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These guys have been a long time coming, let me tell you. Way back in, what was it... '95... '96? I was introduced to the game of 40K by a pair of friends when our regular DnD game fell through. The aesthetic of the marine models and silliness of the orks they fought against immediately appealed to me and drove me to the closest FLGS within the week to put my newly issued credit card to the test. Leaving with the Second Edition boxset, Dark Millenium (rules for psykers and vehicles), the Angels of Death, Tyranid, and Ork codeci, a few boxes of minis, and a handful of blisters, I was assured that I had everything I needed to play the game.

Fast-forward almost 15 years and I've shelved and unearthed the models a few times, but it wasn't until my son started playing Heroscape that I seriously redirected my energies to GW models. He really wanted to play Heroscape with Space Marines, Orks, and Eldar and I didn't want him to play with models that looked like gak. I seriously considered restarting my homebrew Seraphim Chapter, but it was the Eldar that caught my eye. You can learn more about them here.

Thus began my (and my son's) journey into 40K 5th edition. Unfortunately, I've burned out converting and painting the Exodites. The investment of time and detail I poured into them left me exhausted some days. It's a never-ending project that makes me feel bi-polar: elated at the idea of a new project and frustrated at the level of effort necessary to (eventually) complete it. All that said, I love working on them and the feedback I get on the finished product is very satisfying and they will continue to be on my palette, slowly and surely getting closer to "completion". However, I needed something to break the "monotony" of making and painting eldar models exclusively. So I turned, some would say "in a moment of weakness", to the vast collection of marine models I've accrued.

My son wanted his AoBR marines painted as Ultras. Nothing wrong with that, I said, I can paint Ultras. No big deal. After finishing the Captain and Tactical Squad, I picked up the Marine codex and was immediately drawn to the pics included of the Crimson Fists. These were different from the Fists gracing the cover of Rogue Trader from years ago. Darker, almost black - no, actually black - is some areas, harder and thinner highlighting. Not so much bling-and-shiny as the Ultras, less Roman-Gothic and more Spartan, as cliche as that's become since 300. I decided to give them a try.

Here's the first few completed models for the force. I've got, oh... 3-4k points of marine models in various stages of assembly, painting, or stripping to work with and have made better progress with this force than the Eldar. Maybe my hopes for the Exodites are a little too high? Maybe the marines are easier to paint? I don't know. I don't think so. I do know that I've fallen in hrm, not love exactly. Fallen in 'interest' with these guys and their story of struggle, possibly caused by the very Imperium they serve. Without further ado.



The Man Himself - Pedro Kantor

I tried to stay true to the 'Eavy Metal version of him in the Codex, making a few minor changes like the color of some of the gems and laurels.


Left side arm detail as well as a shot of his back banner's rear. The banner is magnetized for easy removal during play, but is pretty strong and stays attached even while handled.


Right arm detail. The brown of the winged skull is a little darker than I would have liked it to be, but isn't too bad.


Honor Guard

I know, I know... these guys are awful and expensive and just get assault marines, blah-de-blah-de-blah. I liked the idea of pairing Pedro with an Honor Guard and had a few old, Death company metal models that weren't as covered in BA regalia as others. Normally I'd use them for Sternguard, but their poses are very assaulty. Paired up with Terminator Honor pauldrons and some scratch-built relic blades, I think these guys look stylish. The guy in the middle is the Company Champion - a classic "Power Armor Through the Ages" model, the mark 5 Maximus armor, right? Scratch built thunderhammer, it's magnetized at the wrist to be swappable for a relic blade as well and the old Captain's caped backpack.


Here's a second angle, a gratuitous bum-shot to show off one of my few attempts at freehand. I don't think it turned out too bad, although the aquilla's heads look more duck than eagle. ::shrug:: Whaddyagonnado? Breaking from the color scheme of the rest of the army, these guys have "gold" trim. It's my first attempt at NMM, be gentle.


Tactical Squad Sort-Of

This is the first complete Tactical Squad for the army. The Fists I'm playing are post-Rynn's World Disaster, scraping together as much tech as they can from the ruined wastes and not turning their noses up at older marks of armor, vehicles, and weapons, refurbishing as necessary to return things to working condition. That said, there's a lack of fully-fledged marines so I'll be running scouts and sternguard more than tacticals, although they'll have their place. No Chapter Badges on these guys yet. I'll likely use the Forgeworld transfers if they're any good.


The Sarge. Stubble courtesy of Devlan Mud. I know, drill that bolt pistol barrel. I don't know how I missed it when I did the rest of the squad, but I guess that's why he's the leader. One more little tidbit: his right hand would normally be red too, since he's a veteran, but this guy hasn't been around quite long enough to get that distinction. After a few games, I'll hook him up, assuming he lives.


Here's the reason that it's Tactical Squad Sort-Of... two flamers? Yup. This extra guy snuck in when I was lining up models to paint. I couldn't decide whether to drill the flamer barrel or not so I decided against. Also debated whether to char the business end and decided against there as well.


The Heavy. 'Nuff said?


Bike Squad

It's my understanding that Crimson Fists eschew the use of bikes as a rule, along with jump packs. I'm working on a solution to that problem. The codex states that the entire 6th Tactical Company is trained in the use of bikes and I've converted up the 6th Company's Captain for justification. These guys are the first four of what will be a full squad of bikes. Since I'll be running a cap, I'll get the chance to convert a Command Squad on bikes for him to run with.


