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With my university year coming to a close, I feel that this might be the best time to start a blog that will help keep me motivated to build and paint the collection of models that appears to have been taking over my room the past year or two.
This blog will be about converting every single marine/miniature I have to create a unique Ultramarine army through both conversion and painting style as well as detailed bases (since I'm a bit of a sucker for the finer details )

The scenario for this blog is as follows:

"The Quantum Sector in the Segmentum Pacificus, located near the Eye of Terror, came under attack by a daemon incursion, lead by a World Eaters warlord Aratock the First Blooded. In the opening weeks of his Blood Crusade through the Sector, worlds were consumed before his power. His campaign seemed unstoppable for the populaces, and Solace looked to suffer the same fate of all the other worlds in its system, but they were not forsaken. Help arrived in the form of dozens of Space Marine chapters and Imperial Guardsmen, called to battle by the High Lords of Terra. Together they would blunt and turn back the World Eaters general and his forces.
The Sisters of Battle stationed on Solace were the first to fall, defending their shrines to the last as Aratock sought these buildings out. For what significance is unknown to the Imperial forces at this stage. The Imperial regiments that were planetside have been decimated, shadows of their former numbers as they hid and fought a retreating war. What remained of the people on Solace watched in awe as the sky rained drop ships and drop pods, disgorging forth troops to fight in the twisting and rubble strewn streets of Solace. For the first time, hope had returned to Solace."

***
From the writings of Rodarius, the Rough Poet.
Self appointed scribe of the 17th Red Devils Infantry "Underdogs".
9 997 945.M41


And now with that rough bit of writing out of the way, here are some images so far of my efforts. The conversion work is going to be subtle on some, and possibly more extensive on others. Ill be going home in a day or two and so Ill be able to upload more photos of the models in a more complete stage. I hope you all enjoy taking this ride with me

Probably my two favourite built marines so far simply because of the poses of the models.


The dreadnought has had more subtle conversion work done.







And picture for size comparison.




Apologies on some of the blurry images, I had to make do with a potato to take them. If you click on the image, you should be able to get upclose and personal with the details on the models.
Hope you all enjoy the start of this interesting journey, any questions or comments you might have are welcome

@thenoobbomb - Thanks, mate. I'm hoping this thing will keep me motivated over these Christmas months

Update time!

Arrived home from uni and decided to do a few bits and pieces. I have found that taking photos of my phone tends to de-saturate them a little. In relity, the dreadnought has sharper highlights and the gradient from blue to dark blue is more visible. But, that's what you get for trying to use a phone to take pictures, I suppose

Anyway, Here are some almost finished shots of the Venerable Dreadnought and the first Tactical squad built and ready for priming.









The squad was created using some bits from Anvil Industries, they do some great bits to help convert tac marines and their weaponry, the drum mags being a favourite of mine.







As always, questions and comments are most welcome

With recent work commitments, there has been little time to focus on the hobby, but I come forth now with a few pictures of some Ultramarines
These are just the base and then first highlight layers on the marines so far:







I hope you guys enjoy these.

 deathalus wrote:
good stuff! i'd like to see more highlighting on those SM but the project is good looking, keep it up!

Thanks
The highlights come in the next two stages of painting on the armour. So far they have only had a basecoat, a wash and then a drybrushing of a lighter blue to highlight the armour overall before I'll be going over another lighter blue. After that comes a bit of edge highlighting to pick out the sharper features, stay tuned for more.

Here, have some bases for my scouts! Im focusing on the rubble/urban theme for my basing which will be focused around greys and blues with some bits of rust thrown in for good measure.





More updates in the coming days as I am currently just going through and putting the second layer of blues on the tactical squad.
Hope you enjoy

After a bit of busy scheduling with work and things happening in day to day life, updates were unable to come sooner as less and less time was able to be diverted to the blog.
But. Not for long, for I have for you all today, an UPDATE!!
Here we have some lovely near finished paintschemes on the squad Sergeant and another marine as well as some near completed scouts.
The first Tac squad has all of the blues and golds down and painted with the exception of the highlights on the armour. Still to go are the all of the metallics and the battle damage as well as finishing off some bases with extras.

Without further ado, here we go, prepare yourselves... There is a small ocean of pictures to wade through

























Here are the bases painted for the Tac squad, missing a few last drybrushes or coats of paint but overall shaping up nicely.





