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So I got the itch again and dug out my last attempts at making a bigger Space Marine. Whilst doing that I thought about making a thread about it but didn't have much to show so I thought I'd put a few pictures up of all my previous 'attempts'. All of these earlier attempts are what you might call 'Truescale' where my most recent version is actually a 32mm scale version of an eight foot tall Space Marine. Anyway, enough jibber-jabber.

So, when the 'new' Space Marine plastics came out I finally got to make a bigger marine, something that had irked me since I got into the background for the game, Ol' Broken Neck as I call him.



Mm-mmm, check out that sweet paintjob. So this was sometime back in 1999 and my converting skills extended to slicing almost all the way through the leg and then bending them relatively strait with a bit of putty between the legs and torso and that's it.

Then about 2003/4 I made more marines, this time cutting the legs, pinning them apart and filling the gap with Green Stuff as well as a waist extension. I got about two or three of these painted.



Then I went totally berserk and made an awfully big marine (reminds me of that old Stan Ridgway song), this was around 2008.



This was a pretty convoluted conversion and I got this idea into my head about using ork arms and scaling the marine to fit them... Then I decided to make a more reasonably sized Truescale Terminator.



Then I started making armatures to put armour onto, the idea being the armour must be right because there was a man inside. So around 2010 I made this fella.





Before embarking on that model I made that 54mm Termi in the first picture which after my attempts at armatures then led me to make a 54mm scale Space Marine.



I used that model to make a scaled down 28mm version which turned out to be very thin and puny alongside regular Games Workshop models as he wasn't 'heroically' scaled. That led me to where I am up to now, which is a 32mm scale Marine standing roughly 44mm high.



Originally I made both leg components using 5mm tube but in this picture the lower left leg is 6mm which gives that 'flared' Marine look without actually being flared.



Of course, I also think a big Marine needs a big gun so this is a scout heavy bolter to give an idea of a bigger boltgun; learning from past mistakes I'm inclined to make it smaller than that though and when I made the painted Truescale Marine above I wanted to use as many ordinary GW components as possible, but converted, like the backpack the 32mm Marine is wearing so I have lots of components sat unused as I vacillate between the desire to make a truly big marine (requiring almost complete scratch building) and something that's more of a conversion than anything else.

I'm also torn between making a 'scale' Marine and something a little bit more heroic. So instead of these legs (and please excuse the lean):



I'd be looking at something more like these:




So, the top left leg armour is a 7mm tube with the inside edge trimmed away. The thicker leg looks good from the side I think, but not so much from the front hence why I cut it down.

My idea with this Marine is to use some GW components, cut down to fit onto my own torso as basically the GW torso is fine width wise as it is for the chest only. I'm going to put some extensions on the outside though to 1. have a curve of armour above the shoulder and to make it look as if the Marine has some decent lats. Slightly bulkier boots as well I think.

Anyway, any input is greatly appreciated. Is he too tall is my main question? My aim with all these models isn't just to have a taller Marine but one that is generally huger in all aspects, my favourite thing about the giant Marine I made was the helmet, compared to a regular helmet it made the regular one seem puny and that's one thing I want to achieve here, a model that is both proportionally more accurate than the 'heroic' GW models but that also looks imposing; having to really try very hard to ignore my mania for 'to' scale models as they just look thin and frail next to GW ones and yet some 'heroic' scaling looks cool.

Thanks for reading folks

So I cut a larger tube for the lower leg and whilst fiddling about with it realised that I could have it sit lower and higher which was interesting for me because one of the things that intrigues me about making bigger Marines is working out how the armour might actually function. So, with the lower leg armour sitting higher it overlaps the thigh armour which to me looked like a good hinge point. I still am quite partial to the thinner leg where the armour parts simply abut each other with some kind of framework/armature hidden underneath the plates. The reason I made it that way originally was to give the leg a more realistic anatomy instead of having both the lower and upper armour sections the same length. Anyway, just a few pics to show where I'm up to.