Here's the side shot. I got these guys preassembled and primed, but they weren't given quite the TLC that I would have devoted so there's some areas of overly thick primer, bent flagpoles, knives glued to the backs of the bikes and such. No worries, they're in my hands now.


I'm always trying to paint at the best standard that I can maintain without over-working myself or becoming obsessed with getting just the right shade of highlight. This shot shows that extra touch I like to take, even if I'm still working on blending properly. Each screen display indicates a tactical array of information unique to the rider. I'll continue this trend with the other bikers and vehicles as well.


Tactical Dreadnought Armor

I didn't realize I only took one shot of these guys. I'll have to get some more up this evening or tomorrow. the detailing on the sword is similar to the Honor Guard's relic blade and based loosely on the blending scheme of the Salamander Captain's power weapon in the codex's diorama. The chest eagles are a metallic electrum color - Chainmail/Mithril Silver with a glaze of Sepia - but I'm thinking of going back to paint them like the Honor Guard's. While you can't see it too well, there's some interesting basing elements used: a necron warrior's head, a bolt pistol with a ruptured barrel, and a few shell casings.




So that's it for now. I've still got more shots of the termies at different angles as well as a dreadnought. Sternguard are assembled and almost completely painted, 1/2 the scouts are 75% done and the other half are 50%, there's an AoBR dread that I'm converting into an Ironclad, and a few classic marine vehicles that are getting overhauled and reenlisted. C&C welcome, I hope you enjoy.

Absolutely great start to the force. couple of points personally I drill my flamers, if you don't that's cool. Forgeworld transfers great from what I hear however check out winterdyne's thread here; http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/332998.page These i'm sure will be cheaper and he has promised they will be customisable. I guess that means if you don't like a certain decal you can swap it out. Best way to clarify if he can give you what you need is a PM.
As they're a codex chapter is veterancy still denoted through a white helmet, not sure? Finally the bikes look great but personally I'd swap out the old cav bases.

Hope that helps and keep up the good work.

Thanks for the advice and feedback Lenny, I appreciate it. I'll take a look at those transfers, too. I would have used the "new" bike bases, but these models were glued on with model cement when I got them, requiring them to be cut from the base - more work than I really wanted to put in. I might try halving some 25mm rounds to extend them a little and help them look more like the bike bases, though. Are bike kits coming with the new bases or the old ones now? Want to make sure I'm not breaking the sacred law of BRB pg. 3, you know?

While the Fists are a codex chapter, and in the past have been indicated to rigidly adhere to codex specifications, painting and modelling showcases (in the codex, even)indicate otherwise. I've yet to see Fists with a squad designation on the knee. Crimson Fists veterans specifically paint their right gauntlet red in a right of passage in the chapter - never seen a CF vet with a white helmet.

Fair enough, thanks for clarifying. As for the new kits I believe they come with the new cav bases. I've been thinking and perhaps you are at an advantage, lol. A charge that would just meet one of the new bases should theoretically just fall short of your older ones. Hmmm? Not sure tbh though as i'm more into the painting atm rather than the playing.

You may want to do one more highlight on the blue and crimson. I understand that it is supposed to be a dark scheme and the lighting may not be optimal, but an extreme highlight would really make the model pop

Hey nice to see a crimson fist army , i dont often see these guys anymore. nice freehand work as well

Very nice!!

Now start pumping out some sternguard for us to gawp at.

Keep it up!

Ga.

Nice stuff! I've been thinking of building an crimsons fists army myself and this certanly gave me some inspiratin!

@CreepyCrawly - The blue is Necron Abyss, washed with Badab Black, then highlighted up through Necron Abyss, Ultramarine, and Space Wolf Gray. The last highlight of Space Wolf looks almost white against the dark blue, so I apply a glaze of Asurmen Blue and acrylic medium to soften it. The highlights are pretty dramatic in person - I think it's the lighting of the photo affecting the results, as I've only got one good light for my "light box". However, I could always use more medium and less blue wash to tint the final highlight. The red I'm using is a simple basecoat of Mechrite, followed by a wash of badab black, then a highlight of Blood Red, a second highlight of Blood Red and Blazing Orange, followed by a glaze of Baal Red and acrylic medium to make the orange more red. I guess I could add a final highlight of Blazing Orange by itself before the glaze. If you've got an alternate recommendation, I'd appreciate it!

@neil101 - thanks mate! No one locally plays Crimson Fists, but there is one prominent Imperial Fists player and a Black Templars player, so the Sons of Dorn do have a following around here. I'm my own worst critic, so I appreciate the comment ont he freehand, thanks.

@Hamani: You've got it! I'm working on them right now. Well, not right now, but I'm picking up my brush as I finish typing this. My sterguard are exclusively the older 2nd ed. metal body marines, outfitted with Legion of the Damned pauldrons and bolters. The combi-weapons are converted from regular bolters with the old hand flamers, plasma pistols (some new ones too), and the new BA Sanguinary Guard Inferno pistols. I love the way they've turned out. I've even got some heavy weapon veterans to do double duty as either sternies or devvies. Coming soon...

@c0un7_z3r0: Let's see them! I took inspiration from the other CF owners I've seen here on Dakka, so I'm glad to have passed the favor on to someone else. That's what posting these blogs is all about, right?

