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Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






Ever since I first learned of them, I've been fascinated by the Thunder Warriors. I really like the direction Black Library is taking them as well. They're being fleshed out from being just a mass of blood thirsty madmen to an organized military force with deep seated roots of brotherhood and honor. Maintaining the humanity of the Thunder Warriors, and all the negatives that come with that, combined with their genetic degradation has created a very interesting force. BL does an excellent job making Thunder Warrior characters come across as being very much still human. I'm fascinated with a force that is bigger, faster, and stronger than Space Marines, without the lack of humanity and the whole "know no fear" schtick.

Until GW decides to make a Unification Wars game, I'm stuck using my imagination and a box of bitz to scratch this itch. My plan is to make a few different prototypes before I settle on a design to "mass produce" into a force. There's very little artwork readily available, so I'll be taking quite a few creative liberties. There a few commonalities between descriptions and visual depictions that I'll be trying to translate over into a model.

I'll be taking advantage of the chaotic nature of the Unification Wars and the fact that the development and standardization of equipment for the Thunder Regiments was an ongoing affair. I'll be making each model as individual as possible while trying to tie in the references to the Principia Bellicosa.

These are some of my favorite Thunder Warrior images that I'll be constantly using for reference.






I'll be using this project to really work my greenstuff and sculpting skills. So far, I have 5 Thunder Warriors started. These first Thunder Warriors were made using Terminator legs and Space Marine torsos. Their arms are a mix of Terminator arms and some Ork arms for an unarmored mix in there. Their weaponry is primarily close combat focused. Represented are three close combat Thunder Warriors, a medic of sorts, and their Regiment's Signifer.



Spoiler:


The Signifer is a great warrior hand chosen by the Regiments Primarch for deeds in battle. Upon selection to carry the standard he surrenders his personal identity and takes up the mantle of Signifer. To represent this he wears a brass face mask and takes an oath of silence. The Signifer carries the Thunder Regiments standard into battle alongside his Primarch. He holds the banner high for all on the field to know who to heap glory upon.



Spoiler:


These Thunder Warriors are all equipped to close with and destroy anyone that denied the rise of the Emperor.







Spoiler:
[/url]


This last guy is a Thunder Warrior battalion Clinicus. Medical personnel were rare in the Thunder Regiments. Clinicus were selected from the few of Thunder Warriors who were capable of maintaining mental clarity in the heat of battle.



Spoiler:



I'm still planning on shaving some details off and filling in parts with greenstuff. Specifically, the thigh portions of the legs. I'm either going to fill them in entirely or try my hand and sculpting in some chainmail. For the chest I'm going to try either bulking it out or shaving the details off. I chose these specific chests to try my hand at sculpting the current details into the Raptor Imperialis. I'm actually not a big fan of the Clinicus, may scrap him, may not.

The next group of prototypes are going to use Plague Marines as a base. I have a few ETB guys and an unbuilt half from Dark Imperium. I'm going to "denurgle" them and then figure out where to go from there. Size-wise, they're some beefy boys, but we'll see.



Spoiler:


Once this gets sorted out, I'm planning on going full on Legio Cataegis, Imperial Unification Army (The Old 100), Techno-Barbarians, Psyker states, Eldar covens, we'll see how long I can keep this going.

Any suggestions on where to go from here would be welcome. Modeling tips, design suggestions, doesn't matter.



This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2021/06/05 21:53:19


 
   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

I love seeing ambitious projects like this! Especially with these guys, there's a lot of potential to get really wild and creative with them and the techno barbarians. The standard bearer looks great!

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






 amazingturtles wrote:
I love seeing ambitious projects like this! Especially with these guys, there's a lot of potential to get really wild and creative with them and the techno barbarians. The standard bearer looks great!


Thanks! This is something I’ve been thinking about for a few years now. I’m super excited to get some momentum going on this. I just spent the night scouting through my bitz boxes and sprues just brainstorming madness. The madness of that era really let’s the imagination run amok.
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






Most of the art as well as the model from the "Armor Through the Ages" depict chain mail covering the thigh portion of the Thunder Warriors. I have very little experience with greenstuff, so I tried a few different techniques. I used the tips of a few different tools to try to depict chain mail, and absolutely mutilated some of it.
Better sculpting and green stuff work is one of the goals of this project, so I'll just keep plugging along and get more and more practice in.




Spoiler:


I feel that the layer of greenstuff used, may have been too thick. I'll definitely put in some more practice before committing to anything.
   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

Greenstuff is definitely tricky! I'm still figuring out how it works too. I think you are right, that it might be a bit too thick, but there's a couple that are looking good!