And finally we have some scouts. The scheme for the scouts is based on a dark armour fatigue Ultramarine scheme I saw in a WD magazine article that featured a team members Ultramarine army in the changiing to the newest edition of 40k. Seeing the way the scouts were painted made me want to do my own in a similar fashion. What the camera doesn't show is the subtle variations of greys in the fatigues to give a very dark urban grey feel yet still retaining the dark image over all. I wanted my scouts to be wraiths in the urban warfare, not bright blue and white like the standard scheme for Ultramarine scouts would have them seen as.









Of course there is still the matter of the skin tones needing the be fleshed out a little more but they are also shaping up nicely for the squad at the moment in time.

Any ways, sorry for the carpet bombing of pictures, I just thought that a picture might saya thousand words where I have been slaking lately in the updates.

As always, I hope you all enjoy the models and comments and questions are always welcome.

@Paradigm - Why thank you. DakkaDakka already has so many Ultramarine blogs, I shall need to up my game to stand out it would seem.

@Slipknotzim - Indeed they are, very excellent too and get the job done just right to give a more machine and mechanised feel to the legs, reminds me of Heresy era armour which I think looks amazing.

Small little update!

Due to some room rearrangements happening at the moment, I am unable to keep all of my things out to build and paint models, so for now I decided I would give you all a small taste of other things I had been working on a while ago but never got around to showing.

So for today, I bring you a picture of my first try at a World Eater marine in need of a wash in the joints and a Imperial Guardsman Sergeant complete with plasma pistol and powersword. As well as a little bonus pic for those that love small fluffy creatures





Here we have the start of an allied guard attachment, the 17th Red Devils that accompany the Ultramarines on Solace after drop podding onto the surface.







And finally, any rabbit lovers out there? These little bubbies were born not too long ago and they have appeared to taken away precious time from my hobby... No regrets though, just look at those little faces!

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 Ustrello wrote:
Very nice bases. Did you use the basing kit from GW for them?

On some of the bases such as the guardsman, I used the 40k basing kit with the chaos helmet which works really well.

On others, I use a mix of plasticard, the 40k basing kit components and some dirt/sand from outside to create the varied gravel ground.

A great extra little touch are the skulls which can be bought in bunches on ebay and things for a couple of dollars in some places.

 Gorgrimm wrote:
Really wonderful conversions. I like the marine with his bolter facing down the best. It looks like he's already put some Chaos scum down, but feels the need to pump a few more blasts of holy bolter rounds into it just to be sure.

Red Devils are looking good so far judging by the Sgt.

Is that demon on the World Eater's shoulder actually glowing?

Subbed! Cool work!

Thanks for joining us

You can never pump too many bolter rounds into a chaos scum, the target just becomes more and more bloodies unrecognizable pieces!

The eye of the daemon shoulder pad has a glowing blue object source thing going on just like the eyes and chest piece. The glow of the deamon itself is more to do with the pale skin tones I've used on it and the glare of the nearby light source. I have a few more World Eater chosen members laying around not being put to use that I could always use for an update if I cannot gain access to my Ultramarines for a while longer.

+++ WARNING, BLURRY IMAGES INBOUND! +++

So I hate to do this to you guys... but its almost 1 in the morning at the time of posting, and with a rush of passion, I completed the scout squad and the tactical squad.

The only thing missing from the Tac squad would be their shoulder pad decals which will need to be done at a later date. All of the models have been pinned to their respective bases and all have weathering and some battle damage.

I apologise for the blurry photos, my phones camera assured me they were more stable but soon I shall have to be using a proper camera to do my photography.















A few of the sharper images offer much better views if you click to get close ups.

As always I hope you all enjoy, and please be gentle, they look a lot better than the picture portray

Paradigm wrote:Great stuff, man! I really like the conversion and paint style!

Thanks Paradigm I just wish I had some better pics for you guys to really see it all.

angelofvengeance wrote:I quite like the eyes on that Chosen marine. Looks intimidating!

Thanks AOV, the eyes are done with a simple white that touches the edge of the eye slot, and then glazed with Guilliman Blue Glaze to colour the eyes, giving them a bright blue appearance.

To apologise for the last batch of mostly scrappy photos I put up for a show of progress, I found some spare time today and dug out the Olympus I usually use to photograph.

Being a bit rusty, it took several rounds of trying different settings to find what felt like the right ones for the miniatures.

