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this is just a wild suggestion for the back, but dont all skeletons need a spine?
i belive something could be done like that

Cheers

LFF666

Thats an intimidating dreadful (as in full of dread not badly executed Dreadnaught) What I really like however is how intimidating you've made it while keeping it a Imperial Dreadnaught. It still manages to look loyalist which a less well sort out version on the same them wouldn't have. Well Done!

What kind of dremel are you using to do all the removal work. Because you seem to do a great job with it and I have been thinking about getting one myself.

Ghost in the Darkness: It's just a regular dremel, I guess. A dremel-brand one. I've had it for a couple years, so they no longer make the exact model I have, but it's a variable-speed model that I usually leave on the lower end of it's settings just so it doesn't get out of control. For grinding the front plates off, I just grabbed a sanding drum and went at it. Believe me when I say that I'm as surprised as the rest of you that I didn't ruin the model right there.

So, I have to share this, both because it's a nice step in progress on the model and because of how awesome it's going.

First thing's first: Because this guy is going to be sort've a figurehead for my army, and because I can't sculpt worth a damn, I'm now working very closely with a friend of mine named Zsoulless from The Waaagh.com. Z is not only a disturbingly talented artist but a truly excellent sculptor, and I've managed to talk him into helping me make the Huronesque flamer-fist design I'd previously whipped up.

Well, Z's come through in a big way. He's gotten a start on the Gauntlet, and it's looking really fantastic.





These are his pictures, so they're not quite as large as my usual, but I think the details are still fairly clearly awesome. The fist borrows the concept of having the flamer nozzle in the palm from Huron, and Z's added a very convincing mechanical assembly on the back of the gauntlet that includes a fuel tank and hoses. There's a plug on the bottom of the gauntlet for an eventual cable that will lead up the arm and, presumably, into the backpack with the brazier and big fuel tanks.

Z's also come up with a brilliant substitute for Kesare's Mantle by making a skull press-mold cloak. Now, instead of being layered in dragonscales, the Vulkan counts-as will have souls of the damned screaming out from his tattered cloak. I think if I could paint them up to look a bit ethereal (maybe some grey-blue highlights on a black cloak, to make them look ghostly) it'd be awesome.

The scythe bit is something I figured out before I sent it over to Z. After looking around for inspiration, I actually discovered a great miniature with a very nice scythe - Reaper's Death Priest. After eyeballing the dimensions of the scythe up a bit, I ordered one, and it seems to be a pretty perfect fit. There's a paperclip running down the middle of the styrene tube in the handle that serves as a pin for the scythe's head; wraps that match the chaplain's existing handle will hopefully be sculpted up to the head of the scythe over the white styrene part. I was also thinking that it'd look great if the skull that serves as the base for the blade were lit aflame, so that'll need some attention. Going to have to practice some OSL if I want this model pop, I think.

Anyway, I'm really excited about where this model's going now that I have Z's help on the greenstuff end.

As far as the Ironclad is concerned, I honestly think I'm done with it. I could lose my mind trying to sculpt bones over the arms and engine, or I could just simply paint what I've got and go with it, and I'm leaning more towards the latter simply because of how bad I am at the former.

?

Yes, that is sort've what it's modelled after. I just really liked the mental image of a firestorm coming from this guy's palm. On the plus side, if I ever tried to run the Legion as some sort of Chaos Space Marine army (since they nearly look the part anyway) I'd have a Huron Blackheart already made.

Except your Huron actually looks good. Anyways, I love the dread an the chap. Good work!

Awwww.... He just wants a hug!
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Oh god! The burning! Make it stop!

Agreed - if this is ever a 'counts as' Huron, well, it will certainly be miles ahead of the official version!

And...

...is Zsoulless accepting commissions from strangers?

That looks awesome is it going to be a regular arm or a gaunt skeletal looking bionic?

Alpharius wrote:...is Zsoulless accepting commissions from strangers?

You'd have to ask him! Truthfully, he came to me about sculpting some Legion of the Damned stuff, so I think he just sort've sculpts where his whims take him - I just have the good fortune of working on something those whims fancy at the moment.

So, thanks to Zsoulless' help, Redemptor Thanasius looks to be pretty much done, with some minor exceptions.





The "Hellfire Gauntlet" (which is simply what I've decided to call it; Vulkan's has a fancy name, it's only fair) is now finished-off, though not yet actually attached, so don't worry about the gap between the body and the arm. I'm well aware he looks like he wants a hug, but I think it's really only due to the open palm, since the posture is identical to the standard Power Armor Chaplain now. Either way, I still think he looks great.

