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Hi there, im working on my CSM force, Im (basically) completely new to the hobby. ive only assembled 4 models and only painted 2, and ive never done modelling before those. I also dont have access to alot of bitz. a couple fantasy bitz(given by friends), a chaos space marines squad, and the rest of the model ive bought are metal (OOP possessed and plauge marines). My scheme is the red corsairs.


Now, the plan i have for my lord was to make him out of spare bitz, using mostly the aspiring champion bitz from the Squad. i was going to model him with a Combi-flamer (looks simple to make), and the pointing powerfist for the aspiring champion, modelling him as if he is pointing the troops forward to attack. He will use an aspiring champion head, and an OOP backpack that came with the possessed.

WYSIWG is not important, i dont plan to play tournaments and the people i will be playing with will be relaxed about it. But, just in case, generally, i will be running him with daemon weapon, Mark of khorne and either a twin-linked bolter or a combi-weapon.

The problem is, i think this would look too much like an aspiring champion than a lord. so what im asking for is, is there an easy way to make him stand out? Ive been told that reposing him or Adding a cape will help, but i fear i dont have the skill to repose or make a realistic cape from GS. The other idea i had was assembling him with a bare head (none of my army is going to have a bare head, i think its silly for a soldier in power armour to not wear a helmet) but the problem with that is, i dont have paints to paint skin (and will not buy them for one character) and i dont have a decent looking bare head to use.


so, i repeat my question, is there an easy way to make him stand out?

If you want to do a bare head you can use red paint for the skin. Perhaps giving him a special base would work. Have him standing with one leg on the back of a dieing space marine perhaps.

yes, modelling the base is the way to go. ask a friend for a dead Marine/other model, or use a rock or some such.

Sticking him on a big rock generally helps. You can also try scratch building him some fun stuff like wings (using paperclips and paper), a buzzing cloud of flies (paperclip with a blob of PVA on the end - may need a few dips to get it nice and big - then painted black), etc...

Plenty of things you can do with little to no bits

SilverMK2 is right, a taller/more scenic base will help him stand out. Having a standard or some other kind of trophy rack is another cheap way to help him stand out. If you don't have any standards or trophy racks, you can but them on eBay (or other bitz sites) for quite cheap ($1.00-$2.00).

I have the trophy racks from the termi lord and the vehicle accessory sprue, would one of those work? the issue is, i dont know where to put it

To be honest, I'd just wait If I were you. You don't really have enough bitz to make him stand out, IMO.

Whatever you do, do NOT use that chainmail torso from the tank sprue. If I see that piece of gak on another chaos lord, I swear to god, I will toss it at the nearest wall. That was just a rant I bought a couple chaos lords on ebay for super cheap, and all of them had those pieces of crap >


But if you really must, repose the legs and make him point at something while looking at it. Almost all chaos lords are doing that in one way or another

Up sizing him is also an easy way to make him stand out.. get yourself some plastic card and add a layer to the bottom of his feet and at his waist between his leggs and torso. For the waist part you will need some green stuff also.

Another thing you can do is sharpen a bit of sprue into a point and then put some spare head bits glued on the dull and and attach it to his shoulder. Easy heads trophy.

with what you have I would go along with the larger base idea. in place of the fist you could make a sword out of GS and plasticard and have him pointing that towards the enemy. just a thought

Samus_aran115 wrote:To be honest, I'd just wait If I were you. You don't really have enough bitz to make him stand out, IMO.

Whatever you do, do NOT use that chainmail torso from the tank sprue. If I see that piece of gak on another chaos lord, I swear to god, I will toss it at the nearest wall. That was just a rant I bought a couple chaos lords on ebay for super cheap, and all of them had those pieces of crap >


But if you really must, repose the legs and make him point at something while looking at it. Almost all chaos lords are doing that in one way or another

What would be a good thing to buy for bitz to make him stand out alittle more, then?

"What would be a good thing to buy for bitz to make him stand out alittle more, then?"

a very big hat

Obsidian Raven wrote:

Samus_aran115 wrote:To be honest, I'd just wait If I were you. You don't really have enough bitz to make him stand out, IMO.

Whatever you do, do NOT use that chainmail torso from the tank sprue. If I see that piece of gak on another chaos lord, I swear to god, I will toss it at the nearest wall. That was just a rant I bought a couple chaos lords on ebay for super cheap, and all of them had those pieces of crap >


But if you really must, repose the legs and make him point at something while looking at it. Almost all chaos lords are doing that in one way or another

What would be a good thing to buy for bitz to make him stand out alittle more, then?

