instant death and gets hot. There's nothing really like it in the rest of the Space Marine armoury as far as I'm aware, so unlike the Twin-Linked Corve Las-Pulser, which I simply used some Lascannons for, I've had to be a bit more creative with the weapon. As such, I've come up with something that I thing looks unique enough to be whatever I want it to be, whilst also fitting the aesthetic quite nicely. It's a fairly simple conversion using the Centurion Siege Drills with a Grav Gun barrel attached to it. With a bit of guitar wire I was able to connect it up to the bike so that It looks like it was made that way. I also had to then fill in the would-be gaps of the miniatures actual gun areas, which I did, again quite simply, by just placing in the hurricane bolters, but removing the barrels and cleaning the whole thing up with a bit of GS. So overall, there isn't really that much done to the Jetbike, and there are no real plans for the rider either (unless any of you lot have ideas or suggestions).

Jetbike 3/4


Here you can see the new weapon, as well as the cleaned up area at the front where the guns would normally go. In addition, there's a small terminator pad stuck just in front of the handlebars, just to add a little something extra

Jetbike front


A better view of the cleaned up front, as well as a head on of the converted Adrathic Devastator. You'll note that the Grav Gun barrel has been twisted 90°, just to keep it different. Hopefully when it's painted all the minor flaws in the GS and elsewhere will simply disappear.

So there's the 2nd Jetbike. I have yet to make a base for it, hence why it's sitting on my desk, but there are a few ideas I've had as to what to do. I have an old metal Keeper of Secrets head which I think could work if I find a way to prop it up a bit, maybe even add a fair amount of the rest of the model (I've tested, and the whole model is a bit too big to fit on the base lying down). I've also come across a bit more Eldar stuff in my assorted bits boxes, so I might do that as well/instead. I'm also open to any ideas yous might have.

Please feel free to give any suggestions on anything you see here, as always.

Thanks!

Simple but effective. I might have been tempted to replace the bolters wholesale with air intakes, but this keeps the style similar across the bikes.

Eldar ruins sound good as you already have some on your foot soldiers. I've always liked the idea of supporting a jetbike through a lance or sword that is cutting an enemy figure - could look odd if your force is arrayed against something other than the modelled enemy though.

Out of interest, are the eagle's wings actually part of the bike body, or separate like the eagle body? My hereteks and ork meks are both getting ideas about these bikes....

@monkeytroll, thanks. The conversion was kept simple as there was nothing else I could think to replace it with, but the air intakes make a lot of sense, and if I was to redo this guy I might have gone for that instead.

You've also had the same idea as me about having one guy held up by spearing an enemy. The only problem I have with actually doing it is the logistics of having such a thin piece hold up the entire model. I might still do it, but also have another point attached to the main body of the bike. Either way, there are more plans to add assorted enemies as well as more Eldar ruins to each of the bases.

As for the wings, they aren't attached to the main body, but are attached to the part at the front. Here's a picture from the webstore page for them, which shows the sprue. Most of the bike is 2 pieces, but the front consists of 5; the two sides, a top and bottom, and the body of the Eagle as the front. I can easily see it all being replaced by something a bit more Ork-y though, and would be super interested to see what you do with it.

I didn't think of checking for sprue pics Cheers for that, will have to pick some up sometime.


With the rider support my previous ideas were using chainswords or axes, so point of contact us closer to the main piece. With a Lancet I'd think about replacing the lance, and rebuilding it around some brass rod. If you plan it carefully and have a suitable candidate you could probably have the rod bend 'inside' the casualty and attach to the base itself, possibly bend again at the rider's wrist, providing a stable support. Second part probably requires some sculpting though.....

@monkeytroll, no worries, and it'll be great to see what you do with them. As for the brass rod - lance idea, I like the process, and I would look amazing as a set piece, but I'm more looking to keep these guys fairly well held down so they can be used in games as well, so I might just stick to the 2 points of contact idea.

But anyway, I'm back! Apologies for the lack of updates over the past while, but I've had a fairly hefty amount of Uni work to keep on top of, as well as other obligations, so I haven't been able to do quite as much as I'd have liked. In fact, all I've really been able to do so far is the gold on the jetbike, and , as of today, start on the base for this guy. Talking about the base, I had an old Keeper of Secrets lying around in my bits box that wasn't going to be used for anything else, so I thought it would make for a neat base for this guy. I did a bit of chopping here and there and some GS work to make him fit and look suitably slain. There is, however, still a bit more GS work to do, mainly around the neck area. I wanted to see if I could make the neck sit more on its side rather than straight ahead, which required chopping the whole neck off, so that'll need to be remade from scratch. So far I've got the very basic armature that's more there to hold the head in place than anything else.

Jetbike WIP left


You can quite clearly see the wire that's holding the head on in this picture. There is still the modelling sand to add to the bast too, to finish up the base

Jetbike WIP right


The model is still in a bit of a mess. I tried removing all the old paint on it, but I wasn't able to get it all off. In addition, the GS makes it look pretty bad, but that just needs a lick of paint over it and it should look good.

Please fell free, as always, to leave any comments or criticism on how you feel the model could be made better (or just feel free to criticise me as a person. Who am I to tell you what to do)

Thanks!

Hey all!

I've been able to finish off the base for the bike, and have given it a zenithal highlight, as I want a white base for the skin of the Keeper of Secrets, but a black base for the undercoat of the actual base part (the same as I've done for all the other bases so far). However, since this guy will by lying under a bike, I aimed the highlight to be around the edges more so than the top, as that better represents the shadow from the bike passing overhead. I think he looks pretty decent on the base, but I'd love to hear what the rest of you think.