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in gb
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought






Not sure what works myself, but I’ve seen others fill out areas then add another layer for detail like chainmail. I do know it’s tricky stuff though!

Goberts Gubbins - P&M Blog, started with Oldhammer, often Blackstone Fortress and Void Panther Marines, with side projects along the way 
   
Made in fi
Longtime Dakkanaut






Looking good, thunder warriors are a great technobarbarian project.

For chainmail, consider pushing holes and dragging them in lines. A little hook or a needle might help. Here's a handy tutorial: https://elementgames.co.uk/forums/sculpting-chain-mail-t220.html

#ConvertEverything blog with loyalist Death Guard in true and Epic scales. Also Titans and killer robots! C&C welcome.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/717557.page

Do you like narrative gaming? Ongoing Imp vs. PDF rebellion campaign reports here:
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/786958.page

 
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






 Sherrypie wrote:
Looking good, thunder warriors are a great technobarbarian project.

For chainmail, consider pushing holes and dragging them in lines. A little hook or a needle might help. Here's a handy tutorial: https://elementgames.co.uk/forums/sculpting-chain-mail-t220.html


That makes it look so easy. lol. Thanks for that link. Going off of that, my green stuff layers were WAY too thick! Chainmail v2 coming soon!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Knocked out some practice strips of chainmail tonight.
This one seemed to be the best.


After working on technique for a while, I decided to try it again on some models. I used significantly thinner strips of GS this time. Unfortunately, some of gaps that would require chainmail were pretty small and difficult for me to depict the right kind of texture. I definitely think tonight’s attempts went better than the first ones though.


Spoiler:



Chainmail v3 will be coming in the next few days. I’ll be trying to refine the technique some more, do a little more research, and probably try covering a bit more area in the thigh regions.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/04/30 02:00:48


 
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






More practice on chain mail, and a first attempt at Thunder Armor shoulders. I'm hit or miss on chain mail right now. I like some portions, then really don't like others. THEN when I finally get a leg done that I do like I seem to always move on to another panel and push my big fat thumb right into the recently finished portion. Every time. Oh well, such is life in the War for Unity.





Spoiler:



I feel like some of these chainmail parts may end up looking just fine with some paint on them. On the other hand, if they don't, I'm thinking it'll just magically transform into furs. It's the Unification Wars! There are no rules!
As for the shoulder pads, I was thinking either adding rivets, poking tiny holes where there would be bolts, or just scoring lines into a pattern. Either way, I think they look a little plain. I may be wrong though.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2020/05/01 19:07:34


 
   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

I think that they chain mail is improving! And fur could be fun too. Heck, they could be wearing carpet swatches! No rules!

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in lu
Rampaging Khorne Dreadnought






For the Chain mail and fur I can only recommend the greenstuff world texture plates.
http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/92-textures-plates

the fur in particular is the bees knees.
[Thumb - 2019-12-29 21.48.16.jpg]
fur

[Thumb - 2019-11-24 23.11.14.jpg]
chain

   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






amazingturtles wrote:I think that they chain mail is improving! And fur could be fun too. Heck, they could be wearing carpet swatches! No rules!

Thanks! I imagine I’ll get it figured out by the end of this project. Not that I ever actually end any of the projects I start.

Roknar wrote:For the Chain mail and fur I can only recommend the greenstuff world texture plates.
http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/92-textures-plates

the fur in particular is the bees knees.


Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve been meaning to check out their stuff for quite a while.

Added some details to the lower legs of this guy and slapped together a helmet for him. This will probably be the end of modeling for him. Once the GS fully cures I’ll clean him up and dump some paint on him.



Spoiler:
   
Made in au
Alluring Mounted Daemonette




Australia

I love this project! I am a huge fan of the 80s zeerust look of the Thunder Warriors too, and looks like you are going full hog. The GS extras, helmets, and ork arms all look fantastic. The only thing I'm not totally sold on are all the pouches around the waist - I think you need something there to bulk them out/blend into the legs, but it looks kinda weird for a full squad to all keep their ammo/grenades on their bellybuttons. It might be an opportunity to flex your GS work and fill with some fur or belts or armour plates or something. That said, they look great as a group and I'm looking forward to more!

t z you are k 
   
Made in lu
Rampaging Khorne Dreadnought






ooh I love the helmet
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






tzurk wrote:I love this project! I am a huge fan of the 80s zeerust look of the Thunder Warriors too, and looks like you are going full hog. The GS extras, helmets, and ork arms all look fantastic. The only thing I'm not totally sold on are all the pouches around the waist - I think you need something there to bulk them out/blend into the legs, but it looks kinda weird for a full squad to all keep their ammo/grenades on their bellybuttons. It might be an opportunity to flex your GS work and fill with some fur or belts or armour plates or something. That said, they look great as a group and I'm looking forward to more!

