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I'd like to start off by saying I think space marines look silly and have never really been tempted to do any of the various factions, save perhaps Salamanders.

Yet.... this...

Wow, just wow. I know that lots of people like space marines, but I really, really don't, so when I tell you that this made me want to play an army of them, I want you to know how high the praise is.
Gritty, simple, brutal. I love it

Absolutely amazing representation. Forge World could have used you for some of the previous prim arch releases. The face is incredible.

Amazing!

Amazing work . Very cool

His name is pretty simple. It's just like the name Guillermo, but with "iman" at the end instead.

 calamarialldayerrday wrote:
His name is pretty simple. It's just like the name Guillermo, but with "iman" at the end instead.

Not according to GW; I forget which one exactly but one of the audiodramas pronounces it "goolie-man", and I think that was the first time the name was spoken aloud in anything "official". I wish I was kidding.

Well that just sounds dumb. But people tell me I pronounce Isstvan wrong too. I pronounce it as if it were Hungarian. Istvan means Stephen in Hungarian, and both the "s" and the "ss" in Hungarian make a "sh" sound. So, Ishtvan.

Great job! I love the gritty weathering on the armor. It adds to the drama and realism, making him look like belongs on a battlefield! I'd love to see him in a game.

Nicely done

Indeed! I'm always a fan of primarch model conversions. They're pretty much the only models I'd count as "collector" pieces moreso than game pieces personally.

Thanks for the comments, everyone – really very much appreciated. While I was happy with how he came out, I didn't expect him to get such a warm reception, so this has been a lovely surprise.

To put the figure in context, I thought I'd post up some pics of the troops. After all, what's a general without his footsoldiers?

I've posted some of these figures in the past, as I've been working on the army since about 2008. The first batch was the 15th Chapter, which were known as the Praetors of Calth. These got a bit of notice at the time, and I'm told by one of the editors at the Black Library that the 'Praetor pattern' armour mentioned in Know No Fear was a nod to the army. Needless to say I was very happy with that!

I'd originally picked Ultramarines partly because they got a really bad rap at the time. People saw them as boring and dull, whereas I remembered them being the reliable, well-organised marines of 2nd edition. As a result, the older army was themed around the Great Crusade period, with lots of individuality to give a feeling of the heroes of Ancient Greece (especially the Trojan War). Also, there was very little written about them at the time – Horus Rising had only just been released, and as far as we knew, the Ultramarines weren't going to get a book at all. As a result, I had a great time merrily inventing forgeworlds and campaigns and little stories to go along with my marines.





The army then lay fallow for a bit while I worked on other projects. Back in 2013 I decided to return to the army. Forge World had released lots of cool new bits like proper Heresy-period armour and weapons, and I'd been itching to give them a try. I decided to create a complementary army, starting from scratch with a tighter image.

To contrast with the 'individual heroes' theme of the Praetors of Calth, the newer marines would be from a freshly-recruited Chapter on Calth. With a more uniform appearance and more limited palette, I hoped to create a more coherent army that made the most of the new bits coming from Forge World. The development of the background to look more closely at the Ultramarines' role in the Heresy had also provided some guidelines. While complete freedom was great, I'm a big fan of using guidelines as a challenge to create something that both fits in, and is interesting. I hope I've succeeded, but I'd be very happy to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Anyway, enough navel-gazing. Here are some pics of the current crop – the Ultramarines of 190th Company; clustered around Trenchant Ridge in the northern tundra of Calth...

Glorious!! Really great looking troops and some really strong representation of character and atmosphere! Battered and bruised but still proud! Just as they should be! Top job mate!

That is epic! Well done!

That is nice work. I like the back banner just fine - it is "grittier" and more practical than most and fits in well with the other figures.

Excellent work. I agree too many malign the Ultramarines just because they have been poster children. Your marines are quite fetching.

This is the most stunning effect I have ever seen. Looks like ripped straight off an oil painting. How many hours did the painting of the primarch take you?

This may be the first presentation of anything even related to the Ultramarines Chapter that I have ever enjoyed.

The Ultramarines are without a doubt the most uninteresting chapter of the lot, and GWs childlike fascination with them (and their desire to merge them into a Call of Duty title) has all but destroyed my interest in Space Marines at large.

But... your understated colors, the expressions, and the overall style of the work makes me feel the slightest inkling of respect for the figure. If you knew me at all you would know what a compliment this is - but I hope you'll just take my word for it!

Please continue painting! It is clearly something you have a gift for - maybe one day I can see your magic on the Imperial Fists, Dark Angels, or some other more deserving chapter (sorry - had to).

Question: I've always thought his hair was greyish and he was older...sort of like an IG general...speaking of that, why is it always the Ultramarines that show up and steal the credit for a months-long campaign by the IG??!
"VICTORY!!! The SCIONS of ULTRAMAR have done it AGAIN!!!
+SMALL PRINT:+ some 300000000 IG men were harmed in the making of this victory...

Sorry though ,that's personal.

Hey all,
Thanks very much for your comments – they're all much appreciated

wide_ocean wrote:This is the most stunning effect I have ever seen. Looks like ripped straight off an oil painting. How many hours did the painting of the primarch take you?

Ta, and that's great to hear – I'm aiming for a more painterly style with this army. Guilliman din't take all that long, to be honest. The head took most of an evening's painting (around three hours), but the rest of him only took around the same amount of time. The biggest delay was waiting for multiple washes to dry.