@Gavin: I'd love to see a picture of them with sunlight (always best)! I also have bad eyes, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I too started a Crimson Fists army, and they are a great chapter (Only made it through 1000 points, though they will be stripped soon). When I painted mine, I really wanted the crimson to pop out, as it is part of the character of the chapter.

This is by no means necessary, but you might want to consider adding Ork bits to the bases if you are going for extreme fluffiness.

Actually, Just looked at the photo through the gallery, which is a little larger with better lighting. The armor and hand look great! The only thing I might change is to highlight the laurels and skull on pedro's shoulderpads with some bleached bone

CreepyCrawly wrote:@Gavin: I'd love to see a picture of them with sunlight (always best)! I also have bad eyes, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I too started a Crimson Fists army, and they are a great chapter (Only made it through 1000 points, though they will be stripped soon). When I painted mine, I really wanted the crimson to pop out, as it is part of the character of the chapter.

This is by no means necessary, but you might want to consider adding Ork bits to the bases if you are going for extreme fluffiness.

Actually, Just looked at the photo through the gallery, which is a little larger with better lighting. The armor and hand look great! The only thing I might change is to highlight the laurels and skull on pedro's shoulderpads with some bleached bone

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! I'll see about getting some pics made during daylight hours, combined with the natural light lamp I've got they should come out pretty nice.

I've thought about using some of the ork bits I have for basing materials, I think it's very fluffy and appropriate. Since I'm using older marine models for my army, I guess I could break into my collection of Rogue Trader Space Orks and scavange a few bodies. I had drilled one of the terminator bases improperly and after redrilling and basing the model, a gaping hole was in the middle of the base. A handy-dandy necron head filled the hole nicely, looking half buried because it sits so low. I hadn't thought about using Orks, though. Thanks for the idea!

Looks great so far.

I finally have some free time for picture taking, so I got around to snapping a few shots of the Dreadnaught, an AOBR model. The only thing it's missing are decals. My mom, who traditionally takes a very practical view on gifts (clothes and cookware have been the last ~10 year's worth of gifts), made a decidedly unusual stocking stuffer out of a bottle of Solvaset so I'll likely get around to the decals pretty soon.





I decided to go with a lens on the melta since you hardly ever see them on "beam" weapons these days. Lascannons generally get drilled, as do plasma (which makes sense since it's actually spitting a charged bolt of plasma), but meltas are microwave projectors, right? Or something suitably super-sciencey enough to be focused by a lens...


Next up will be Sternguard. I've got no less than 2 squads of 10, probably closer to 3 x10 if you include the heavy weapons guys I've painted as Sternies with two red hands, red shoulder trim and the occassional insignia or armor decoration. Other than the Heavy Flamers, the heavy weapons will probably go into Devestator or Tactical squads rather than Sternies. I'm working on restoring a Rhino to workable condition and have a Crusader that needs priming before painting. Here's a question for you marine players: bare Rhinos or upgrades? If upgrades, which ones? I've been thinking of adding HK missiles and the extra Stormbolter, but wouldn't mind the modelling challenge of adding extra armor from scratch or a dozer blade if they were worth their points.

am loving this thread! Great work on the CF. i'm toen between CF and IF so have pedro and lysander, am planning on using both models, so maybe you should get Lysander and some assault marines. he does make an awesomr looking sargeant and has the right insignia.

Great work on the dreadnought! The fist could use with some brighter highlighting and I have to point out that the 'lenses' on the meltagun should probably just be drilled out, it is a gun after all

Nice basing BTW! The long grass looks great.

Seen a few of your scratchbuilds on this site before, nice to see you doing a proper army blog to follow. You've managed to get a real nice blue on these chaps. Look forward to moar.

usukgoose wrote:am loving this thread! Great work on the CF. i'm toen between CF and IF so have pedro and lysander, am planning on using both models, so maybe you should get Lysander and some assault marines. he does make an awesomr looking sargeant and has the right insignia

Thanks! I've got plans to do a Lysander conversion later down the road to represent Captain Cortez. I've heard that he makes a great addition to a squad of Sternguard with Bolter Drill, a good invulnerable save, and some excellent CC. A bit pricey when paired with Pedro, but a good buy.

Commander Cain wrote:Great work on the dreadnought! The fist could use with some brighter highlighting and I have to point out that the 'lenses' on the meltagun should probably just be drilled out, it is a gun after all

Nice basing BTW! The long grass looks great.

For some reason, the red just isn't showing up as highlighted on camera as it is IRL. Someone mentioned this in an earlier post as well. When I highlight with Blazing Orange alone, it looks too orange. The last layer of straight Blazing Orange is given a glaze of Baal Red, but I guess I could go BO and Sunbust Yellow 1:1 before the glaze...? Any advice? Anyone?!?!

I thought the lenses would catch me flakk from someone, but I like the way they look. Then again, if anything should have lenses, it's lascannons, right?

I love the basing for these guys too! I'm highly prejudiced against all the GW hobby supplies, but I was given a bag of brown sand/ballast and a bag of green static grass for free and decided to use them on the Fist's bases. The long grass is a Woodland Scenics purchase from Hobby World on sale for $1.29. I don't know if anyone knows whether this is true or not, but I heard it's actually animal hair - either yak or goat, I can't recall - that's been dyed. I gather what looks to be a decent sized clump, trim it to length with the assistance of my lovely wife, dab a bit of CA glue on one end and stick it in place. I try to get it in with a little clump of rocks or dab a bit more static grass around it to cover the glued area. I'll hang the model upside down with a binder clip while the glue dries so it stays upright.

