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AN ALLIANCE OF PROSPERO
Before I begin work on my next batch of terminators I was thinking it was time to share some ideas I've recently had regarding the 1k Son's allies.
One of the best benefits of using the Grey Knight codex was being able to field the many allies and axillaries the 1k sons employed during the great crusade. Mainly the Prospero Spire Guard & Legio Cybernetica.

The Legio Cybernetica
These guys are easy, Use venerable dreadnoughts for the thousand sons and then 3 standard dreadnoughts for Cybernetica robots. I liked the small robotic henchmen idea at first however most Mechanicus robots were usually twice the size of an Astartes so I don‘t think this idea will work at the moment.

The Prospero Spire Guard
This is by far the simplest to incorporate into the army list, sacrificing the Interceptors and Vindicare I can take Coteaz and X3 Henchmen Squads, these are made up of 7 Warrior Acolytes (3 with Meltaguns) and 2 Psykers in a rhino. This gives me three mobile flexible support units that can be deployed for anti-horde or anti-tank something the terminators and dreads lack.

Modelling wise the spire guard will be converted using the high elf archer legs and guard torso, but with the pig iron helmet shown on the red armoured models below, they’ll be painted with red robes and gold armour.



Their transport vehicles will be the chapterhouse chimera because I love the look of that model. However since I can’t afford chimeras and have instead gone with rhinos the weapons will be removed and I‘ll mount either the storm bolter turret or searchlight where the turret goes. I’m aiming to make it look like a fast response vehicle similar to the GDI APC from C&C 3.
After all surely the different factions of the early Imperium would have their own military transports before the chimera became common?



The Psykers will likely be modelled a bit differently so they fit in with the rest of the squad or be converted from the empire wizards.

Which leaves Coteaz, who I don’t know how to model; a techpriest would have been best but if the Legio Cybernetica isn’t in the army he‘ll look out of place. So far the only idea I’ve had is to buy and convert an old Solar Macharius model.



Any other suggestions for a character who would look good alongside the 1k sons and spire guard?

Nice work.

Well you need not worry on the transport front. During the Great Crusade the Rhino APC was the standard infantry transport for both the Legio Astartes and the Imperial Army regiments attached to the expeditionary fleets.
The Imperial Army also fielded Land Raiders during this period, on the scale of entire armored divisions. So fielding your spireguard with rhinos and raiders would not pose a problem.

Solid ideas! I would love to see both Of these groups included in the army. I always envisioned the spire guard to be a very regal looking force, more for show than war. Perhaps a good character woul be the Master of the Fleet guy ( the one in my profile pic) He a sense of formality that looks rather fitting. Saying that though, the Macharius model also looks perfect for the job!

ALL IN AN EVENING'S WORK!
Well another evening’s work and another 3 terminators completed and ready to paint. Remember that the belts bulked out with pouches, grenades and other items after they are completed. After posing the 2nd Justicar with the book I felt I needed to go back and create a more interesting pose for the 1st Justicar, so I’ll replace the torso of the guy in the middle after it’s painted with the 1st squad leader’s with the 1k sons style helmet.



Now back to painting!

TWAS DA NIGHT BEFORE WAAAGH!
It's that time of year again so it's time to break out the xmas squig on my logs.



This week also started off fantastically with my Zanatorian Machine Cult army being sold for £340!

So Merry Christmas Everyone!

Mmm, Christmas squig for breakfast!

Good job on selling the machine cult, can't wait to see what you get up to with these new funds!

Merry Christmas to you to


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Terminators look fantastic also!

THEY LURK IN THE SHADOWS!
Taking a break from my 4th batch of terminators, I decided to convert my 2 Hidden One agents. The hidden ones were the Thousand Sons scout Auxilia, but acted more as espionage agents gathering intelligence for the legion using a variety of sinister methods.
With this in mind I created these two; the one of the left is the basic hidden one operative to represent an ‘inquisitor’ in smaller point games. The one on the right is to represent my Vindicare assassin so I converted him from the scout special character to make him look like he was the most skilled of all the hidden one agents. I also decided to convert the rifle as the scout one seemed too small for something that will puncture land raiders.

