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Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Thanks, progreen10!

While the project is indeed mainly for fun, I actually did think about which codex I wanted to use: In 5th edition many people would use the GK codex to represent Custodes. However, that didn't appeal to me, since it meant I couldn't have any (jet)bikes or "normal" Marines. So I planned to use them as Vanilla Marines, since the codex offered all the different unit types I wanted to convert. Nowadays, with the new allies rules, I could probably use a mix of GK and Marines, or even throw some Sororitas into the mix. But like I said, those considerations definitely come last. Rule of Cool is key with this project

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Nurgle Veteran Marine with the Flu






Yorkshire, England

Sweet work, consider me subbed
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Thanks, MetalOxide!

After painting the first batch of models from the new "Dark Vengeance" starter box today (a couple of chaos cultists, you can see them in my World Eaters thread), I turned my attention to the other half of the box's contents.

You see, one of the greatest things about the new starter box is that both forces contained within it are pretty much equally useful for me: While the chaos models will be inducted into my World Eaters and Traitor Guard, I will try to convert as many of the Dark Angels models into Custodes as possible.

So I took one of the Deathwing Terminators from the box - here's the assembled model -



and began to turn him into a Legio Custodes Terminator wearing ancient, Cataphract-pattern Terminator armour. Quite a bit of cutting was needed for this, since I wanted to keep the Terminators powerfist -- the rivets are just screaming Pre-Heresy to me. So I needed to get rid of the shoulderpad. I cut off the entire arm, replacing the upper part with a regular Terminator arm. The other arm and torso front were put away for future projects, and I used all kinds of stuff from my bitzbox to turn this guy into a Pre-Heresy Terminator. Take a look:



Same model, ladies and gentlemen



While I realise that the armour is not 100% consistent with the artwork, I still think that enough of the visual cues are there to make this guy read as a Custodes in cataphract armour.



I think the paintjob will do the rest



As you can see above, I also build the beginnings of a Guardian Spear: The weapon was spliced together from the blade of a Nemesis force halberd, the shaft of a thunderhammer and a part of a Chaos Knight lance. I may yet add a Boltgun to transform the weapon into an actual Guardian Spear.



The really great thing is that I hadn't really expected to be able to build a whole squad of Custodes Termies: I had built a test piece (from an AOBR Termie), but I didn't want to buy a whole Termie kit for what is basically just a fun conversion. But the starter box has given me enough base models to build a whole squad. Yay!

Let me know what you think!


My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Blood-Raging Khorne Berserker




Fife, Scotland

Nice work brother. He looks great.

   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that was a termie from the DV box. Nice converting.

D
   
Made in gb
Nasty Nob






london (all of it)

Beautiful, very nicely done and coverted. im just waiting eagerly for the paint job

Matt.Kingsley wrote:'Bigfish, Dakka's official Plastic-Fu master'

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Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Thanks a lot, guys!

I am actually pretty surprised that the conversion turned out to be really easy. Working on the other Termies will probably quite a bit harder, though...

@ bigfish: Cheers, mate! Here's a little exclusive teaser info for you: He's going to be gold

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Unhealthy Competition With Other Legions





York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Nice! I am still stuck as what to do with DA termies in a chaos army.....

If any of you have ever played DoW, (2 retrubution for that matter), you may know of the dopplerganger effect which clones the enemies..... So I could "clone" the DA termies to go in my CSM army

Looking forward to seeing that Pre heresy terminator painted :3

Imperial guard: Because quantity has a quality of it's own.

Sisters of Battle can be used in any game, with the exception of chess, Monopoly and of course, Warhammer 40,000.

After 8 editions, you might have thought that GW could get fantasy right. 
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

@ progreen10: Well, here's a couple of ideas, off the top of my head:

- use them to represent fallen angels. You can adjust exactly how far they have fallen by the amount of trophies and spiky bitz you chose to add

- most of the DA iconography is located on the arms and torso fronts, so replace those with chaos parts, and you'll end up with something much more in line with the rest of your army.