Jetbike base WIP top


Getting a good view of this fella was a bit tough, but I believe this one gives you a good idea of how he's laid out, and combined with the two following images, I'm sure you can get an idea of what the overall base looks like (at least, better than you could with the images from the previous post, which I'll admit weren't the best ).

Jetbike base WIP front


The tongue was actually a bit annoying to position, because it has some very severe twists in it, and it ended up nearly breaking off. Luckily it didn't, and I was able to hide the crack with a bit of GS.

Jetbike base WIP back


Here you get a nice view of the reconstructed neck. I'm happy with how it turned out, and I like the wee vein going along it. however, I'm not certain if I need to add something for the head to rest against, as it sort of feels like it's floating, but not really enough to warrant adding a load more to the base. I dunno. What do you guys think?

So there's the base for the second jetbike done bar painting. hopefully I'll get it painted sooner rather than later, but I can't keep any promises. Feel free to give any critiques or just general comments you feel like making.

Thanks!

Dead Kipper basing is brilliant, and I'm convinced by the surgery you've performed on her battle damage

I've been a very quiet lurker through the jetbikes, but they're really turning out grand (as expected). I appreciate your small tweaks to the designs, on top of the delicious gold work.

- Salvage

@Boss Salvage, thanks! I've never been too certain on how good my battle damage looks, as I always feel it's a bit off somehow, but it's great to hear someone else say they like it. As for the jetbikes, it's awesome to hear from someone who's just lurking, as I do that all too often myself. Hopefully they'll keep up to your expectations.

I've now finished painting the dead Keeper of Secrets on the base. It's not amazing, but I think it's good enough for a base, as I don't really want it taking away from the actual model. However, it does add a nice bit of additional colour to this model in particular, but also the army as a whole.

Jetbike 2 base top


Jetbike 2 base front


Jetbike 2 base back


Jetbike 2 on base


Major apologies for the quality of these photos. They've all turned out really quite blurry. Hopefully I'll be able to get some better pictures in the future that'll really show off the base properly, but unfortunately for now you're stuck with these rather bad quality ones .

Overall, I still feel like I'm having trouble with these bases. I've always wanted to get a proper looking, and primarily uniform base, for an army. There are so many good examples out there, and I feel mine don't even come close to them. I might re-base all my guys in the future if I can find a moulded base that suits my needs. That'll also help save time on making the bases too.
Anyway, thanks for looking. Hopefully next time I'll actually have something I'm a bit more proud of (with a bit high quality photos for).

Thanks!

Definitely have to pick a box of those bikes up sometime now, Slaanesh demands a corrupted version.....

@monkeytroll, that sounds like it would work out amazing. You have to show me them if and when you're done.

I have a bit more to show you guys, mostly (and by mostly, I mean entirely) a completed jetbike. The rider for this one still needs to be built (in fact, he's not even off the sprue yet), so there's still a ways to go before this one's in the bag. But it's always a great feeling to get another step along the road to completion, so here you go.

Jetbike 2 WIP left


Jetbike 2 WIP front


Jetbike 2 WIP right


Jetbike 2 WIP back


Here you can see the exhaust port a bit better than I think I ever showed on the previous guy. I got this one a load cleaner, so it's actually nice to look at, but I think I may need to go back and add a wee bit more white to the very recess just to add that touch more 'heat'.

I don't really have any major plans to have the rider for this one in any particular pose that would mark him out, but he'll be receiving a similar treatment to the last guy, with added shield and pennon.
As always, feel free to add your comments and criticism. I think I may have missed something on this bike, but I can't quite tell what, so if you notice it, feel free to point it out.

Thanks!

Hey all! That's right, the rumours weren't true. I've been alive this entire time! Unfortunately I didn't get much chance to paint over the last while, but I've finally been able to get the second Jetbike done (I wasn't lying when I said this would be a slow burner). Hopefully getting this out of the way will help motivate me to continue on to the next guy, and eventually the rest of the army . I've still got one more Jetbike to do before I move onto the next unit, but I believe I should be out of my painter's block, so the conversion at least shouldn't be too far away (I haven't been completely stagnant mind, doing a bit of work here and there on other models unrelated to this army. I just haven't touched these guys in far too long. It'll be nice to get back into them).

Anyway, here's the finished model!

Vertus-Praefecti-Angusticlavii Bedagii Lelantos, Master of the Blas


A hunter of great repute, Lelantos is known for finding the largest, fastest, and toughest enemies, and bringing them down with his interceptor lance. Always pushing himself to greater and greater feats, other Custodians wonder when the prey will get the better of him. But to this day, none have, and Lelantos has no plan on changing that.

Side view


Other side view


Rear view


Again, because I'm just so full of myself, I like how this guy turned out, especially as seen from the Other side view, where all the fabrics and hair are flowing beautifully and really give the sense of movement. GW did a stand up job with these models. I've said before that I'm not 100% on the bases for these guys, but work I've done on other models has really inspired me, so be prepared to see some minor changes in the way the base is done, hopefully for the better!
Anyway, please feel free to give you feedback on this guy (and the others if you've just come across this thread), as it's always useful.

Thanks!

Hey all!

To continue the recent bout of 'still being alive', I've started work on the next Jetbike Custode. The main body isn't too interesting right now, as it's built pretty much to the instructions, but I do have something else that might interest you guys...

WIP


A bit unusual, right? Why is there a Chaos Marine showing up in this quite clearly loyalist thread? Well maybe the next picture might clear things up a bit (unless you've pretty much guessed already, in which case the next picture is just a nice wee thing to look at)

WIP 2


Hmm... What's that large stick-like thing protruding out the front of this guy? Still haven't got it? Well the next picture will definitely clear everything up

WIP 3


Right. If you still haven't got it, you really need to get your eyes checked

This marine is quite obviously getting a chance to get nearer the Gods he worships thanks to a little thing I like to call 'A Big Frakking Lance'. Unfortunately I won't be able to do what I'm, sure is everyone's first though, being that the whole model will be held up by this. I don't have the tools that would really be able to achieve this, especially something that could make it all the way down the lance, which is the most vulnerable point. However, if any of you have suggestions as to how I could do this, I would be super grateful, as I think it would look really quite awesome to have it being held up by that.