En Excelis wrote:This may be the first presentation of anything even related to the Ultramarines Chapter that I have ever enjoyed. The Ultramarines are without a doubt the most uninteresting chapter of the lot, and GWs childlike fascination with them (and their desire to merge them into a Call of Duty title) has all but destroyed my interest in Space Marines at large.

But... your understated colors, the expressions, and the overall style of the work makes me feel the slightest inkling of respect for the figure. If you knew me at all you would know what a compliment this is - but I hope you'll just take my word for it!

A very humbling comment; thank you. I've liked the Ultramarines from back when their Codex came out in second edition. In a sea of close combat armies and over-the-top heroes, the Ultramarines were a grittier and more down-to-earth Chapter. My aim with the original army (The Praetors of Calth) was to look at the Ultramarines – by that time mostly regarded as 'boring' and 'standard' – and try and get a bit of interest in them by focussing on the core concept of Space Marines, and how the Ultramarines embodied that.

En Excelis wrote:Please continue painting! It is clearly something you have a gift for - maybe one day I can see your magic on the Imperial Fists, Dark Angels, or some other more deserving chapter (sorry - had to).

Well, I might be able to cheer you up – how's this injured Raven Guard?


No? Well, everyone loves the Alpha Legion, right?


Another bad guy, perhaps?


Well, if none of those are doing the trick, how about this chap?

I really do enjoy all of your painting.... but the Imperial Fist there is my favourite! Very closely followed by the Ultras...... the purple light from his visor is a really nice contrast to the purple! Think I might need to get a couple of marines and try this out!

Cheers

+++
Sergeant Symander of the Heroditians

Not all sergeants are grizzled Veterans. At the formation of the 190th, Lycios Symander was drawn up from the ranks, having shown leadership skills and capabilities above those of his classmates. He was placed in command of the newly-formed second squad of the line, dubbed the Heroditians in honour of a minor Senate member on Macragge.

As a newly-invested commander of a new squad, Symander's armour remains relatively unembellished. However, he does bear a standard crested helm along with a decorated belt buckle –white on gold to symbolise Macragge – and, more notably, artificer-enhanced greaves. Their origin is uncertain, though the handiwork bears several hallmarks of Arius, a Techmarine attached to the 15th. Older Chapters sometimes acted as 'sponsors' for newly-formed Chapters, supplying a core veteran cadre to inspire the new troops, along with equipment, material and honours aimed at driving the new Chapter forward successfully.


Armed as standard for a Sergeant, Symander has a Tigrus-patten bolt pistol and Marta Nova-pattern chainsword.


Symander's equipment is – as could be expected – perfectly laid out according to the Marian Reforms; a series of directives sent down from Marius Gage to aid combat effectiveness amongst the Legion. While not compulsory, the Reforms were the distillation of the Great Crusade's lessons, and Chapters that adopted them often saw a spike in effectiveness.

Is that using the Phoenix Guard terminators as a base? I've always thought they'd make a great set of ornate truescale ultras and if I ever restarted making truescales again I'd get those for a squad of loyalists and gal vorbak for chaos.

Your Ultramarines really show how the should be shown by GW.
I love the new sergeant. Great job.

Warboss – yes, the legs are from the Phoenix Guard terminators. Some lovely detail.

Hanskrampf – ta!

+++
Brother Domnon
The Marian Reforms, instituted towards the ends of the Great Crusade, saw a great deal of simplification and – within pragmatically broad parameters – adoption of a uniform approach. These reforms would later be refined and codified in the famed Codex Astartes, forming the skeleton of Imperial Space Marines' infantry deployment into the 41st Millennium.


An important part of the background behind the Reforms was the developments made during the Great Crusade. Where the early Legions had relied upon dedicated comms-officers and signalmen, increased manufacturing power and refinement now allowed each suit of power armour produced to be fitted (retro-fitted in the case of Crusade Armour, but standard thereon) with comm-beads in both the helmet and throat of the armour, allowing inter- and intrasquad communication.


However, the adoption of these early STC patterns was not universal, nor was it practical for far-flung or underequipped front line forces to replace these vital pieces of equipment. They were thus regarded as optional, and dedicated squad vox-men – called 'bucinators' by the XIII Legion after the hand-set's resemblance to an animal horn – were deployed within each squad of the line.


Fitted with a bulky auxiliary backpack that could broadcast on multiple holobands or via a number of auxiliary methods (often dependent on the type of atmosphere the Ultramarines were fighting in), vox-men like Brother Domnon were expected to maintain communication while fighting every bit as hard as their comrades.


The bucinators of the Ultramarines were often drawn by lots from within the squad – but some officers preferred to take a more direct approach and issue the task as either an honour, or even as a punishment!

ROFL! Thanks for the other pics!

As I stated before, you are a gifted painter and your work is very enjoyable. My distaste for the Ultramarines chapter is strictly related to the fluff and the overall affect that they have had on the hobby, which IMO is undesirable.

The Imperial fist marine is definitely joy! Like your Ultras he seems to be a pre-heresy model and that wargear (helmet and older packpack) has a lot of character!

The Injured Raven Gaurd is worthy of a whole game - some sort of homebrew scenario where he is an objective and needs to be rescued or collected from the battlefield. Would be fun - and that model definitely deserves it!