- the many purity seals on the Termies make them an execellent fit for Word Bearers.

- you may need a little cutting and planning ahead, but like I demonstrated above, the Termies can be transformed into something pretty different. The bigger your bitzbox, the better

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Unhealthy Competition With Other Legions





York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Well, doing the termies as fallen might be a bit hard, as they would be deathwing, who are like complete anti-heresy.....

I'll try and do some nice spiky bitz

Imperial guard: Because quantity has a quality of it's own.

Sisters of Battle can be used in any game, with the exception of chess, Monopoly and of course, Warhammer 40,000.

After 8 editions, you might have thought that GW could get fantasy right. 
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

 progreen10 wrote:
Well, doing the termies as fallen might be a bit hard, as they would be deathwing, who are like complete anti-heresy.....


Well, as for the feasibility of Fallen Termies, let me just point you towards these guys:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=178772

That's what I'd go for if I were to convert those Termies to chaos.

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Unhealthy Competition With Other Legions





York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Oh nice, thanks

Imperial guard: Because quantity has a quality of it's own.

Sisters of Battle can be used in any game, with the exception of chess, Monopoly and of course, Warhammer 40,000.

After 8 editions, you might have thought that GW could get fantasy right. 
   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






 KrautScientist wrote:
 progreen10 wrote:
Well, doing the termies as fallen might be a bit hard, as they would be deathwing, who are like complete anti-heresy.....


Well, as for the feasibility of Fallen Termies, let me just point you towards these guys:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=178772

That's what I'd go for if I were to convert those Termies to chaos.


Thanks for that link. Really cool to see some Fallen Angel models.

D
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Alright, I have another before/after picture for you:

Before:



Another Deathwing Terminator from the new starter box. Say about GW's decision to make the Marines in the box DA what you want, the poses on those Termies are excellent!

You know what's next, right? A lot of cutting and kitbashing is what Again, my objective was to transform this guy into a Legio Custodes Terminator. Here's the result of that plan:



The conversion was pretty easy too! I cut off the left arm (with the chainfist), which can still be used on another conversion and removed the Terminator's head (that was a part of the torso). I replaced the arms with parts from my bitzbox and built the foundation of another Guardian Spear. Then I added some bitz. Done!



You'll notice that my Custodes Terminators don't look exactly alike. The reason for that is that I am using different base models and have to make do with what's in my bitzbox. Then again, I think it fits that those warriors should wear individualised armour: Each of them is a mighty champion of the Imperium, so I think it's quite alright if their armour deviates from the standard design here and there.







I am pleasantly surprised how relatively easy those Deathwing Termies can be converted into something quite different!

Let me know what you think!

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






Excellent work again.

So the new arm is from your bitz box?

Also, where are the top-knot things from?

D
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Thanks, mate!

The new arms are indeed from my bitzbox: The left one is a Chaos Terminator power fist (with an added lion shield). The chaos power fists look reasonably close to the claw-like fists Terminators are pictured with in the HH artbooks. The right arm was spliced together from a Chaos Terminator arm and the gauntlet from a WFB Chaos Knight (holding a lance that formed the Guardian Spear's shaft).

The topknots were cut off regular Ork Boyz

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






 KrautScientist wrote:
The topknots were cut off regular Ork Boyz


Very cunning. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for the info about the arms.

D
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Glad I could help

I spent the last days planning out how I was going to use the different models in the Dark Vengeance box. The plans for the chaos models can be found over in my World Eaters thread, and I already showed you some of the former Deathwatch Terminators gone Custodes. But what will I do with the rest of the Dark Angels?

Whenever I hit a roadblock during my musings on possible uses of the chaos models, I relax by working on some of the Dark Angel models. Some, if not most of these will be really useful for my Custodes army!

Characters

The Company Master will definitely be transformed into a Custodes officer! It should be easy enough: Just add a different head (for example, one from the High Elf White Lions kit), a couple of bitz and get rid of some of the DA symbols, and you’re there.