Anyway, please feel free to give your comments and criticisms. I should note that this is still quite WIP, with more battle damage and the likes coming to the marine in the future, specifically additional chunks of him being thrown out the back. It'll be nice and gory, don't you worry...

Thanks for looking!

Still all looking good.......but the problem with trying to kill daemons from a jetbike is you don't get a good chance to check they're really dead.

If you can source some plastic tubing the same diameter as the lance you could replace the majority of the lance and put the tubing around a brass rod that's buried at right angles in the marine. That way you don't need to drill the entire length of the lance, and if you're confident you could replace the detailing, you could probably cut the shaft back to the guard, which might even let you drill through enough to bend that end of the rod. Not easy, but the effect at the end would be real nice

Nothing wrong with a slow burn, take the time to do it right. I've only just come across this thread today and I'm loving the individuality you're giving each model and the effort that you're putting into the bases.

I don't think I would want to try to hold that whole contraption up purely through the chaos marine unless I could get something really sturdy like brass rod probably up through his leg and along the lance, which would be a real pain. I'm sure nobody would begrudge you a discreet flying stand.

@monkeytroll, you're right, but then that's what all the foot sloggers are for! As for your idea for the lance, it's pretty clever, but I don't think I have the skills to do something like that, or at least not the confidence. Had this been for something more than just a smallish army, I may have gone with your idea, but as it stands I'm probably just going to stick with a more secure attachment point, more on which below.

@Bellerophon, welcome to the party! (so long as you enjoy really slow and overly stretched out parties ). As I said to monkeytroll, I don't thick I have the abilities or tools to really make the CSM the flight stand. However, I'm trying to keep away from flying stands of all types, as I'm not a massive fan of them, and I find trying to create an alternative a fun problem to overcome.

So what progress have I made? Well, not a lot really, but its only been a few days, ok? Hoking though my assorted bits, I was able to come across a few ruins I have. I bought them online as just some spare bits, so I don't actually know what kit they're from, I thought they might be from the Osgilioth ruins, but a quick google search suggest otherwise, so if you recognise where they're from, feel free to add a wee comment telling me. I just thought they were decently suitable for a ruined Eldar city (although maybe not perfect). I might add a few small bits here and there to just tie them into the setting a bit better, plus the inside wall needs some work done to it anyway. But either way, they are pretty decent for adding that additional structure that I need to hold up the model. The custode isn't yet pinned to the bit yet as he's still got a bit more work to be done to him yet (ie GS all the gaps). The poor poor Chaos Space Marine still has some more GS work to be done to him, but I've filled up the major gaps and added a small loincloth to add to the dynamic of the overall piece, making it look like he's really being pushed back by the force of the blow. A few more intestines and broken off ceramite and he should be good to go.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, and on to the pictures!

WIP


WIP


WIP


WIP (a nice wee over the shoulder action shot for you guys )


I'd love some feedbakc from you guys on how well (or how not well) the ruins work with the piece. I worry that it may be a bit too much, especially from the back, but from the front I don't think it's too bad. But comments and criticism is welcome as always.

Thanks!

Ahhh... man... I want it to work. I'm just not sure that it does. Tbh, with the other bases in the squad, I think it may detract too much from the already dramatic pose of the model itself which honestly I think needs emphasizing. As it looks now, he is crashing that bike into ruins. My recommendation is to simplify the base by pinning the marine strong enough to hold the jetbike. Or maybe lower the bike to where it is just above the ground, kicking up dust as the rider dips to a gut dropping height at teeth rattling speeds and impaled this traitor. But, and again I hate to say it, I think you got to scrap it.

@genom.cor, thanks for the feedback! As I've already mentioned, using the skewered Marine as the flight stand is just something that's not plausible, especially since I still want these guys to be usable as an army, which includes lugging them around in a box. However, I've taken your advice and tried to scale back the base as you'll see below.

I'm a wee bit peeved with how this guy is coming together. As I gradually use more and more bits, I gradually have less and less bits to use. This guy is probably the start of a quite annoying decline in usable bits, which I've encountered before in other armies, and which was just as annoying then. I did actually have another bit set to the side from the very first Custode I built, as it was a bit that fit the aesthetic of the bases perfectly, but was too large for the 40mm bases of the standard Custode. As such, it probably would have bee perfect for this guy, but it's just my luck that I can't actually find it now. I'm sure once I have this guy fully built and painted, it'll uncover itself once again, just to spite me.

However, I do have a little bit of luck left, as I have some more of those ruins of unknown origin. These ones are a wee bit smaller than the others (which might come in useful if I ever get a dreadnought sized model for this army). Hopefully this will work a bit better for the model as a whole, and not look like the Custode has lost control of his bike and is just smashing though a wall.

WIP


WIP


WIP


As you can see, this piece of terrain greatly reduces the overall height of the model, making it look less like he's careening downwards, and more like he has just skimmed over some cover the Traitor Marine was hiding behind. The last photo shows a bit of red crossing out a section that is too long for the base, but rather than commit and cut it off, I want to again get some feedback for how this looks. Note that when this part has been removed, the Custode might sit slightly differently on the ruin, as he's currently just resting atop it, with the position being influenced by the high point at the end of the terrain.

So please feel free to give some feedback on this new base, and on the rest of the Custode as he is. Some of you might even like the previous version over this. And if you guys still don't like it, hopefully I can find that bit I mentioned earlier

Thanks!