Salvaged the helmet from my old huge True Scale Marine which I think works pretty well although when I make a new version it'll be ever so slightly smaller and more refined but you get the impression.


Also dug out this old Iron Warriors terminator I started painting ages back and made a Legion symbol for him which I didn't have at the time, got a whole squad of these and I know twin combi-bolters isn't a legit weapon combo but it looked kinda cool so I just went with it.

Been about two years since I last finished a model but, I've finally done another!




Now I just need to finish the other four...!

The Marine on the right has no left arm as both these models proved resistant to Blu-Tac and I came very close to bringing down The Foot of Gork upon them!!!





Very rough casts of in progress pieces so, lots more to do, but I wanted to put some together to see how they would look. I'm quite pleased with the proportions and the overall look, the bits seem to pose up fairly nicely. Anyway...

That was a great read! Really interesting project you've got going on here.

D

Thank you for reading and for commenting. Hopefully I will be able to post another update soonish (ha!).

Those truescales look awesome
Also a nice read hope to see more soon
Keep up the good work!
Regards
Mark

Thank you for the encouragement, I definitely need it!!

I think I'm going to have to make some cuts somewhere, roughly 3mm overall. The connection between pelvis and abdomen can lose some and then the abdomen section itself could lose 1mm or so but generally I think I'm getting there.

On my list of other things that need doing: the boots need finishing, and then the greaves will almost certainly need reshaping to give more room for the boot; torso needs tidying up and then I would like to make the belt more chunky; then I need to make a simple helmet, slightly smaller than the one in the last photo which really means more refined 'furniture' on the outside of the helmet to make it more compact. Overall I'm thinking of making the helmets more skull like, with the eye lenses at the front, rather than sweeping around the sides as is usual; then I need to make some arms although regular Space Marine hands should be more than big enough. I have this idea in mind of more mechanical servo gauntlets, where the wearer's fingers are not necessarily in the fingers of the gauntlet, but I'll probably scratch that itch with my neglected 'Ard Boyz project as I've had a whole new set of ideas for them in the last few days.

Thanks again for reading along and for commenting

So, I've finished the boots although, I imagine that once this basic Marine is finished I will make different styles of boots but I'm pretty happy with these. Also started work on some extra sidey bits for the torso armour. I've machined out the greaves and cut them down a mm which brings the height of the marine to 42mm or so. I've done this as it makes him 8 feet tall at 30mm scale, with a Sister of Battle model (the one I have stands exactly 30mm) equating to 5' 9" and a model like Sergeant Harker 6' 5" or so (which doesn't make Harker a 'giant' as he is described but even at 28mm he isn't quite 7', however his legs look a little short to me but I digress) which I feel to be reasonable heights for the regular humans compared to a Marine.

I am still working on my marine but that has taken a back seat for a while as I am (despite starting this project many weeks ago) now working on a Space Slaan conversion, based on the Forge World Slaan Mage Priest. I'm going for a post-apocalyptic look with a tribal twist. To start off I've stood him up and begun making him an industrial style bionic arm.



Currently I've only made the very basic structure for the arm but there will be a few piston style arrangements and wires as well as detailing. Then I'll be making the hand with the left arm all organic.

Back to the bigger marine again...

So I thought the legs were starting to run away with me (sorry, sorry ) and so I decided to go back to some smaller legs from a previous build. I've also been working on a helmet but the more I tinkered with it the less it resembled what I was trying to achieve so I hacked off the snout which was the only bit I really liked and put that on to a much older helmet, again, from a previous build.

I've got the new version stood next to a regular marine model and a Chaos Lord as he represents the sort of size I'm going for. I've also angled the rear part of the torso forward so the collar no-longer sits strait up and I wonder if anyone has any comments on how that looks?

About as much progress as the Adeptus Mechanicus but I think it might be getting somewhere!

Anyway, thanks for taking a look.

Little update. Right leg is just a place holder until I get a proper one moulded and cast up.

Interesting to read and see the progression of your models.

Thanks for taking a look.