Because of the way the camera takes in a little more light, the models appear almost a touch washed out, but I assure you the Ultramarines have a darker paint scheme in person and the photos will hopefully get better as I learn to use this camera once more.
Now lets get down to business











Here are some retaken shots of the scouts as well for your viewing pleasure





And also on the blocks were some guardsmen. Trying to figure out how the overall scheme of the Red Devils would start to look on more guardsmen is a bit tricky, and the first attempts at battle damage look rather odd on the single model, but it's all a progress shot none the less. The armour plates are flat toned simply because they are missing their highlights and only base colours have been painted on them so far.



There are also a few pics I uploaded of some WIP on a few World Eaters chosen from the DV box set. If anyone is interested, I'll upload them here to the blog as well, but at the moment they are sitting in my gallery here in dakka dakka.

As always, the pictures can give you much more detail and closeups if you desire to click them andI hope you all enjoy.
Any c&c are also welcome.

"You there, random citizen of the Imperium! Yes you there, Sir(and or Madam)!
Let me ask you a question!
Have you ever wanted your local priest to be less boring and more exciting?
Of course you do!
Have you ever wanted to see your local priest weilding a shotgun one handed?
Of course you do!
And have you ever wanted to see him smite the enemies of the Imperium with chainsword in hand?!
I think we all know the answer to that!
Today ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special surprise for you!
Introducing to you all today on the Battlefields here of the once mighty Solace, The Old Kook!"







Jokes aside this is a priest I converted to be placed in a guardsmen squad. At the same time, I generally like the overall look of the model although I am thinking of adding a few more touches here and there. There is almost an inquisitors retinue kind of feel the Old Kook, and there is a bit of backstory/fiction of written for him... Ill probably put it up once the model (if ever ) is completed.

Hope you all enjoy.

 Paradigm wrote:
Awesome conversion, so simple yet so effective!

It's amazing how well scout arms work on Empire models (or vice versa perhaps...)

WIP shots for you all today.

With some storms hanging around the coast here at the moment, i decided it would be a perfect time to finish building a couple of World Eaters models and base coat them while I still had the chance (and the time!)

With Christmas just around the corner, my paintbrushes were feeling like a little red christmas cheer was in order. I bring for you all some bases and WIp shots of the two chaos figures, Aratock the First Blooded and an unnamed character. Included as well is a first applications of base paints on the Red Devils Priest, The Old Kook.















Hope you all enjoy. I should have some more updates sooner, rather than later.

That's right, I am all about these bases

Little update for you all. The bases have pretty much been finished up except for a possible couple of touch ups to be done.













Any thoughts or questions?

UPDATE TIME!

Following a few hectic Christmas working weeks, I have been able to churn through a little bit of painting to almost finish one of my World Eaters (Yay!)

Not having much time to spend on the hobby has sill enabled me to almost complete the WE Terminator Captain who is the process of being put together. Here are some lovely pictures for you all, starting with the Jump pack Chaos Lord.

A wonder of the Dakka Upload system is how it enjoys taking away a little bit of the details that are otherwise plainly visible in the unprocessed shots... Oh well The scar on the face was built up using liquid greenstuff, giving the impression of a wound causing a blind left eye using white when painting.











Here is the Terminator ready to be put together.



He is also magnetized at the arms to enable weapon swaps when needed, and for the posing to be allowed for style




And finally a supply drop from Mighty Ape was what inspired me to finally try and push through some of these models, I only hope that with the addition of these paints I add a little mroe something special.... Or indeed become inspired to build some more of my Ultramarines for the next squad.



As always, hope you all enjoy.

MWH.

@e.earnshaw - The shoulder pads, legs, torsos and ammo clips that seem different are from Anvil Industries, a UK based bitz company where I've stocked a lot of the small conversions on my models. A great little company I've found.

@Kelly502 - I have no idea what breed of rabbits they are, other than the father has part lop eared in his genetics. Some of the offspring have now got both ears down and are getting really super fluffy which is just adorable! Ours aren't too accustomed to being lifted or held, they much prefer being petted or stroked when on the ground., so climbing into their inclosure is always fun.

Alright people, after some real life issues occurring, my time and energy was unable to be focused on the hobby, but was instead needed for keeping myself just functioning on a day to day basis for the last two months or so. But no longer, I was only able to put off my hobby works for so long before I figured I had to give you all something.

So in regards to that, i bring you all a small update here on the World Easters characters, pretty much completely done except for some re shading of the models and perhaps a bit of edge highlighting on certain parts of the armour.

I apologise for the bad lighting, I'm doing this all at about 2 in the morning being unable to sleep and packing my room for a return to University in a few days.