Hey guys! Just a quick update on the base, which is now finished! I think this one is back on the track I wanted for these bases, as I'm quite happy with it. In the interim between the last Custode and this one, I learnt about using baking powder for basing, to create a smaller, sand-like effect, which is exactly what I felt was missing from these guys, as I didn't like the sudden change from roughness to smoothness on the bases of the other guys. As this is only my second actual attempt at this, hopefully it'll work out fine, as the previous attempt covered the whole base, whereas this one doesn't. My main worry is really just the change from the baking powder to the uncovered base, which currently looks a bit iffy without paint, but should hopefully all be ok when I get the basecoat down.

I've also compared the smaller wall to the other two Custodes, and I feel he fits in a lot better than when I was using the larger wall, so thanks again for the suggestion genom.cor!

There might be a bit more GS work needed on the Marine, but beyond that he should be ready to go! Unfortunatly I don't have any spray paint at the moment, meaning it'll be a short while before I even get a basecoat on, so don't hold your breath. Anyway, on to the miniature

WIP


WIP


WIP


WIP


Hopefully you guys like this, but please feel free to leave any feedback.

Thanks!

Missed a few updates, but the lower wall looks nicer for this guy, the angle it gives him on the kebab dude works better.

Stunnng work, but



this aggression will not stand, man.

Amazing work.

The ruins are from the "Ruins of Middle Earth" box, it's a slightly older set of LOTR terrain than the Osgiliath Ruins.

Delicious traitor kebab. The gold on those jetbikes is really lovely.

@monkeytroll don’t worry about the missed updates. They’re so few and far between that I’m starting to miss them myself .

@Excommunicatus I believe there’s a Custodian warcry that is suitable for this situation that goes something like “Venit et ire, si putas te habere durum satis” .

@GMSchofield, thanks, and double thanks for pointing out where the ruins are from. I got a large bag of bits online a while back, and they were included in there, hence why I wasn’t certain of the origin. I have a few more laying about, so they may make a reappearance at some point.

@TheEldanariPrince thanks! Hopefully he’ll be up and reasy for action soon(-ish) (the Custode that is, not the ever-so-slightly very dead Marine). The gold on the jetbikes is the exact same as all the ither gold I’ve done so far. I should have the recipe somehwere on this thread, but I can post it again if I haven’t already.

Hey guys! Long time no see! Fortunatly I haven’t died, but unfortunatly I’ve done next to nothing on this project. I could probably lay down a load of excuses as to why, but it mostly comes back to me being lazy and procrastinating way too much.

Now, I know it’s been 2+ months, and most people would have an entire army done in this time (something I’m actually planning to do, but that’ll be antoher thread). However, me being me, I’ve only gotten round to doing the base for the latest Jetbike Custode. I know it’s next to nothing, but it’s all that I have for you, so hopefully you won’t be too upset. Sorry !

Anyway, here are the two pretty boring pictures of an average-at-best base. I’ll try to get something more done, and set myself the target of completeing the Custode part of this force by the end of this year (which is only 4 more models. Not impossible, right? Right?).

WIP


WIP


Again, massive apologies to whoever has been following this thread for the lack of anything really. I’m going to try to get the Word Bearer done soon, and then I can move onto the Custode himself.

Thanks for reading!

Glad to see you back! How did you integrate the corner of the wall into the base of the rim? I quite like that part

Yeah, I have read the recipe and will try it out some time. Thanks for sharing it. Looking forward to more.

I think I'd have removed the third level of the longer brick wall, to match the other side of the corner, which has only two levels. /quibble.

As for the 'uniformity of bases', your paint scheme is doing that job with flying colors.

Having each one be scenic and epic really supports the damn fine work you're doing on making each miniature unique, so I wouldn't change your chosen path.

You're doing great. Thank you for sharing with us!

--Brian

@Crimson_ It's good to be back, thanks! The wee corner on the base is just a small amount of GS. I thought it would be neat to sort of copy one of those pictures that leaves the frame a bit, as it makes the model appear to be part of a larger thing than just the base (hopefully at least ).

@TheEldanariPrince Hopefully it turns out well for you if you ever use it. It was supposed to be a quick and simple technique, but with they amount of wash I put on, the drying time takes forever!

@Briancj Yeah, I can see that working too, but it might be a bit late now! I'm really trying to get that uniqueness down for the Custodes, as I really feel that each one should be someone to which a hundred songs could be sung of at least. To me a single Custode should be comparable to some of the Imperium's mightiest heroes, so scenic bases are a must.

I've been able to get the Word Bearer painted up and ready to be part of the Custode's base. It's always nice to change up your painting once in a while, and I've always been a fan of really dark reds, so this was a perfect opportunity. I should also note that I have a very small Word Bearer force on the go (read: I've painted about 6 models), but it's great to have a go from the other side, and I feel this guy should tie in great with the Custode and the army as a whole, as he doesn't detract from the Custode due to how dark he is.

Upcoming are quite a few shots of this guy, but I felt it was only appropriate as there were certain shots that could only be taken with certain bits included. Confused? Well hopefully the following photos should clear everything up.

Up first, we have a few pictures of the Word Bearer still attached to the painting cork I use. He was only attached at one point, but a secure fit (and holding him elsewhere) meant he barely moved whilst I painted him.

WIP


WIP


WIP


Next up we have a few shots of him attached to the base.

WIP


WIP


WIP


I particularly like the first photo as you can see the hole through which the Custode's lance will go. Speaking of which, these next two photos should give you a bit of an idea as to what he'll look like once the Custode it attached to the base too.