Perkustin wrote:Seen a few of your scratchbuilds on this site before, nice to see you doing a proper army blog to follow. You've managed to get a real nice blue on these chaps. Look forward to moar.

Thanks! I've finished a Libby recently, but I'm not really happy with the way he turned out. Regardless, I'll get pics of him up soon for your C & C. Also, as mentioned previously, look forward to some Sternguard conversions in the "near" future.

Time for updates! All the models I'm posting are WIP with the exception of the Sternguard Sergeant, be gentle since they're still in the formative stages. I've hyped the sternies in my previous posts and they're taking a little longer to finish than I thought since there's simply so many of them, especially given that I'm also painting the remaining 20 or so tacticals and/or devestators alongside them.

I also mentioned the Librarian that was mostly finished... and the fact that I wasn't happy with him. He's not been sealed or based since I've been seriously considering dunking him in Simple Green and starting over. On the other hand, he's tabletop standard if not as top-notch as I'd like him to be. I'm proud of the casting hand conversion, especially given that it's magnetized, but the face is, hrm.... f-ugly and while I tried to get the chest eagle and pauldron trim the same as my honor guard (above) it turned out more brownish/ivory than it did nmm goldish. Painted it the same so maybe my wash is oxidizing?

So here we go.

Sternguard Bolter Marines







There's front, left, and right side pics for the seven bolter-armed Sternguard. These are all either Legion of the Damned models or metal body marines with LotD shoulder-pads, bolters, or backpacks. When I ran out of the Legion gear, I started using GS to make my own gear. The right-side shoulder pad of the second marine from the left in the top pic has one of my first skully shoulders. These guys are visibly different from the Tactical marines above not just because of the honorifics, but also because they've got loads of red. Not entirely sure that I like all the red, but I'm running with ti at the moment. If needs arise, I'll strip them bare and start over, although the thought of doing it makes me a little sick to my stomach.



Sternguard Combi-Flamer Marines




All but one of my combi-flamers, the last of which snuck in with the combi-plas marines below. Sneaky little bugger. There's some more GS'ed shoulderpads and the middle marine has some GS'ed bones on his legs, next to one of the LotD marines that have them sculpted on. The first guy is actually a Space Wolf model that wasn't so wolfy that I couldn't use him. The combi-flamers are the old 2nd edition Hand Flamers that have the tank trimmed off the bottom and glued to the side or they're the new Hand Flamers from the recent Blood Angels models treated the same way.



Sternguard Combi-Plasma Marines




The combi-plas marines are made the same way as the combi-flamers, except with plasma pistols instead of flamers. Durr hurr! So yeah. A little more GS'ing here on the bodies as well as the shoulderpads. Probably should have used less GS for the sculpts since it looks a little... puffy? Swollen?



Sternguard Combi-Melta Marines



Yeah, I know this is what you've been waiting for. Melta is the call word of the day what with mech being king and all. Everyone's running Sternguard combi-meltas, but I've not seen but the one models for them, making for a serious lack of variety. Add to that the fact that getting an affordable combi-melta bit is like getting congress to, well, do anything other than pay themselves and you've got something that really makes my cheap-bone itch. I managed to get a few inferno pistols from a fellow dakkanaut in the swap shop, the same guy I got the BA hand flamers from. I used the same technique for the prior two combi-'s: a thin slice of plasticard cut to the size and shape of the top of the bolter (which has been trimmed and shaved to remove the detail), the arm trimmed away from the pistol, little bit of glue. BAM! Instant combi. They're a little bigger/chunkier than the GW versions, but that makes them stand out a little more so you can see what's what. All three guys have GS'ed shoulderpads and backpacks.



Sternguard Heavy Weapons



I know there's a lot of poo-pooing of Sternguard Devestators, but I've had relatively good success with them. I've got two heavy flamers to go in a Rhino with some combi's for crowd control and a pair of multi-meltas to do the same thing as an anti-tank firebase. Alternately, the MM's can be used in tac squads or devestator squads. The flamers are conversions from IG heavy flamers with the Marine backpacks trimmed down to accomodate the tanks. The wire is a bit thin and guitar wire would have been a better choice, but I couldn't find a good size in my available selection. The converted MM is from a Landspeeder that was ruined during assembly some 14 years ago that remained on sprue until I had a brainstorm. I rather like him, although I do wish the backpack were a little bulkier and that the handle-hand was attached a little better.



Sternguard Sergeant



Ahhhh, Ignacio! I've wanted to own this model since I started playing 40K and finally got one in a large lot of marines. I'm already running Pedro as my HQ, and likely will include either a Libby or Master of the Forge or Lysander-equivalent, so using the model as a captain is probably not going to happen unless it's a low-point game. However, I thought he's make an excellent sarge for my boys-in-red. I didn't highlight the blue to the final level before taking this pic, but it won't change the model drastically. Also, this is the first model I've applied a transfer to since I was 9 years old. Used Future floor polish to get a nice smooth surface and a product called Walthers Solvaset to smooth out the edges before giving it another coat of Future and finally matte coating the whole kit-and-kaboodle. The transfer isn't quite as bright as I thought it would be, but that's okay since I can always go back and paint over it to bring it up some.