I’ll probably save the Librarian for later: He won’t do much good in a Custodes force, seeing how psykers were pretty much outlawed by the Edict of Nikaea. He might make a great base for an Inquisitor, though…Hmm, I’ll have to think about this.

And then there’s the limited edition Interrogator Chaplain. I am pretty sure that he won't end up as a Custodes, as I am somehow feeling a little tempted to convert him into a Word Bearers Dark Apostle…but it’s definitely not a priority at the moment.

Ravenwing Bikes

These will probably end up as Custodes jetbikes sooner or later. I’ll be using this excellent tutorial by Ron Saikowski (of From The Warp fame), although the conversion will probably end up being a bit more complicated compared to normal Space Marine bikes, since the wheels of the bikes from the starter box are part of the bike’s main body. Still, nothing that a bit of judicious cutting cannot solve…

Tactical Marines

To tell you the truth, these are a bit of a problem: The sergeant will become a Custodes with some minor conversion work. As will the guy with the Plasma cannon (only sans the Plasma cannon, since they didn’t yet exist at the time of the Heresy, I believe). His arms are completely separate, and he is sporting a rather interesting, older helmet design, so he will become a member of a power armoured Custodes squad (I’ll be showcasing some models from the squad soon).

The other guys are a pretty hopeless case, though: I doubt any amount of cutting would make them look like anything but Dark Angels tac Marines. So into my bitzbox they go. Maybe I’ll use them as statues in a terrain project. Maybe I’ll start a DA army one day. Maybe I’ll think of something in time. We’ll see…

Deathwing Terminators

Well, you already saw what I am planning to do with those guys, right? For completeness's sake, let me show you the first test model I built for my Custodes Terminators:



This guy is a little older than the other two and was based on a Black Reach Terminator.

More on this as it develops

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in us
Implacable Skitarii






Actually, not only were Plasma Cannons around during the Heresy, they were more common. The Great Crusade was the technological peak of the Imperium, and its only gone downhill from there.

Awesome job on the Cataphractii KS, I look forward to seeing what else you can come up with.

   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Whoa, I had no idea! But if an Archmagos says so, who am I to argue?

The 2nd edition chaos codex had a passage about Plasma Cannons only being available to Dreads and not to regular infantry at the time of the Heresy, although I guess that fluff has been invalidated by more current material. It does explain where I originally got that idea, though...

That said, I'll probably still equip that Marine with something different. It looks like those Plasma cannon arms should work on any Marine torso, so he'll probably get a Bolter and CC weapon, or even Boltpistol and CC weapon. We'll see.

Anyway, thanks for the input, mate!

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






Can't wait to see what you do with the bikes!

D
   
Made in us
Cackling Daemonic Dreadnought of Tzeentch




Ellenton, Florida

Great conversion work.

Armies:  
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Thanks, guys!

Since I just showcased my first Deathwing Terminators gone Custodes, let’s have a look at some finished new recruits for my Legio Custodes force:

I previously told you that my Custodes are heavily inspired by Dave Taylor’s amazing Custodes army. One thing that I found just as fascinating about Dave’s models as the iconic “Praetorians” was that he built a squad of Custodes in “regular” power armour. Supposedly, there is some precedent for this in the HH artwork, although I didn’t find any images on the internet to corroborate this. Still, the fact that Dave had included such a unit in his Custodes force was more than enough reason for me to do the same.

With his models, Dave converted the power armour to look like older patterns that would have been more common during the time of the Horus Heresy. I wanted to do the same, and I happened to have the distinct advantage of a couple of years’ worth of new plastic bits, which made my work quite a bit easier. Apart from that, I kept fairly close to the look established by Dave. I also didn’t worry about trying to get the armour to look 100% accurate: As long as there are enough “correct” visual cues, you can usually get away with minor inconsistencies. Again, the HH artwork itself is almost criminally inconsistent at times, so we shouldn’t really break our backs trying to reverse-engineer armour that was never set in stone in the first place.