WIP


WIP


So there you have it! With the Word Bearer all done, I can now move on to the Custode himself. I may be a bit before you see any more, as the Custode a fair bit bigger than the Word Bearer was, what with the Jetbike and everything. Hopefully I'll get a chance to paint him up before the end of the week, but I can't keep any promises as I know I still have a fair bit of actual work I need to do between now and then.

Either way, hopefully you enjoyed these pics. Any comments or criticisms are really welcome, as I find it invaluable.

Thanks!

Absolutely incredible stuff, can't wait to see more!

Im thrilled. Its like a diorama and has nice dynamic.

@jifel, thanks! It's been maybe a bit longer than it should have, but hopefully the wait will be somewhat worth it. Maybe. Eventually.

@Crimson_, thanks. I really want each mini to tell its own small story that can all come together as part of a larger narrative. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up, but this is probably going to be the last large base for a while (until (or more appropriately, if) I get to the Imperial Militia).

Next week it will have been 5 months since my last update on this thread, and I honestly feel a bit ashamed that I let it get to that. I've been really enjoying making and painting the Custodes, and its been great to get constant feedback from you lot throughout the process. I will say that I haven't been entirely forgoing the hobby, as can be seen here with my Executioners force, but even that was finished 2 months ago. My main excuse is a combination of real life and my ability to procrastinate on projects for far too long.

However, I have recently gotten a few more friends into 40k and this has brought back the spark to complete the minis that I had nearly lost. Just yesterday I had a bunch of mates round and we did some painting as a group, which I've found to be one of the best ways to actually get me to paint a lot. The only real problem with this sort of thing is that my paint scheme, whilst incredibly simple, takes forever to do, entirely due to long paint drying times (especially the heavy Agrax wash). As such, whilst I had a lot of time to do some painting, I only actually got the bike of the final jetbike Custode done (and his head).

So with the apology/excuses over, here's what 5 months of me painting apparently looks like

WIP


WIP


And the head. I'm quite happy with how the skin colour turned out as I haven't done a skin tone quite as dark before (and my paints were initially playing up on me a bit). I also did the eyes for this guy as I felt he needed something to break up the dark skin tone a bit. Sorry for the shocking photo quality though, as I don't really have any cameras that could really capture something so small. I might have to borrow a DSLR off someone at some point to get some higher quality photos...

WIP


So apologies again for taking so long between updates. Hopefully I'll get the final guy of this unit done at some point in the near future, and then I can move on to the Allarus-Aquilon conversions which should be a bit quicker and will be the second to last unit of the Custode side of this army (just a Shield-Captain after them).

Thanks!

No excuses needed!

Welcome back to the project!

I'm really liking the conversions and paint jobs going on here. I look forward to seeing more

@Briancj, thanks, it's nice to be back. Hopefully this bump in the road will be the last (or at least the largest), and I'll get at least the Custodian side of this army done in no time. There are only 4 more models to do after all...

@Daemonslave, not certain I'd be living up to what the Custodes stand for if I accept you praise based on your name, but fortunately I'm still a Chaos player at heart, so thanks

5 months and two painting sessions later, and the last model of the squad is done! Who knew painting could be so easy Fortunately this is the last large model for the Custodes side, so hopefully the last few models (3 terminators and a Shield-Captain) should be finished a slight bit quicker...

I'm really happy with how this last guy turned out, so to me it was somewhat worth the wait. The other two models in the squad have some nice features; Lelantos looks like the medieval knight I wanted to emulate with these guys, and Abulhassa is really dynamic, but overall I think this guy is the epitome of what I'm trying to do with these models. Show them off as the heroes they read like in the novels, with each stance they take being worthy of a statue. And the mini-diorama really captures this in my humble (if self-ego-boosting) opinion. Hopefully I've been able to capture this in the images that are to follow.

Vertus-Evociitus-Mulcatii Qaphelani Agé, The Fury Unbound



Where others of the Adeptus Custodes may take time and grace to lay low their enemies, Agé does not. He is the Emperor’s fury at the fall of Horus made manifest. However, it would take a blind man to not see Agé’s dislike of the Legions before the Heresy, so his hunger to part the traitors from their lives was to be expected.

Side view


Other side view


Rear view


And seeing as we have every member of the squad completed, why not a group photo?

Second complete squad photo, and it only took a year and 4 months. Hmm...


And there we are. As I've said already, hopefully the next squad won't take months upon months. The main problem lies in the fact that I tend to have very little motivation when painting alone, so my new painting group should hopefully change all that and we'll see mountains of new pictures (note: I already know this is never going to happen ).

However, for now I'm happy that I've finally painted up this fella and he can sit alongside the other painted Custodes in my display cabinet, rather than being completely out of place. Feel free to give all the comments and criticism you want, as I really enjoy hearing what you guys think. It really is invaluable.

Thanks!

Oof...that guy's so dead...

That is a pretty amazing model. Really shows the investment. The squad is stellar. Hope the new paint group pays dividends in productivity.

I’ve never been a fan of the Custodes, but you have done such a great job on them here. Probably my favorite Custodes army I’ve seen anywhere. Good job.

-Rids

Hell of a squad, excellent work over that long burn

@youwashock, it's certainly not something he'll be walking away from too soon. And thanks! The new group is a mix of newbies and some who have been in the hobby a bit longer, so it has that fresh new enthusiasm whilst not needing me to hand hold everyone, so it's pretty much perfect for a painting group.

@Rids, getting someone who doesn't enjoy a faction to compliment on the work you've done is probably some of the highest praise I could hope to get, so thanks loads!

@Boss Salvage, thanks, although it was certainly getting nearer being put out than simply being a slow burn.

No update on any new models quite yet, but when I had finished the model one of my friends (who's a bit more knowledgeable in the ways of computers than yours truly) thought it would be neat to make a 3D model of it, and boy do I think he was right. Albeit, this was done in about 5 minutes in imperfect lighting with a phone camera, but even then it's awesome to see a 3D render of the model I made.