On my PC, the cloak looks very red, perhaps as a result of the dakka image adjuster, but IRL it's more brownish-red compared to the fist and red trim. The model is very glossy as well which is unusual since he was treated with a matte spray that I've used before with great results. His eyes didn't come out as nice as I'd like them to be, especially the right eye which has not only a weird angle to paint but also is slightly miscast. Also, the skulls on the chest and belt buckle turned out like little red blobs. I assure you that I watered down my paint appropriately, but there was some damage to this fine detail leaving them somewhat amorphous. However, the script on the pauldron turned out nice. I'm going through a list of popular Spanish names for the placards and scrolls so everyone will that has one will be named, even the Tactical marines. Need to clean up that base rim as well.



Devestator Marines






All the other heavy weapons. These guys will also be run as either Tacticals or Devestators. There's the occassional veteran with two red hands and red shoulder trim for when I'm feeling like flouting the interwebz recommendations of heavy-weapon-free sternguard squads. The plasma cannon and heavy bolter guys have had their barrells drilled out ipso defacto the application of paint due to mentis discombobulous.



Librarian



So here's the Libby, saving the worst for last. The shoulderpad was one of my first attempts at GSing a Fist icon with a laurel and turned out really nice. Then I got ambitious and tried doing a purity seal scroll and fuged the whole thing. The scroll had bonded with the fist and laurel so when I tried to take it off, it was taking everything so I glued it back down and decided to run with it. The hand is from a missile launcher marine with the middle fingers carefully trimmed and reglued with a little GS work to add an extra joint to the fingers. Not exactly anatomically correct, but no one's going to notice that's not looking for it. The paintjob as a whole is rather cartoonish, although I think the Librarian's lighter blue armor turned out okay. The sowrd didn't turn out how I wanted either... I wasn't trying for source lighting exactly, but more of a sort of "flash and sparkle" in shades of violet/purple on the runes and a very deep violet for the blade itself. ::sigh:: The plasma pistol is there in the hope that he'll use it to put him out of my misery.



Dedicated Transport
After posting that libby, I realized that I couldn't leave that bad of a taste in your collective mouths or you may not return. So here's a treat that I've been very patient to avoid mentioning until now. I picked up this model years ago and actually had two of them, but either lost the other one or traded it off to someone - which would be unusual since I've been very proprietary about the few vehicles I own. All that said, I wish I had a "before pic" to show the repairs I've made. I didnt' have any stormbolters, so I made some out of regular bolters, plasticard, and greenstuff.

The old HK missile comes from a collection of vintage vehicle bits. Both the stormbolters and the HK are magnetized. I thought about modelling extra armor and a dozer blade, but haven't seen those upgrades on anyone's list and figured I could always add them later if I needed to. The blade on the front was broken years ago and repairing it seemed to be more work than necessary - I'll paint some battle-damage on it and think of it as refurbished. The icon on the top was cut from plasticard and carved with a hobby knife. I've made a mould in the hopes of gettign some decent resin to make a few copies since I'm hoping to pick up a few more classic Rhinos. If anyone has some they don't mind parting with, please please let me know! I'll trade in your favor!




When it's finished, it should have a similar paintjob to the Dreadnought above. This will be the ride for either the Sternguard or the Honorguard once completed.


As always, questions and comments are appreciated!

Wow, only 10 days since my last update! This is a record for me I think, I'm never this reliable.

After my last post (to which I received not a single reply! maybe it's the wall 'o text...), I added a highlight to and then promptly set the half-finished Rhino to the side next to the still unfinished Sternguards, Tacticals, and Devestators. The weather finally cleared up enough to prime a Crusader that I picked up at a very reasonable discount due to the fact it was shoddily assembled. I have re-habilitated it as best I could, trimming left-over sprue and shaving flash, gluing the front doors shut since they weren't assembled properly and had become damaged opening and closing them, and magnetizing the top turret so I can swap out some options for others once I get the bits. I think it's turned out to be a good investment.

I'm about halfway through the painting process, as you can see the front door and right side of the model hasn't any highlights. I'm not sure why I left the assault cannon turret and the multi-melta gunner off for the pic as they're completed to the same highlight as the rest of the tank. The end result should match the scheme of the Dreadnought above, although I might leave the sponson shields as is and not highlight them in orange. I'm pretty happy with the vibrancy of the red at the moment.

Any recommendations for setting the tracks apart from the frag launchers and other BG metal colored items? I'm not sure I want to weather it since I haven't done weathering for my foot models, but I'm open to the idea. Please feel free to critique the paintjob and/or style as well - I'm happy with it but love getting feedback.

When I eventually get enough Terminators for a CC squad, they'll end up being ferried around in this boat.


Landraider Crusader





The black areas on the sides will end up getting a free hand Fists insignia in red along with scripting, probably in white. Other than that, I'll likely leave off excessive detail/bling. I've been trying to enforce a function-over-form, minimalist philosophy for the Fists as a whole.

Let me know what you think!

Hi! Love your Crimson Fists- I've been on and off painting some myself. How do you do your blues?
I'd been using one of he foundation paints separated and blending it on the model to get the shade I wanted, but I think I like your approach better.
I've been put off painting my Land Raider because I hate painting large flat surfaces and edge highlighting. Seeing yours has mildly poked me into trying again.