I see what you’re saying. I placed them there primarily to cover the gap between the legs and torso created during the kit bashing process. I settled on that placement because that’s where most modern military forces keep their munitions. Not necessarily all on their stomach, but the front of their body. I am absolutely planning on working some GS into future models. Expanding my GS abilities is one of the main goals of this project for me. I’d like to get to a point where that gap is covered by armor instead of bits, but I’m not even close to that yet. Furs sounds like a great idea though.


Roknar wrote:ooh I love the helmet

Thanks Roknar. It’s just a hollowed out and chopped up MK III helmet with a Space Wolf top knot and GS lenses.
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






So while I was waiting for primer to dry I decided to go through the bitz box and see what type of armament I could assemble for the Thunder Warriors. This being pre-Unification and equipment being far from standardized, I once again get to do what I want! I'm a fan of the big clunky slug guns that've been depicted, but I'll try to use everything from old plasma guns to Rad Rifles and Rad Pistols, Adrathic weapons, proto-Boltguns, and whatever else I can conjure up.


Spoiler:


This is what I was able to scrap together after a few minutes of scrounging, hacking and gluing.

Next up is putting some paint on my first Thunder Warrior. Question is: What color to go with for the armor? It seems as though most art pieces have them painted gold or bronze, but there are plenty others of them painted different colors. What do you guys think?
   
Made in us
Deranged Necron Destroyer






This is such a cool project! I've loved the Thunder Warriors since reading The Outcast Dead. I appreciate you sharing your progress with the chain mail. Sculpting is tricky and that's why I love the Dakka community for sharing tutorials and tips and similar (also - words of encouragement!). Great idea for raiding the bitz box for retro weapons. Love that jenky shotgun. Overall I think your conversions well capture the rag-tag, desperate vision of the Thunder Warriors that I love.

My painting log is full of snakes
Have any retro, vintage, or out of print models? Show them off here!
Games I play: 40k (CSM, Necrons); AoS/Fantasy (Seraphon/Lizardmen); Warcry; Marvel Crisis Protocol; Wargods of Olympus/Aegyptus; Mythos 
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






 Don Qui Hotep wrote:
This is such a cool project! I've loved the Thunder Warriors since reading The Outcast Dead. I appreciate you sharing your progress with the chain mail. Sculpting is tricky and that's why I love the Dakka community for sharing tutorials and tips and similar (also - words of encouragement!). Great idea for raiding the bitz box for retro weapons. Love that jenky shotgun. Overall I think your conversions well capture the rag-tag, desperate vision of the Thunder Warriors that I love.


Thanks DQH! This is a project I've wanted to get started for a very long time.

I put some paint on my first Thunder Warrior. Honestly, I don't like it. I decided to go with yellow instead of straight gold or bronze. I still need to put on the golds, start work on the skin, clean everything up, then some highlights. I'm only going for table top standard with these. Nothing fancy. Once I sort out a design that I would like to replicate I'll probably put more work into the HQ elements, but for the line troopers, just a nice easy tabletop.

I'm thinking the next model I'll continue working on chain mail, modeling lightning bolts, and try my hand at the Raptor Imperialis.






Spoiler:


   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






Put a little more work in tonight. I think I'm just going to try to smooth the skin out a bit, sponge on some chipping, matte varnish, then base it. I'm doing basic desert bases for these guys. It's something simple, and since Terra has nuked itself into a waterless wasteland, I imagine there's quite a bit of desert around. Time to start planning the next Thunder Warrior.




Spoiler:
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






Well I'm calling it on the first Thunder Warrior. Overall I think he turned out ok. I can say I learned quite a bit with this guy. This is my first model with "sculpted" chainmail and lightning bolts and I tried my hand at tiny freehand lightning bolts in various different parts of his body. After painting him I was able to identify quite a few places with the chainmail that should have been tidied up before paint was added. I'm actually more excited now to keep this project going forward.






Spoiler:


For starters going forward, I'm going to do as much GS work as possible before any assembly is done. That was a huge pain in the butt. I know some things will have to wait because of how they tie into other body components though. I actually took a knife to one of the first Thunder Warriors I had built in order to get some GS on him a little easier. I'll be scouring images and brainstorming how to model this armor with variety and still staying true to the GW design ideas. For now, it's more chain mail, more attempts at lightning bolts, and I'm going to try my hand and sculpting the Raptor Imperialis.