Now I just need to finish the terminators, then I can paint these two and then it's onto the task of... the white robes!!!

(sorry for the quality of the 2nd image, my 2nd camera ran out of juice)

Great as always, Proiteus!

they look good, i like the sniper one alot

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!
The Thousand Sons are by far the most interesting of all the legions, it’s just a shame the Thousand Sons today are so boring to play in the chaos codex. A perfect example would be the Hidden Ones who were made up of the Thousand Sons’ scouts and would operate as spies and espionage agents, some programmed using telepathy so well they were unaware of their mission. So here are my 2 agents…

Basic Agent
I created this guy to represent an Inquisitor in smaller point games for my HQ and I’m very pleased with how his paint job went. I decided to give them both battle scratches as they will have likely been out in the field for long periods of time before linking up with the main force, hence the camera and comm on his armour.



Elite Agent
I also converted my Vindicare into a hidden one veteran and he was fun to paint. Only downside is because he is a metal model I needed to give him a coat of vanish to avoid chipping however despite only giving him a quick spray of GW Ardcoat he’s still a bit too shiny for my liking.



Well that it’s for Hidden Ones for the moment, I might make a Callidus assassin in future either as a hidden one or convert sleeper agents 1 for each army (that can be captured and programed).

Now to decide on what to do next while I work on the white robes maybe the 2nd Dreadnought thou I'm 1 autocannon short or maybe the thousand sons captain?

Hey, to help with the metal models, I usually gloss coat to prevent chipping, and then I follow that with a coat or three of a matte varnish to remove the gloss. Prevents them from chipping and keeps the shine away!

those guys look awsome! how did you make that sniper?

Love the army...makes me kind of sad because I had this exact thought a few days ago, and now I realize it wasn't an original thought.

Still, keep up the good work, your modeling skills are impressive!

Edit:

Rogue Wolves wrote:those guys look awsome! how did you make that sniper?

Its converted from Telion, the Space Marine Scout Sergent.

They look lovely, ut this is the main flaw with the whole GW idea behind SM scouts...They're meant to do covert operation sota things, yet they wear brightly coloured armour! Never understood that.

Still love your stuff Proiteus!

Exceptional work! Consider me subscribed!



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I'm interested to see what you end up doing with the space crusade titans

Looks Great, I really like the way the termies are turning out and the paint on your "Hidden Ones" really matches your army...also I don't see to much of a shine from your photos

Keep it up

THE WHITE RAGE!
I’ve spend the last two weeks trying to master painting the white robes and it just isn’t working! What’s frustrating is the rest of the work will be rendered pointless if I don’t get it right as the robes will make or break the models.
The tabards were one thing but full robes are proving to be a much tougher challenge, so I ask…

“Can anyone link me a good painting tutorial for white robes?”

“Also given the size is it possible to use an airbrush to do it, cause if so I‘ll throw down the cash to use one?”

I’ve considered some alternatives but I’m not sure purple would look right and black would make them look too much like blood angels. So I’d be grateful for any help with this.


A suitable picture given the situation.

BITZ WANTED
Another thing I could use a hand with are some bitz I’m after so I can complete my next 2 conversions which aren‘t available at any bits stores at the moment. So if you have any of these bits PM me and let me know.

Imperial Guard Autocannons (For the 2nd Dread)
Empire Flagellant Touches (for my Pyrae Captain)

I airbrush a lot. I would say that it is definately possible to do with an airbrush, but it is not easy. It'll take you a little while to get used to the airbrush, and then getting it right so that you don't over spray into the recesses while still achieving the gradient you are looking for is tough. If you do go that route, I would suggest a higher end airbrush for the job you're looking for as well. I think it would be easier however to get about 4 shades of white/off white and base coat the darkest color, and succesively dry brush lighter shades of white on top, starting with a heavy dry brush and progress to a very fine dry brush with the absolute color in the end. You'll probably have to either have very close shaes to start, or mix 50/50 of each variant of white you use which would give you 7 shades all together. A little tedious, but it "SHOULD" work for you.