Nice force there man, this is just my opinion but if I was you don't hold back on detail and bling, the Crimson Fists are one of the greatest chapters around to date and the invasion of Rynn's World has helped make that image even greater.

Hi Gavin. Some nice unified painting here, you've really succeeded in bringing old and new minis together. Also your scheme shows how cool the crimson fists can look, unfortunately they are often overlooked. EDIT: I too wouldnt mind some imparted wisdom with regards to the blue.

Wow, gotta say I love you dedication to the army and I'm envious of that nice old captain model you have with the power fist there. Biggest thing is my compliments on your nice even paint jobs. My biggest issue is having my base colors end up uneven.

Thanks for the comments!

I use the same method for the marines and vehicles and have been really satisfied with the results. On the Rhino and Landraider, the blue-black ends up a little patchy, but that's the nature of washes on flat surfaces unfortunately. I definitely agree that it unifies the army nicely and seeing all the models displayed together on the shelf where they're stored is impressive and a source of pride for me.

I use Foundation Necron Abyss in a very liberal basecoat and then apply two coats of Badab Black wash to deepen it. Usually I'll block in all the basecoat colors before the wash - Mechrite Red and Boltgun Metal. After the washes dry, Ultramarine Blue goes on for the first edge highlight, then UM Blue and Space Wolf Blue equal parts, and then just a dab of Space Wolf Blue alone for the final highlight.

In the past, I've applied Asurmen Blue mixed with acryllic medium as a glaze over that final highlight to keep it from looking too white against the dark blue of the basecoat, but I might skip that step since others here have said the highlights aren't dramatic enough. The red is Blood Red over the Mechrite, avoiding the wash in the receded areas, then a highlight of Blood Red and Blazing Orange. I've glazed it with Ogryn Flesh Wash sometimes and like the result, but have lately left it off for a more vibrant red.

I've been intimidated by the size of the model and the amount of detail, in addition to the flat surfaces and the concern over the wash pooling (which it did), but decided to swallow my inhibitions and just give it a try. Worst case is I have to strip it and paint it again, right?

I used a fairly large craft paint brush from a set of 50+ brushes I bought my wife - it says simply "1/4 China" on it, so I guess it's 1/4" wide and the bristles are very, very soft. It didn't 'paint' as much as it mopped the color on the model. There's brush strokes visible in the wash, but only when you hold the model at an angle to the light and look for them.

I'm in the middle of a commission at the moment, painting an Epic Chaos force, but manage to work on these guys every once in a while. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain my pace and post a little more regularly.

Lovely Blue, As a Fist myself I'm liking it. How have you done your blue?
I'm amaze that I've not seen this sooner...

another fist player (yay for the sons of dorn)

i paint my marines armour with

regal blue (two coats)

badab black (two coats)

regal blue highlights

Thanks guys!

Imperial Monkey, the post just above yours explains my method - I actually think I've explained it two or three times so far! Anyway, it's Necron Abyss, Badab Black, then highlight with Ultramarine Blue, then 50/50 UM Blue and SW Gray, then finally SW Gray alone. I used to glaze the last layer of SW with Asurmen Blue, but stopped after feedback indicating the blue needed a more dramatic highlight.

@prototype_X: Sons of Dorn unite! Your method sounds like it would give a pretty nice result too. Why not share? Let's see a pic! I found this on CMON from a guy whose CF army looked like a cross between Codex Gray and Necron Abyss and really dig it, but I'm going to stick to my current scheme:




I fully intended to be updating this blog a little more frequently than I currently have been, but that's life. The kid started playing soccer, work has been so busy lately I don't bother taking my paints in, and I discovered an MMO I enjoy not paying for. All of which eats up my painting/modelling time. Thankfully, the wife (gods bless her) has taken to ordering me to watch TV with her a few nights a week, during which she allows me to fiddle with my models on the coffee table, so long as I'm sitting near her. This has produced some wonderful work recently, IMHO, and it's nice to spend quiet time with Lady Thorne as well.

First up, I've been a member of the vaunted DCM's (Dakka Contributing Members) since I realized that I actually use Dakkadakka almost every day and glean more entertainment, education, and general brain-numbing than I do from public radio. Since I'm a cheap bastiche and can barely stand to let bucks go to pay my rent let alone give money away, I figured if I was going to splurge on a modest donation, it would be to Lords Legoburner and Yakface over Scott Simon, Diane Rehm, and Terry Gross. Upon joining the seasoned ranks of veterans like Grey Death, Yggdrasil, MeanGreenStompa and the like, I've revelled in checking on the Mosh Pit as often as I do the Discussions, News, and Modelling forums. For those who aren't familiar with the Mosh Pit, it's a tidy back room where members that contribute sip brandy and smoke cigars while doffing top hats and pocketing our monocles. It was there that I discovered whalemusic360's Great Marine Swap was extending it's offer to the DCM's.