So I got to work, and a short while later, I had managed to build a small squad of power armoured Custodes. Let’s take a look:





First up, a Custodes in armour resembling the Mk V “Heresy” Pattern. The torso and helmet are really instrumental in nailing the look, in my opinion. The helmet came from the Venerable Dread kit, by the way, which has several great head options for Pre-Heresy armour (or Iron Warriors, if you’re that way inclined…).

I also used the tip of a chainsword to add a Pre-Heresy-style “chain bayonet” to the model’s Boltgun. Overall, this guy may be missing a few rivets for true accuracy, but I guess that can be excused.



Next up, a Custodes in armour resembling the Mk III “Iron” Pattern. Again, a reasonably close fit, thanks to the breastplate and helmet (another design from the Venerable Dread). This guy is also channeling one of the classic GW “early 90s” poses, for those who remember that time…



This model is wearing straight up Mk VI “Corvus” Pattern armour. This was pretty easy to build, since several Marine kits feature the riveted shoulder pad, and the “Beaky” helmet was easily obtainable from the regular tactical Marines.





There’s little precedent when it comes to this guy’s armour, although I think that the shaved down berzerker helmet makes the armour look quite classical, almost like a Hoplite’s. You’ll notice that I used GK legs for quite a few of the models, but I think the additional inscriptions are a rather nice fit with the Legio Custodes’ overall tendency towards very ornate armour. I also used topknots on all of the models — if you’re a chaos player, you’re never short on topknots, you know…

And finally, the squad leader: Centurion Kletian Varios in mastercrafted power armour:







Alright, alright, who am I trying to fool? The model is the basic Black Reach Sergeant, of course, and he is wearing plain old Mk VII “Aquila” pattern armour. However, I like the model quite a lot — in spite of the fact that the pose doesn’t make a lick of sense: Why isn’t he looking the way he is pointing? Or at least looking at his weapon or something? This guy has lots of nice detail, though, and I really like the facial expression.
I made a couple of small changes, to make him look more like a Custodian: The model’s original arm looks rather strange when attached, so I replaced it with an arm from the Sanguinary Guard, which had the nice bonus of also giving the officer an impressive sword. Then I used a Dreadnought armour plate (from the Furioso kit) as the right shoulderpad, leading to a more individualised look. And I gave the model a converted backpack with some extra bling.

With five models completed, I had the minimum requirement for a squad of tactical Marines I also tried to gloss over any visual inconsistencies with a short piece of background I worked out. Here’s a shot of the whole squad:



Squad Asklepian, “The Artisans”

The members of squad Asklepian forego the classic armament of the Legio Custodes and are instead clad in different marks of power armour. But this is no token of shame, for the squad’s honoured veterans are tasked with testing newly developed armour patterns in combat. That is why their armour is highly individual, with many different patterns across the squad. Some of its members are even wearing patterns that were never approved for mass production, yet they maintain their plate with utmost pride, sometimes even further embellishing it. For it is due to squad Asklepian’s diligent work that the legions of the Imperium may be armoured to the best possible standard, and Centurio Kletian Varios and his men take pride in that knowledge.

See what I did there?

These guys were a lot of fun to build, and I can easily see myself adding some more models to the squad at some point. Right now, I have got the parts for a model in Mk IV Maximus armour as well as a Black Reach Marine with Rocket launcher that will be converted to look more Pre-Heresy. Then there’s the tactical Marine with the Plasma Gun from the new starter box: He is sporting an interesting helmet, and his arms a completely separate, so he would be rather easy to convert. I am also collecting all kinds of “older” armour parts, in case they’ll come in handy while expanding this squad. Maybe I’ll even do one squad member for each armour pattern? Kitbashing a Mk I should be interesting…

With my second troop selection out of the way, let’s take a look at an HQ model next. Until then, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in us
Implacable Skitarii






 KrautScientist wrote:
Whoa, I had no idea! But if an Archmagos says so, who am I to argue?