Funny you should be at the white robes stage now proiteus, I myself was painting some white robes on my own Sons today! My technique is pretty simple, Astronomican grey base coat, then, using the feathering technique, I gradually build up layers with codex grey, fortress grey and of course, skull white! I painted the apothecary in a similar way to this, should be pics of him on my blog.

Thinking back to old Dakka blogs, I seem to recall that Iflana, Sigur and Hits the spot have all done some pretty amazing work using whites, check them out!

A NEW PLAN, A BETTER PLAN?
Due to my slow progress with learning how to paint white robes I decided it was time to consider the alternative, as I’ve mentioned before the only other colour than would suit them was purple similar to the sorcerer on the novel’s front cover. So after an evening of painting I ended up with this…



To be honest I didn’t expect it could work so well, I think the purple makes him look even more mystic and blends well with the rest of the model. I painted some gold icons round the rim but the dust effect covered most of them up, thou I likely add some gold trim to better highlight the robe seam. Armywise having the Scarab Occult terminators wearing purple robes and scarabs compared to the basic troop's white tabards and markings could make them look very elite?

I’m still debating trying it with white. Anyway I’m anxious to hear feedback regarding the robe’s colour so let me know what you think on if it works or not?

well i think this looks cool, if the robe was white it would give me a blood angley feel (possibly) and this is more egyptian. dust looks great, and so does the gold trim, although i think you should continue it up on the sides of some part of the robe (like in the little picture in you title under the pic)

Wow! Purple robes look fantastic on him, at first I had my doubts but I think you have really pulled it off well, it makes him look very regal and powerful.

I am really enjoying your updates recently. With us two having such similar blogs that we are working on at the moment I feel that I should say that you are one of the several reasons why I chose to start my own Thousand Sons, while it was not the only reason, your work has certainly encouraged me to keep going with my own project. My thanks for being such an inspirational and creative dakkite!

Keep up the good work!

Cain

I much prefer the purple, you never quite got the white down imo.

Robe looks great, you definitely nailed it.

Commander Cain wrote:Wow! Purple robes look fantastic on him, at first I had my doubts but I think you have really pulled it off well, it makes him look very regal and powerful.

I am really enjoying your updates recently. With us two having such similar blogs that we are working on at the moment I feel that I should say that you are one of the several reasons why I chose to start my own Thousand Sons, while it was not the only reason, your work has certainly encouraged me to keep going with my own project. My thanks for being such an inspirational and creative dakkite!

Keep up the good work!

Cain

It seems a popular idea, at the moment. I was stumbling around Lexicanum the other day and had the idea to create a Thousand Sons Pre-Heresy army...only a bit stifled now that I see at least 4 independent blogs dedicated to this exact fact, lol.

You should start an army of them Hologram! It is always nice to see different ways that someone interprets the same army. There are also a couple of big bits companies coming out with Egyptian style marine stuff so the time has never been better!

I honestly like the Purple much more then the white...Purple FTW

I like the purple not only for how well it suites the mini's but the symbolism behind the colour aswell. It makes them look and feel very royal. Great stuff!

Commander Cain wrote:You should start an army of them Hologram! It is always nice to see different ways that someone interprets the same army. There are also a couple of big bits companies coming out with Egyptian style marine stuff so the time has never been better!

I just got in 6 custom Terminator Torsos yesterday afternoon, shipped from ebay. Just need a few legs and I'll start my own. Right now I'm running with Codex: ShinyMarines, probably will do a Draigobuild until I can get some extra cash influx and make some Power Armor Marines.

The question now is how to get permission to use these terminators at Throne Of Skulls. Because despite having 3 GW managers' approval there are a lot of players who believe the judges will ban the army for it's non GW parts.

So I intend to run the models pass the event team via email. But should I say the robes were done by a friend using green stuff and plasticard, or not mention them and just say Im asking about the use of the shoulder pads?

What do you think?

Not mention them, Don't ask don't tell....