I had an idea bouncing around my head for a while now to make my marines list drop pod heavy, but Whalemusic360 didn't want to have a drop pod for theme reasons - his marines were isolated ground forces without access to strike cruisers and the like. I let him know I had a completely different take on the concept. Instead of arriving from a ballistic missile shot from orbit, what if the marines arrived from deep underground via drill tanks? And thus, the drill tank was born:



He was happy to receive this prototype model in my army's colors and reciprocated with a Landspeeder Storm (see below). I would have really liked to have some tracks on this bad boy, but I just couldn't find any that were the right size or affordable for a scratch-build. Also, there's no stormbolter mounted on it, but I figured that's really a moot point since pods aren't required to remove their doors. I'm sure that someone will clarify me on an arcane point of rule proving me wrong. Finally, I wanted to weather it more, seeing as how the whole thing has been tunnelling under the earth and all, but didn't have any powders. However, I recently picked some up and look forward to trying them out on the rhino and landraider above.

Here's the Landspeeder Storm.




There's a scout missing that will go on the right side, standing on the outer railing with a foot lifted to rest on the ailron, holding a rappelling line from the spar in one hand and his bolter lifted skyward in the other. I can't take credit for the poses since the models were assembled when they were sent to me, but I think I managed to place them in the Storm with a bit of added dynamism. The PF Sergeant was supposed to have a chainsword, but the model in the squad that the storm carries is a fist sergeant so it ws only fitting that he get one here too. I still need to re-drill the post hole so the model doesn't snap the top of the post off, base it to match the rest of the army, and apply some transfers so there's still some work ahead. These pics came out a little on the darker side even after the auto-adjuster, but aren't too bad. I didn't get a shot of the interior cockpit either, hrm. Maybe more pics in the morning while the sun's up...


Works in Progress

I've been building a lot more than painting lately, which is just as appealing since I'll have something to paint once they're done. My son bought me a Vindicator for Christmas and I finally got it assembled. He's very proud that Dad can now throw down a S10 AP2 Ordinance Blast, but I don't think that he realizes it's a death sentance for his Necrons. No pics since it's just gray plastic at the moment, but look forward to it soon.

My most recent completed conversion is a Lysander counts-as, finished just last evening between episodes of Farscape. I wanted to stay true to the visual themes of Lysander (check out the spoiler above) and make the model easily recognizable but also wanted to make him distinctly different from the original model. I had a spare AoBR Terminator Sergeant, a set of TH/SS arms, and a plethora of different bits to resort to. I've recently begun making moulds for producing resin bits, like the Fist symbol on the hammer-arm's pauldron and the door for the drill tank. I'm making this model my Captain Cortez (although I think Sicarius would represent him nicely as well given his nigh invulnerability), advanced from captain of the 4th Company to the 1st in light of his achievements and experience, and for all those who say that Cortez had a powerfist not a thunder hammer, I'll direct your attention to the fist holding the hammer's head to know where it went. This model shows a great improvement in my GS skills overall, although I see room for improvement. Pleae bear in mind I consider this to be a WIP and ask you to be considerate of the fact that the model has yet to be primed.




Click on the pics to view them in much greater detail on the gallery page. I'd like to give props to Whatwhat's greenstuff tutorial for how to make the chain - I used it on a sternguard pauldron in an earlier post as well. Very awesome and while it takes some practice, it looks really nice.


Finally, a very WIP model that I've been messing with for about 2 months now. I'm kind of stuck at this point and I'm not sure how to finish it. He's a Master of the Forge with conversion beamer. I'd like to have servo arms holding the gun and the MotF's arms guiding or controlling the servo arms with joysticks, control pads, or the like. The cables coming from the backpack will end up attached to the gun, along with a variety of cables, wire, and the like that have yet to be added. I've got part of one servo arm made from sprue but couldn't find it for the pic. Also, the angle of the right arm is very ... off. The model's torso was was missing the arm normally attached to the right pauldron, which is rotated almost backwards, as evidenced by the angle the arm sits at. Not sure how to fix it, but it messes with the aesthetic. Help!





Here's the beamer, a Frankensteinian monster of mish-mashed bits scavenged from as many different xenos armies as I could find, with a few Marine bits to make the hellspawned thing useable by the Imperium's Finest. The MotF holds the beamer with the crystal end closest to his left hand. The sprue piece on the other end is the start of a servo-claw/arm holding the gun.


As always, I look forward to your questions, comments, feedback, and suggestions!

Hey!

Your Crimson Fists look like they're coming along well. I love the Drop Pod drill in your most recent update. I think your LSS and Dreadnought look great too.
I think your Lysander embodies the flavour of the character well and I love the Fist on his Thunder Hammer.
As for the MotF, the stance and position of the model probably isn't ideal for the conversion I think you're going for. He doesn't seem to be looking towards where he is aiming and his right arm is in an awkward position as you have noted yourself. Perhaps you can try to have the weapon mounted onto his back but pointing over his left shoulder with his left arm aiming it and leave the right arm as the control pad thinger. As for the Conversion Beamer itself, bigger wouldn't hurt.

Cheers!

Thanks, xFinality, I appreciate the feedback on the MotF model. I hadn't thought about having it mounted over-the-shoulder, but the older devestators are made that way and I have a few of those to match it. I'll give it a try!

As far as bigger, in typical Marine heavy weapon fashion, it's bigger than he is.

Okay, finally another post! Two months ago, I dedicated myself to attending the annual local convention and decided that it would be a great way to set some goals for my Fists army. The 40K tournament was set at 1850 and I decided to run my sternguard-heavy list, making a few variations before settling on one in particular that fulfilled two basic needs.