I'm going to add a bit of cabling hanging from the plug in the bottom of the gauntlet that runs up the arm and to the fuel tanks in the backpack... and a skull has also been added to the knee pad of the leading knee, just because it seemed an appropriate place to put it.

I am probably going to have to do a fair bit of practicing on some older metal marines before I'm comfortable painting this guy. He shouldn't be the first thing I paint for the army, at least, since I want to do a decent job on him and I need to get the hang of painting black armor first.

Anyway, he's pretty much done. I'm not certain if I'm keeping his 'Redemptor' title, since it sounds a bit inquisitorial, but I wanted something as catchy as 'Forgefather'. The name Thanasius is staying for sure, though; it's a corruption of the greek word 'athanasius', which means 'immortal death', if the internet is to be believed.


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I've been working on this on the side, as it were. I've always liked the idea of a Librarian, and back when I was working on my Salamanders I was collecting parts for a nice conversion. Most of those parts are no longer helpful to me, as I've switched over to the Legion, but I still want to make a Librarian for the army, so off I go.

The start of this conversion is actually a Terminator Chaplain. The reason for this is really simple. I was looking at the Terminator Librarian model and thinking to myself, "That's not going to work for the Legion. The head needs to be a skull." Fortunately, before I set about trying the miserable task of dremelling out the head cavity, I remembered that the Chaplain Terminator was... well, pretty much exactly the model I'd be making, so why not use one as the base? It's one of GW's best models, anyway, covered in a ton of rich detail.

It just so happened that I did have a Terminator Chaplain around, so I started working on him... and these are the first few small steps.







I'm waiting for the greenstuff to fully harden before I set about cleaning it up by sanding it a bit, but you get the idea of what's going on here. I carved a psychic hood that'd fit right over the normal Chaplain Terminator armor, and then greenstuffed the seam over - after sanding, it should hopefully be seamless.

I also yoinked a rather neat sword off a fantasy model -Archaon, from WHFB's Warriors of Chaos. (Side note: I still have the entire rest of the model, horse and all, and nothing to do with it. If anyone wants to buy it, drop me a message. ) It's a good-sized flaming sword that I originally intended to use for my Salamanders - but it fits the Legion just as nicely.

When I get around to the left arm, I'm probably givin' em a Storm Shield, since that seems to be the preferred wargear loadout of everyone I've asked. Not sure what it's going to be, or how I'm going to make it yet though.

I also have no idea what this guy's name is, yet. Feel free to pitch ideas.

I love the cloak, and the arm is better than anything I've done yet with finer detail. The cloak solid awesome, stretched out into thread form, and woven.

Why did you get rid of the bone haft bit below the scythe's blade? I'd have thought for a Legion fig that would make it all the more suitable.

And he indeed just looks so darn friendly! I'd give him a hug but I'd probably regret it.


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P.S. Name the Librarian after me! Aduro Terrarum, rough Latin for To Set Fire To The World.

Aduro wrote:Why did you get rid of the bone haft bit below the scythe's blade? I'd have thought for a Legion fig that would make it all the more suitable.

It looked a bit odd next to the handle - didn't mesh right. Dunno, whatever, I can't put it back and I'm reasonably happy with the way it is now. I think the whole handle of the thing is going to be painted like a spine anyway, since it does sort've resemble one.

P.S. Name the Librarian after me! Aduro Terrarum, rough Latin for To Set Fire To The World.

I actually like that a fair bit - I think that'll stick.


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Here's a bit more on the Librarian, now tentatively named Aduro Terranum unless something better comes and unseats it.

I found a cloak, courtesy of the... well, very, very, very old Von Carstein model from 4th edition WHFB. I certainly wasn't playing back then, but I picked this up off eBay on a lark, and I'm glad I did - it fits the back of Terminator armor like a glove.







A little dremelling in the small of the Terminator's back was needed, right below the vents, to get the cape to sit properly, but it's just the right height and width to go there. It splays out more to one side than the other, but I think the asymmetry adds a bit of interest to his pose. I'm currently picturing the left arm swept out, like he just swung it around from the front (which would work nicely with the cape). On the base, there'll be a ring of fire encircling the front left quarter of the miniature, gaining height as it nears the cloak and his hand. It's hard to explain, but I have a pretty clear image of it in my head, so you may just have to wait.