Well lemme think...A chaos powerfist is pretty good. Since it's pointing already, that saves you some time. Try pinning it so he's looking to his side and the powerfist follows his gaze....you know what I mean?


Also, trophy racks and bullet holes make models stand out. Well made combi-weapons are pretty cool too.

Samus_aran115 wrote:To be honest, I'd just wait If I were you. You don't really have enough bitz to make him stand out, IMO.

+1.

Invest 20 bones in a Chaos Terminator Lord box set....tons of great stuff in there. Start fairly simple on conversions...maybe a head and weapon swap. Another way to make things stand out is to use a citadel metallic paint, with a contrasting wash. Boltgun Metal/Badab Black and Bronze/Devlan Mud are two REALLY easy combo's that look pretty fantastic for tabletop standad.


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Obsidian Raven wrote:
What would be a good thing to buy for bitz to make him stand out alittle more, then?

Chaos Spawn boxed set is absolutely the best place for random chaos bitz. Don't think of it as buying units, think of it as 30 dollars worth of spare parts. Heads are damn near scaled perfect for Terminator armor with no modification.

Dynamic posing is kind of a bitch without greenstuff work or pinning....trust me I know!!!!

Focus on finding "cool" bitz and then spend time looking at the model imagining how the finished product will look. Don't get locked into "its gotta be this!" because one of the great things about Chaos Marines is the total freedom when building troops and vehicles.

My advice.

Learn the difference between plastic cement and superglue.
Spend some time playing around with greenstuff so you get a sense of how to apply it properly.
Don't just look at the bitz themselves, look at the individual details.
LET THE ADHESIVE CURE BEFORE YOU feth WITH THE MODEL!!!! (this is really really important and honestly the hardest part. I love to play with my toys.)
Invest in a modeling scalpel and A METRIC FUCKLOAD of #11 (not #24 or #4 or anything else) xacto blades. CHANGE EM DAILY
Don't be a puss about gashing your fingers open. You'll learn within a few weeks how to not do that.


There are quite a few hardcore chaos conversion artists on this site and I know all of us love to see the work of others and help new folks grow in their abilities.

Samus_aran115 wrote:
Whatever you do, do NOT use that chainmail torso from the tank sprue. If I see that piece of gak on another chaos lord, I swear to god, I will toss it at the nearest wall.

Go on. tell us how you really feel.


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Obsidian Raven wrote:
What would be a good thing to buy for bitz to make him stand out alittle more, then?

A piece of a floor tile from a Cities of Death kit makes a nice base add-on that's pretty easy to use. I'd post a picture of one I did recently, but Samus_aran115 would toss it at the nearest wall.

Another option would be to snag one of those pointy rocks from the Terminator Lord kit. They are always available on eBay.

I bought a Space marine commander for bitz, i hope that will give me enough to make my lord look "lordy".

A general question

Would a lord with a tabbard AND a cape look too busy?

Obsidian Raven wrote:
A general question

Would a lord with a tabbard AND a cape look too busy?

Depends entirely on your ability to model. There is a short skirt thing in the kit you purchased. Looks like strips of leather....very Romanesque.

Obsidian Raven wrote:I bought a Space marine commander for bitz, i hope that will give me enough to make my lord look "lordy".

A general question

Would a lord with a tabbard AND a cape look too busy?

That is exactly how I built mine: Marine commander rear torso, Chaos chain-mail front torso. The cape as well as a scenic base makes it stand out from the regular fellows and elevates it above the look of a champion. The weapons are hacked off of Terminator Lord bitz and glued onto Chaos Space Marine bitz.

Big horns, a bright red power weapon, standing on skulls, you name it. Maybe something I just typed will be useful?

agroszkiewicz wrote:LET THE ADHESIVE CURE BEFORE YOU feth WITH THE MODEL!!!! (this is really really important and honestly the hardest part. I love to play with my toys.)

How did this get by the language filter?

I would say build what you like the look of. Don't build what others think is cool and you hate the look of. If you've got a cool group, proxy your lord and stockpile enough bitz till you can make a cool lord.


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Damn it! Before I posted it said the other word! Now I posted it and it changed here and back up there.

capes, trophy poles, uber mutations, custom paintjobs, etc....
Think how you would do a Big Bad for your story and go from there. There's always inspiration in evil >:3