First, I owned all the models on the list and they were, for the most part, assembled. Second, the majority of the models assembled at least had basecoats if not almost completely painted. There were a few exceptions here and there, mostly with the vehicles, but those turned out to be pretty easy to do.

Any models not shown (with the exception of the first sternguard squad - it's pic didn't come out right) probably have pics further up in the blog. Also, please forgive the quality of these pics, the lighting conditions were less than ideal unfortunately so the models might look a little cartoonish. Here's what I ended up with:



Pedro Kantor leading three squads of Sternguard, one scout sniper squad led by a counts-as Tellion, and a combat squad of tacticals, two Rhinos, two Heavy Bolter Razorbacks, two Vindicators, and a dakka-Predator. The Sternguard squad up front has two missile launchers, which combat squaded with three bolter marines and the other five marines hung out with Pedro bearing combi-flamers, combi-meltas, and a lightning claw sergeant. Display board is approximately 2x3, made from panel trim and 5mm luan with a removeable insulation foam insert. The detail work is foam core covered with fine grit sand.




Pedro and the sergeants. Two of these guys are showcased above, but have been hit with the final polish before their display here.




The LC sarge is a captain model weapon-swapped; I also added a sword hilt to the scabbard and magnetized the bolter hand to swap out between the normal bolter and a combi-melta. The LC was a former Space Wolf Claw with a big honkin' skull on it which I shaved down and covered with a greenstuff fist icon. The claws were painted to match the power weapons of the Honor Guard and Terminators above.




The PF sarge was a regular marine sergeant that I added greenstuff roping to. His powerfist is a reproduction of a fist from an OOP captain.




Sternguard squad 2, "Honor's Redemption". This squad and the third Sternguard squad are equipped the same: 3 combi-meltas, 1 combi-plas, 1 combi-flamer, and a heavy flamer. Each squad member has armor and pauldron regalia that was either custom sculpted or part of the model. Their shoulder trim is red for the blood spilled protecting Rynn's World and marks them for the vengence owed against the invading orks.




Sternguard squad 3, "Deliverance of Rynn". There's a fellow with a scratch-built bionic arm on the first step towards the back. The pic for Sternguard squad 1 didn't turn out unfortunately - I'll try posting another later this or next week.




Scout Squad, "Salazar's Deadeyes". Desert camo pattern cloaks for fighting on Rynn's World's extensive badlands.




Scout Sergeant Salazar Cordova single-handedly held off a tide of orks from the shanty town Dusty Bottoms for 4 days armed only with his Stalker-pattern Boltgun, a cameleoline cloak, and a combat knife. Now he leads the first group of scouts ready to graduate to battle brother status since the fall of Rynn. A counts-as Tellion converted from the courier model from the Macragge set, simple and effective.




I had two classic razorbacks with heavy bolters for this army. This one carried Pedro and his Sternguard combat squad while the other toted around the tactical combat squad. This one has custom-sculpted Fist icons I made myself and cast in resin.




I put as much detail into the vehicle models as I did my infantry, painting all the eye lenses, gems, etc. of the crew, along with the details of the targeting screens and the like.




I love the older vehicle styles. Unfortunately, many older models are previously owned and missing a variety of bits. To repair them, I did the inexcuseable: I cast copies of the originals I did have. Things like the exhaust pipes, the ammo crates, and top hatches are typically a mix of original and copied pieces. The Fist icon hatch is an original, though, moulded and cast in resin to fit all my old Rhinos, two of which are included here.




I did have a new vehicle in this list, though. This Vindi was a Christmas gift from my son and I couldn't very well not use it. "Testarudo" translates to 'Stubborn", which the vindicators are known to be. More scratch-made Fist icons here, although this was one of the first I made and ended up very thick. As well painted as this one was, it became a prime target for each of my opponents in the tournament. Props to Cattatafish for the lens tutorial, as I could never remember the sequence I followed for my first lenses and referenced his to keep everything looking the same.




"Tenacidad" is appropriately tenacious and survived all three round of warfare this weekend. This model was an ebay purchase and the pics didn't show the rotary-tool damage inflicted on the side armor. I figured I could always weather it as battle damage, but decided to go ahead and paint over it for now. Didn't turn out too bad, IMHO. The icons are press-moulds of the drop pod icons. Note the tarp painted to match the scout's cloaks, tying the painting theme together.




While lacking a name plate, this Predator was christened "Espantos" which roughly translates to "Terror", but could be spooky, ghost, or similar meanings. It was a terror on the battlefields of Rynn and claimed many lives before becoming lost to the 5th Company. During policing actions following the rout of the orks, Espantos was discovered buried in a sand dune where it had remained after losing a track. I picked up this beauty in a trade with a dakka member. the icon on the front is the same large icon from the Vindicator above, but carefully shaved away and glued to a peice of plasticard cut to match the old Predator's Aquilla front plate.


Every marine was as detailed as I could get them. Two or three basing materials on each, every gem and eye lens painted in three colors. If there was a name plate, I put a name on it:



The more I look at them now, the more I see little things that I missed here and there, but that's part of the organic process I think. At the tournament, I took 8th place out of 23 - not bad for not having played in almost a year. Played Dark Eldar Raider/Ravager spam, Mech Eldar with warwalkers, and then RB/LR Blood Angels with Mephiston and Deathcompany. A win, a loss, and a win respectively. Most importantly (to me at least), I took Best Painted Army.