Check it out for yourselves here:
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/war-hammer-figure-b7bd214e84944c35924922104937174f?fbclid=IwAR2RwZvMhJdTCzDNG_Od6QvuiEsZY3Ly80GGpg5M1KjgWsi2eG9nNZFIsLg

It's certainly something a bit different! Be sure to check out the rest of his work whilst you're there, I'm sure you'll like it.

Thanks!

It seems I have two modes; either I’m not doing anything for ages, or I’m suddenly doing something every minute! I will say that I handed in a uni assignment the other day, so I have a bit of time off to actually work on building new minis for this project, and the next lot are the Allarus-to-Aquilon terminators. I really love the idea if the fire-pike, but FW’s realisation of them left much to be desired in my mind. Not to mention I find the actual Aquilon terminators too bulky and without dynamism. Thus, I’m using the GW Allarus terminators (which handily are a bit cheaper too!), and converting the weapons by swapping out the ends of the guardian spears for essentially flame throwers, and giving them power fists. You’ll be able to see what I mean in the pictures below. There’s still a fair bit of work to do, as this current WIP is pre-GS. I’m also trying to decide on an exact head, so if any if you have any ideas fire away (nearly any male head would do, as I can just thicken up the neck a touch to make it fit). My current plan is either the Allarus helmet (but I think that’s a bit boring), one if the helmetless options (but that doesn’t make him quite unique enough for me), or one of the spare heads from the Masters of the Chapter kit I got a while back (axe/shield guy for those curious). However if any of your ideas are better then please say. I still really like the Eidolon head on the normal Custode, which is something I believe I had seen previously, so anything along those lines.

Anyway, enough talking about heads, here’s the current WIP

WIP


The fire-pike


As always, C&C appreciated, especially in this early stage of a whole new unit.

Thanks!

Yeah, that looks much more like a fire-PIKE than just a long-barreled flamethrower!

@Gwyn chan ‘r Gwyll, thanks! I really like this photo of the terminator Custodes, and just wanted the Eagle headed flamers essentially. The bonus that they’re more like pikes due to using he guardian spears as a base is just a bonus side effect!

Small amount of work done to them now. However, with the GS finished, I feel it shows off better how I want the models to look. It’s mostly just been some gap filling, but also obviously the flame coming out of the mouth of the flamer. The ‘heads’(?) of the other flamers are going to be different to add some variety, but the general concept will stay the same. Anyway, for the real reason you’re here, photos!

WIP


WIP


With regards to painting, I do plan to do a wee bit of OSL, unlike the spears on the rest of the army. They also won’t have that bit of blue, but I think it should be grand. Feel free to leave comments and the likes.

Thanks!

Looks quite cool to me. I followed the Custodes release about as long as it took to go "wow, cool jetbikes," so I have no idea what the official model looks like, but that looks like a firepike to me.

@youwashock, thanks. The actual firepikes come with the Forge World Custode terminators, know as Aquilon terminators. As Gwyn chan ‘r Gwyll said, the actual firepikes are basically long barrelled flamers. They don’t look awful, they just don’t really do it for me.

Slight tangent from the expected. I was over in England for a friend's birthday this weekend, and what do you know, he lives near Warhammer World! We popped in there, and I picked up something from the Forge World store that I've been meaning to get ever since they were released. Right at the beginning of this thing I mentioned that the on-foot Custodes were actually supposed to be wielding the Adrasite Spears. I’ve been somewhat tossing between keeping them as-is or swapping the spear out. But I’ve finally decided that it would probably be better to actually give them the weapons they’re meant to have.

Adrasite Spears


I don’t really know what feedback you can give on these spears. Maybe do you think it’s a good idea that I do this, or just leave them as is?

Thanks!

Well, you've got 'em. Would be a shame to have them go to waste.

@youwashock, you make a very good point...

The clock ticks ever onward, and yet the Custodes remain near silent. I can hear Father Time laughing a throaty laugh as I anguishly travel the days, nay months between steps on an ever-lengthening path. Is it all worth it, I hear the voices say. Aye! I shout back, but every time it feels fainter still...

TL;DR, I'm really bloody slow, sorry

Yes, this is indeed an update. Worry not, for your eyes don't deceive you. I'd be happy to blame it on Uni and everything, but to be honest I could have probably finished the army by now if I had really wanted to. That said, I'm still enjoying these guys gradually bobbing along the slow tide of the hobby, not feeling pressured to have them all done, and yet happy when they are. So who do we have today? He's the fourth-to-last Custodian in the army (before I try to somehow move over to the Militia...).

Aquilon-Laticlavius-Ignatum Forbess Akrosa


Haughty and vain to a point often unseen in the ranks of the Custodians, Akrosa was always one to look down on those not of his ilk, and sometimes to those who were. Like the others, he was a philosopher, artist, and warrior, but he was also a tormentor who enjoyed nothing more than to bring harm to those beneath him. Which to a Custodian like Akrosa was everyone.

Side view


Rear view


And from the ashes of one project, the next project is born anew! Unsurprisingly, this is the next guy that will form the 3-man Aquilon squad

WIP


Hes already had some GS work done to him, but I still need to add the fire from the mouth of his fire pike (it's in the name after all). Hopefully this guy will be done a bit quicker than the last guy, but I have 2 other projects that have set deadlines, and they may overtake him in importance in the days and months to come. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, feel free to leave your comments and everything. It's always great to hear what you have to say.

Thanks!

The new guy sounds like he might be a little bit of a jerk, but he looks very cool. Love the flames. New new guy looks like he will be filled with attitude, too.

@youwashock a slightly belated thanks...