MWH.

 Paradigm wrote:
Those look very nice indeed. I'd perhaps scratch the large red panels up a bit just to add some contrast, but other than that they're pretty great!

Also, I'd fill in the gap between the winged guy's hand and forearm, looks like it should be the under-armour rather than plate. That's just nitpicking, though.

I think that little gap might just be a wrist coil thing that I was meant to paint silver but simply forgot... Oh the joys of noticing problems only after taking pictures hahaha

Still things to touch up, but overall, I was wanting to go with a more clean looking World Eaters force to contrast the more gritty feel of the Ultramarines on the blog.

Breaking out a few of my paints and some tools, I did some more details on my Imperial Guard Priest character, the Old Kook before pining him to his base.







As well as that, I brought out some bits to clobber together the start of my assault squad, complete with two models and 5 urban rubble bases near ready for basecoating.
I made the first squad member based on the Reapers from Star craft after watching far too many games. The idea of the double pistol gunslinger marine cruising around seemed far too cool to pass up. and the respiratory face mask from the Tac Squad box makes for a convincing Reaper gas mask.





I also toyed with the idea of a trophy hunter, and at the moment I have slowly had this idea of building each member as a different character of the squad, members promoted from the lower assualt company to fill the ranks after the massacre of Damnos left the 2nd Company short on manpower.
Coming with these promotions, the squad mates have brought with them their strange habits and quirks, some that almost seem to go against the standard Codex Astartes. But with man power short, these Assault Squads are being given a pass over as long as they keep bringing the results on Solace required of them... And then some.







And here are your bases

 Paradigm wrote:
Looking good! The Priest is an epic bit of conversion and looks as good as seamless, and the Assault Marines are cool too!

Thanks Paradigm The Priest has been my first extensive conversion, and also first fantasy model I got. It's just a shame the finecast flaws in the model when I got it so long ago meant that conversion work was all he was destined for.

At the moment all of my models and bits are stored away for transporting tomorrow as I head off to university, but that hasn't stopped me writing some little story/fluff for the assault squad... It's pretty basic but it was something that has just come to mind if any are interested.
I'm kind of wanting to make them sit on the outskirts of bordering heresy simply because of their habits and quirks, but are overall still loyal to the emperor... Even if the chaplain may disagree with them sometimes.

With Uni well underway I have had little time for my models and things :/ a shame since I keep having great ideas but never getting around to implementing them. Regardless, I bring you all some more completed jump infantry.

All models have been converted including a more compact assault variant of the melta gun.

Once again time slips through my grasp, and the daily tasks and struggles of the grind at university leave me with little time for models. Although when assessments final come around suddenly my interest is peaked and I have all the time in the world. So this is the result of these enthralled hours better spent on actual university work Time well spent though.

As always my shoddy camera work does wonders to these models, thanks guys.

















And finally the aftermath of these cutting and converting processes leaves me with things that are still recognisable as models to come.



Hope you all enjoy. Ill be doing my best to finish off the tactical squad and getting a basecoat on both squads to start some painting. An activity that I am sorely missing at the moment.

 Paradigm wrote:
Hooray, more cool stuff! I've said it before, but your eye for poses is really good! Running guy with the knife is epic!

Thanks paradigm. I often take little bits of inspiration from different blogs on Dakka. I think a couple of those running tac squad guys have bits and pieces of their poses taken from a Minotaurs blog that I can never find these days. I'm just lucky I saved some pictures of them when I found it.

How long has it been since an update? Too long I say! Sol i bring for you all some pictures of progress.















the colours are a little saturated due to my phones camera not being the most precise but it all looks pretty close to the real deal regardless except the blue is a little more muted.

As always, enjoy

 Paradigm wrote:
Yeah, definitely a few ideas there I'll be... Borrowing!

Haha all in the spirit of the hobby! It's always good to spread ideas and things around in the world of miniatures


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What's that you say? Two updates in two days?! What on earth is happening? Have I gone mad?! .....Probably.

Just a small update though, hope you guys enjoy. got all the base blues down and starting on the silver trimmings of the marines







Hope you all enjoy.

With temperatures sitting at around the negative celsius to about 3 each day here in the inland parts of Aus, I found my hands have been fairly unsteady. Not only with brushes but with my camera as well, as shown by this little update

Also a little peak at what the models start to look like when they are mounted on their bases.









Hope you all enjoy. May not post for a little while until things get warmer and I can move my fingers again Long live the snowy lands in Australia!