The 2nd edition chaos codex had a passage about Plasma Cannons only being available to Dreads and not to regular infantry at the time of the Heresy, although I guess that fluff has been invalidated by more current material. It does explain where I originally got that idea, though...

That said, I'll probably still equip that Marine with something different. It looks like those Plasma cannon arms should work on any Marine torso, so he'll probably get a Bolter and CC weapon, or even Boltpistol and CC weapon. We'll see.

Anyway, thanks for the input, mate!


Anything for a fellow servant of the Dark Gods!

I'm loving the new custodes man. They hit all the visual cues of the DT pieces, but don't feel derivative of them, and oddly enough the black helmets catch the eye, probably from the OSL. The terminators look great too.

If I could offer a bit of critique though, I feel the dreadnought pad on the sergeant is far too large, both in thickness and in length. On a Catcaphractii it would work pretty well, but on a tactical marine it just kind of unbalances it. I feel like the VenDread lascannon backpack and the more ornate weaponry do a good enough job of distinguishing it.

Otherwise, keep up the awesome conversions mate. They were a huge inspiration in getting me up off my sorry arse and getting me to work on my Skitarii

   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

@ Archmagos_Amadeus: Glad to serve as an incentive of working on your Skitarii, mate

Maybe this is just a lame way of excusing a dubious modelling choice, but I wanted the - admittedly huge - shoulderpad combined with the equally massive Sanguinary Guard sword to look like he was wielding the sword two-handed during battle, and the bigger shoulder pad was for added protection on the side facing the foe. At least, that's what I wanted it to look like. I also wanted an element that distracts from the fact that the armour is basically straight up Mk. VII.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/09/07 21:41:10


My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

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Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Sniping Hexa





SW UK

I absolutely love these models, very nice conversion work (especially on non modular starter minis, those can be a nightmare to cut). I especially love the way you have painted gold, i will definatly be using that in the future (the GW gold is so horrendous i usually paint silver/copper).

Inquisitor_Syphonious wrote:All I can say is... thank you vodo40k...

Zweischneid wrote:No way man. A Space Marine in itself is scary. But a Marine WITHOUT helmet wears at least 3-times as much plot-armour as a Marine with helmet. And heaven forbid if the Marine would also happen to have an intimidating looking, vertical scar. Then you're surly boned. Those guys are the worst. Not a chance I'd say.

 
   
Made in gb
Veteran Wolf Guard Squad Leader






Reading, England

Brilliant work, i love the termis. Some of us are just going to build the box and others (like you) will take it and turn it into something superior great work.

What codex do you plan on using?

Young Logan

30K Blog: hobbyfromtheaett.blogspot.com

Bran Redmaws Great Company - 5500pts
30K Space Wolves - 1500pts
Deathguard -2300 pts  
   
Made in de
Khorne Chosen Marine Riding a Juggernaut





Germany

Cheers, guys!

@ vodo40k: I have the same problems with painting gold, which is why I am basically painting these with Tin Bitz/Brassy Brass and then only apply Shining Gold during the highlighting stages. It gives them more of a bronze-look, but that's alright with me.

@ Young Logan: I am doing these guys as a modelling and painting project, above all else. That said, I originally decided that, if I ever were to use them in a game, I would probably use the Vanilla Marine codex, since it offers all the unit types I would like to convert. But with the 6th edition introducing allies, all bets are off: I may still use the Marine codex or go for a combination of Marines and GK...basically whatever allows me to use the models I built in a characterful way.

My World Eaters thread here on Dakka

My INQ28 thread here on Dakka

My Legio Custodes thread here on Dakka

My Greenskin thread here on Dakka

Check out my blog: http://www.eternalhunt.wordpress.com 
   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






Really nice squad of Praetorians!

Really like what you did with the AoBR sgt, really cool mini.

D
   
Made in gb
Phanobi





Gosport. UK

Gonna get get that box for tazzy in a few weeks

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