Rumours of my death have been highly underexaggerated, but I have in fact died. Unfortunately for me, I have a lot of unfinished business and I now roam the earth as a spectre, cursed to live in a limbo until I've actually finished all my projects. To that end, it has been literal years since I last updated this plog. I've gotten a new job, started and nearly completed a university postgrad, moved house and countries, not to mention there was that whole global pandemic thing happening. Suffice to say, I don't blame you if you have absolutely no memory of this particular project. But for me, the half-build Custode from my last post has been sitting on my painting desk, staring at me in all his headless glory, mocking me for my lack of motivation. But no more! There's a new Codex coming out, the place I've moved to means I'm a lot closer to my Uni friends (who were what really cemented me in the 40k fandom), and I played a whole Crusade campaign on Tabletop Simulator using the very Custodes I was failing to build in real life. At last I have returned to this project with at least something nearing zeal. For those of you just joining, welcome and I really hope I'm not lying when I say this project will burn slightly quicker now than the title and previous post suggest.

With all that out of the way, let me introduce you to what a fully painted model looks like!

Aquilon-Megas-Doux-Ignatum Aubrio Eero


Eero is a timeless soul, one to stay back and understand a situation in all its complexity. This leaves others to view him not as introspective but as unwilling. But once the field is understood, there are few things in this galaxy than can stop him.

Side view


Other side view


Rear view


As always, I'd love to hear what you have to say. I've got the Shield-Captain in progress at the moment, but I plan on doing a wee bit more on him first before sharing him here. That said, I might aim to complete the 3-man Aquilon squad first and get them out of the way.

Thanks!

He looks very disappointed in someone.

Whoof... it has been a while, hasn't it? Good to see you back, and also good to see you back at the Golden Boys. Eero has turned out well.

Very cool looking units, I like the blue flame on Eeros, makes them look pretty eerie.

@whalemusic360, oh by the throne I totally didn't realise I'd just made a member of the Adeptus Meme-stodes

@youwashock, its definitely been far too long, but it's good to be back and nice to hear from you again!

@Olthannon, thanks! It's intended as a sort of spot colour throughout the whole army as a contrast to the general grim-dark look of everything else

Well, I did say I'd be back, and as such here's another update that wasn't years in the making. In fact, I've done the one thing this project was severely missing and given myself a proper deadline by challenging a friend to a game but only if the army is complete (and I really want to try out those new rules, so complete the army will be (or at least until I decide to make the force larger, but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it)). With that said, I've made a start on the last of the Aquilon conversions, with this guy being equipped with a Solerite Power Talon just to mix things up a bit (made from a leftover Geigor Fell-Hand's claw for added fanciness). I wanted to have the two weapons he's wielding interacting with one another, rather than just being completely separate as is the case on far too many models (including the base Allarus and the official Aquilons). Obviously there's still some work to be done on him, most notably the greenstuff, but fortunately for these guys that's generally just a day's work.

WIP Aquilon terminator


As always, I'd love to hear what you all thing, especially at this critical stage where it's a lot easier to change things if you feel it could be better.

Thanks!

That power fist one looks so great!

Nice! Geigor's claw is a great bit. Looking forward to the fire.

@Shadow Walker, thanks! Might be one of the longest time spent between being part-build to complete for one of my models... so far

@youwashock, it definitely is. I liked your use of it with your Space Marine Commander!

Keeping these updates coming hard and fast. Well, maybe not that hard. This is more just to say that the (albeit rather minimal) greenstuff work is done on this fella, integrating the various different kits and changes to the pose. I'll hopefully get him undercoated and start painting him tomorrow, although don't expect too major an update until he's done, if one at all.

WIP Aquilon terminator


Hand detail


As always, would love to hear what yous think. Especially now when it comes to painting this guy. I've not done any OSL for the army so far, but I feel I need to do something to integrate the claw and flame. Maybe have it look like he's heating the claw up (ie a bit of the blue going down the claw)? Or just leave it as the claw being gold and the flame blue? I'll probably try the latter first as it's easy enough to change to the former afterwards, but I'd love to hear what you think.

Thanks!

Thanks!

Flames look fire, as the kids say. Maybe they don't.

I think your plan is a good one. Get the gold down and then decide if you want to get some OSL going. For what it's worth, I think it could look pretty cool.

Great to see you back tarar2d2. I can just about remember these Custodes . These Terminators are really cool and the gold you have on them is fantastic. I’ve had a look back through and can’t quite piece together the full recipe, would you be able to share it?

That greenstuff work looks great. For the OSL, I'd give it a go and see what happens. Worth a shot.

@youwashock, we all just old kids at the end of the day, so if you say it then it's what the kids are saying. Or at least I tell myself that so I don't go mad thinking about my age...

@gobert, great to be back! I can just about remember them myself, so no worries there I'm not certain I ever put the recipe down in this blog, but it's incredibly easy as I'm lazy. Black basecoat (I'm just using Chaos Black spray) > heavy drybrush with Gehenna's Gold > heavy wash with Agrax Earthshade > light drybrush Auric Armour Gold. Gives a decent old gold vibe without getting into intricacies of greens/blues/purples that real old gold tends to have. That said, it apparently still takes me a few years to paint a single model, so maybe it isn't that easy

@Olthannon, thanks! I didn't really end up going too far into the OSL, moreso just letting the paint "naturally" (read messily) reach past the intended boundaries and create some minor OSL-like effects.

Well, from 2-ish years to 5 days. I'm sure you'll agree that's a wee bit quicker on my end. What did I tell you, deadlines work! As I said to Olthannon, I didn't really go full OSL with the claw, but there's enough there that I'm happy with the outcome (I'm not that big a fan of extreme OSL anyways). Can't think of much else to say but that I'm happy with how he turned out! Well, there's the fact that the small flame from the eye broke slightly during painting as I added a bit too much milliput to the GS resulting in a touch but brittle mix. But it was either going to break then or at some point down the line, so better now. All that out of the way, let me introduce you to the penultimate model of the original planned army.