I'm hoping this miniature firewall on the base will be acceptable to most players as a storm shield, because the pose I'm picturing wouldn't be too hospitable to me strapping a shield on the left arm. We'll see!

Ein I built some LOTD terminators before GW put them in the white dwarf codex for the 13th founding chapters would you like to see them?

Have you considered naming the Vulcan count-as "Pyrus Manus." Roughly translated means "Fire Hand..."
Your legion project is great. I hope everything in the future is just as good as this. I particuarly like the dread.

sonofruss wrote:Ein I built some LOTD terminators before GW put them in the white dwarf codex for the 13th founding chapters would you like to see them?

Sure thing.

Here is the group shot



Some individual shots











Here is the dread

Not bad, Russ. I'm working on some custom Termie additions that I may end up casting down the road for mine, but yours are pretty characteristically LotD.

as usual james...WOW I really love that chaplain especially the scyth.

I do love that old school Chaplain in Terminator armor...

I think I have 2 or 3 of those still myself!

This Blog has fast become one of my favorites - I look forward to seeing where you take it!

Just to get some input on this, since it's something I've been pondering all morning: How should I base the legion?

Right now, I'm sort've liking the idea of them being atop some temple ruins, since that sort of thing adds to their mystery a bit. I've found two commercially-made bases that I'm considering right now:

Dark Age Games Groundwerks - Temple Ruins:


These are nice, but I'm not sure if I like them because of how well they're painted, or because of the actual designs. There's a very limited selection of them - only 3 smalls, two mediums, and one large, so I'd end up with a lot of repeating elements across the army. I'm not sure if that's good or not.

The other potential right now is Micro Art Studio's Temple bases:


These are nice, but a little hard to get (from Poland) and I'm not sure how much I actually like the repeating text elements in the floor.

What do you guys think? Any other ideas? Can anyone tell me from personal experience how either of these bases are? I can only seem to find painted pictures, so I'm not sure of the quality or detail on the actual pieces.

I'm also open to other ideas. I could just do the same old simple rock-basing I do for everything, but I felt like these guys deserved something a little more elaborate. Lava bases are practically cliche at this point, and would have too much of the same colors as the rest of the minature.

Dragon Forge is great price wise and varients wise plus they are based here in the U.S. Is this army for you or a client, or is it ebay sales?

The second option for temple bases are PHENOMENALLY better.

It might be the painting, but the first set simply looks rediculous

Empchild wrote:Dragon Forge is great price wise and varients wise plus they are based here in the U.S. Is this army for you or a client, or is it ebay sales?

Army's just for me, and I've looked at Dragon Forge, but nothing particular has jumped out at me from their lines as 'yeah, that'd look great for legion!'

If its between the two, Id go with the Microarts bases. I do like the other ones, but the selection really is pretty small. The microart, you can probably break up nicely with some rocks, sand and static grass.

Cloak looks killer on the terminator btw Really like the look of that. as for the shield. you could possibly mount one hanging from his belt on the backside or mount it on top above all the other gubbins. Tough call really. Id pick one up attach it to different places and see what looks best. Making a small wall seems like a cool idea, but I dont know if everybody would let you run with it. In casual games people should tho

or you could check out the tutorial by guynamedfleck, which is pretty cool as well: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/277121.page

So apparently, Scibor Miniatures makes a line of very nice temple-themed bases.





The downside is that they're absurdly expensive, and he seems to only sell them in 'random selections' which suggests to me that I'll end up with a bunch of duplicates. That said, these bases are still really nice, and I think I'll be picking up a few.

HOLY CRAP!
Love your models I wish i could make a Vulkan like you. Because my chapter has warriors called Head Guardians which are all Vulkans each one stands for a different element of power (earth,wind,fire,water,etc. in total there are 12. Can you make an insturctions on how to do what you did?)

I recently bought some MicroArt cobblestone bases for my Malifaux figs, and they are nice and crisp. Quality wise excellent, no bad castings, no clean up and only few small air bubbles on some bases.

They also came as random selection so I have more of some bases than others (there are 7 different cobblestone bases and I ordered 30).

Hmm, well, I'm sure whatever bases you choose will suit them nicely. And I do love the Chaplain Librarian's name, Aduro Terranum, it does suit him, and because 'Tim the Biovore' is just out of the question...

I wish these independent companies would sell their basing stuff as "kits" you put onto your regular base instead of making the whole thing out of whatever resin they use that's as heavy as lead.