I think I'm slowly getting somewhere with this particular version although I admit, I am horribly slow. That close up does make the vents on the snout look wonky though doesn't it? Took a few attempts getting them neatly lined up and I thought I'd done it quite well... Hmm.

Liking the GS helmet

Thank you. I have half a mould made today for the legs but I've put the helmet in too so that I can clean any poor GSing more easily so hopefully I should get some progress on various parts by the weekend.

Thanks for the comments.

Bit more work done on finishing the helmet. Still got plenty more to do but as you can see, it's taking shape. (comparison with ordinary space marine and a Chaos Warrior Lord which approximates the sort of size I'm going for).



Been a little distracted by tearing apart my model of Gogsnik. Repositioned the legs, removed the right hand from his axe and turned that into a fist and made him more easy to see. I think it works and looks better than the old pose which didn't translate well to an ork, especially one this size. Blu-taced together at the moment as he needs some Green Stuffing and it'll be easier to repaint in pieces now that he has this new pose.

So I've finally finished tinkering with Gogsnik and Green Stuffing all the cracks and I'm pretty happy with the new pose. I think the old one would have worked better if he wasn't so huge, but a giant warboss has been an ambition of mine for many years so I have no regrets on that score.







So I've bent the left arm at the elbow and I need to find his shooter and see where that can go. Then I need to make a base for him and thanks to Lord Borak I now have a nice big sheet of ally mesh to make something a bit more interesting. I was going to put his attack squig, Mick, on a separate base but I think I made shove them both together.



And here he is directing his ard boyz.

I've got five sets of legs cast and glued together, just need to sculpt in the details and do some tidying up and then they can be moulded and cast as one part pieces. Then I'll have to do the same process again to make more poses and chop up a pair of boots so I can have them bent at the toe so I can do some running poses and some more walking poses et cetera.

I've also got to cast up the torso as it will be easier to file and shape the resin rather than the Green Stuff work I've done so far and it needs general modification and there is a little bit of work to do on the helmet and then that can be cast and then those casts can be modified and some different styles made as well.

I've done a comparison with a normal Space Marine and then a pair of my True Scale legs with a completely unmodified plastic Space Marine body, just in case anyone was curious about that.

One on the right flipin sassy marine...

Based it on some Deathwatch Space Wolf art I saw in one of the books; gotta be better than the power metal stance of most marines right?!

Mabye its the very light ball joints that are throwing me off

Couldn't find the exact artwork but this is good enough, changed stance a bit - this is why you should always have your references handy!

Its definitely the hips and the incredibly thin waist

got your self a female marine right there

As I say, it's only to show what an unconverted marine looks like for comparison.

Thanks for the comments though.

Just another brief WIP shot to show current progress. So I have five sets of legs at the early stages of having detail sculpted in. Still need to make some kneepads for them as well as some other bits and pieces, then scribe in a few panel lines and such and fill in some air bubbles, then I can get on with making a mould. The right most marine uses my own torso and helmet but for comparison the left most marine uses just regular plastic components. I didn't have an Imperial Guardsman handy so I've used an Eisenkern trooper instead, although he is a bit taller than a Citadel model.

And for those who may be interested, if we use a 32mm scale then the Eisenkern is five feet and eleven inches to the top of his helmet, the plastic torso marine is precisely seven feet and my own marine is seven feet and six inches to the very top of his helmet.

Well one step forward and two steps back.

So I reworked the top part of the legs as I wasn't too happy with the Green Stuff work I'd done. I'm actually quite happy with how these look with just ordinary marine torsos so I think I may well just leave it at legs and save myself some effort. I don't particular hold with the idea of Astartes being nigh on nine feet high so there isn't much room to make a taller marine that isn't just far too big. That said, I like making bigger marine models so I think I might just do exactly that, make some bigger models just for their own sake, not ones that particularly have to fit in with regular sized figures.

So after not touching the model for months and months I decided to do some repainting on Gogsnik. I reckon I'm going to call him 'done' now, just need to finish the base...