Aquilon-Tesserarius-Ignatum Haco Donovan


In all Custodes burns a flame of unparalleled strength and duty. For some, like Donovan, the beauty of that flame is realised in war, reflected in the glistening charred bodies of the enemy

Side view


Other side view


Rear view


And what's a completed squad without a squad photo? Really nice to see all 3 of them together at last (although, since I had to buy another Allarus kit for the Shield-Captain (coming soon), who knows if they might get a buddy)

Contubernium Aubrio


Would love to hear your feedback on this guy and the squad as a whole. Photos of the WIP Shield-Captain will be coming soon, although I do need to fix some things from when I first started on him!

Thanks!

Lookin' good. The last guy and the group together are quite cool. The blue flames are a nice splash of color.

I love the blue flames, it really sells me on those models!

I’m always a fan of lazy but effective methods! Thanks for the recipe. The squad looks resplendent together, the blue really does make them look a step above.

@youwashock, @Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll, and @gobert, thanks! I was a bit uncertain about the blue spot colour as I wasn't convinced it fitted the rest of the aesthetic, but your feedback on them has really made me feel better about the use of them!

I missed the deadline I had set for myself as my friend was over yesterday for our game (and lost both games we played, but that was expected). That said, it without a doubt has definitely helped get me a lot further with the force than no deadline. And the motivation has been holding up! While I had a decent amount done for the Shield-Captain, especially with regard to the pose, he was still in a bit of a state that wasn't really worth sharing. But the burst of motivation has changed that, and over the past few days he has really come into his own as I get him put together layer by layer. While there's still a tiny amount of work that needs done (mostly around the head), I think he's more than in a good enough state to actually share, so behold the final model in the original plan for this force (at least on the Custodes side)

WIP Shield-Captain front


WIP Shield-Captain side


WIP Shield-Captain back


The two main things I wanted to achieve with this guy is a fairly major change in silhouette while still being obviously a Custode and significantly more motion in the usually quite static Allarus kit. I feel fairly confident I've got both aspects down, but I'd love to hear what you think and if there are any changes or additions that yo might make that would really nail the look down.

Thanks!

Wow, that model rocks! Plenty of motion, for sure. Fantastic putty work. Wouldn't add or change anything.

Yep, motion achieved I’d say! Is he mid stomp or standing on something raised?

@youwashock, thanks! you'll be pleased to know that nothing was added or changed, although it took far too long to actually finish painting. Like usual

@gobert As you'll see below, he's somewhat mid-stomp/charging forwards. Or at least that was the intention.

It wouldn't be me if there weren't months between updates, would it. As I said last time, I missed the deadline for the game against my friend regarding getting this fella painted. And then we played the games and the new rules really just seemed to knock the wind out of my sails. I've no quarrel with my opponent or that I lost both games. It was the ruleset that got me. It just really didn't inspire me as much as the old rules seemed to, ka'tahs and all. I think the thing that really put the nail in the coffin is the dismal Crusade stuff though. I had been keeping up with the Crusade rules that all the other armies were getting, some really inspired stuff just begging to make interesting stories. The Orks with their Waagh-boss, creating a Living Saint wit the Sisters of Battle, and the absolutely amazing Path to Ascension the Genestealer Cults got at the same time the Custodes got theirs. But all we ended up with was 'select some objectives and then complete them', which to me is just mind-numbingly dull.

But, we're not here to complain, gods knows there are enough people on the internet making a living doing so. So instead, I am pleased to present the very last Custode model that was planned back over 4 years ago when I first came up with this army. Granted this army was always supposed to be two parts, a hammer in the Custodes supported by an anvil of an artillery-heavy Imperial Militia/Guard force (depending on if I was playing Horus Heresy or 40k). For now it seems the latter is less and less likely to happen, but who knows what the future holds (i.e. if we get plastic Vostroyans then fully expect this plog to leap back into life). All that said, I now present you with what may be the last model for this army, and I just wanted to thank all of you that stuck around for the slowest of slow burns. I'll stick around for a bit to reply and whatnot, but I wouldn't expect any major updates otherwise.

Clypeus-Katepano et Honoratiores-Essent-Latorem-Presencium-Admonimortis Azvameth Gedeon Deianira, The Unborne, The Aurum Praeceps, The Corrector of History, Odium Psykarna


Side


Other side


Rear


Clypeus-Katepano Azvameth Deianira has been part of the Dread Host for longer than many can remember, the bloody work of the specific Shield Host matching the bloody-mindedness of his leadership. Unlike most of his kind, Azvameth accepts the role of soldier over philosopher or artist, claiming his fascination with battle a philosophy of its own, although one few but himself can understand. But it is this so-called philosophy that has earned him many names both in the annals of the Imperium and in the feared whisperings of its enemies.

Now, we can't have a "final model" reveal without a couple of group shots, can we? Granted these aren't the best photos, but it's great to see the whole gang together I say

The Dread Host Malum




Once again, I just want to say a big thank you to those who continued following this entire time and to those to whom this might be your first post. I've loved the encouragement you've shown and the feedback given. Now, off to other projects!

Thanks!

Ta-daaaaa! Nice finish!

The Corrector of History. I like that a lot. Awesome model and a fine way to wrap up the project. Congrats!

Noice! It must be such a great feeling to get an army finished, especially one that had so much time and effort poured in to it. The grittiness that you got from the gold is amazing. The bikes are just great, and I like how the leader is brighter of armour than the line soldiers (if a Custodes can ever be a line soldier!?)

Very nice tarar2d2.

Cheers,

CB