Spoiler:

   
Made in us
Deranged Necron Destroyer






I like the stylized raptor on the shield. I think your sculpting of insignia is actually really strong - nice, crisp, symmetrical lines on the lightening bolts.

Congrats on finishing your first Thunder Warrior! The choice to go with a pastel yellow was a good one, I like relegating the bronze and gold to trim and other details. The chain on the legs in the middle of the set in your last picture looks the best. Are you carving out space on the greaves and then filling the empty space with chainmail, or are you sculpting right over the plastic? I wonder if it might be easier to hollow out the legs a bit before you sculpt, so that you don't have quite such a thin layer of greenstuff for the chainmail.

My painting log is full of snakes
Have any retro, vintage, or out of print models? Show them off here!
Games I play: 40k (CSM, Necrons); AoS/Fantasy (Seraphon/Lizardmen); Warcry; Marvel Crisis Protocol; Wargods of Olympus/Aegyptus; Mythos 
   
Made in lu
Rampaging Khorne Dreadnought






Assuming you don't already have them, I would recommend a set of silicon shapers. They really help when working with greenstuff and the like. You don't generally need them, but with a project like this where you will be using a lot of GS, they will be invaluable. There really is no going back after using them.
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






Don Qui Hotep wrote:I like the stylized raptor on the shield. I think your sculpting of insignia is actually really strong - nice, crisp, symmetrical lines on the lightening bolts.

Congrats on finishing your first Thunder Warrior! The choice to go with a pastel yellow was a good one, I like relegating the bronze and gold to trim and other details. The chain on the legs in the middle of the set in your last picture looks the best. Are you carving out space on the greaves and then filling the empty space with chainmail, or are you sculpting right over the plastic? I wonder if it might be easier to hollow out the legs a bit before you sculpt, so that you don't have quite such a thin layer of greenstuff for the chainmail.


Thanks! I had not been hollowing out the legs. I’ll add that to the list of things to try out.

Roknar wrote:Assuming you don't already have them, I would recommend a set of silicon shapers. They really help when working with greenstuff and the like. You don't generally need them, but with a project like this where you will be using a lot of GS, they will be invaluable. There really is no going back after using them.


I actually got a set of shapers right before starting this project. I’m a big fan so far, but just like any tool it’s taking some time to figure out how to use them properly.


Unfortunately this project is going to slow down for a little while. Had a sweet hobby knife accident and split my thumb pretty good. Trying to shave some details and you know how some of that older plastic likes to just randomly break. I’ll still be putting in work, it’s just going to be a little slower for a while.

These are the next few Thunder Warriors in the chute. I’ve decided to try to paint the details on the legs instead of sculpt these ones. Once the thumb heals I’ll go back to trying to sculpt details onto the legs. I will be using some of these guys to work on sculpting mid section armor and figure out how to equip these ones with some firearms.




Spoiler:

   
Made in us
Deranged Necron Destroyer






Hey, that chainmail tabard is looking really good!

Sorry to hear about your thumb. Worst place for a hobby accident. Speedy healing! I'd be interested to see the painted insignia, maybe slightly chipped away and damaged. It would help the rag-tag feel if half of them had sculpted designs and half of them were only painted on.

My painting log is full of snakes
Have any retro, vintage, or out of print models? Show them off here!
Games I play: 40k (CSM, Necrons); AoS/Fantasy (Seraphon/Lizardmen); Warcry; Marvel Crisis Protocol; Wargods of Olympus/Aegyptus; Mythos 
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






Well after a yearlong break I'm back at it with this project again. I'm going to try to make some "basic" line troopers this time. I'll be working through what I want a baseline Thunder Warrior to look like and what his standard issued weapon will be. That'll be some monstrously kit bashed proto-bolter or Thundergun. Once I nail down what the base model will be for these guys, I'll have something to work from for any other unit types while still maintaining a sense of uniformity.

I'll be adding chainmail to locations that will help conceal the fact that these are 40k models and make them look a bit more "rustic" at the same time. Of course I'll add some greenstuffed lightning bolts throughout their bodies, like I did on the test model. I definitely need to work on making it a thinner layer of greenstuff, it was quite thick on the first one. If you guys have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know.




Spoiler:

   
Made in au
Ragin' Ork Dreadnought






Albany, Australia

Welcome back!

   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






 Arakasi wrote:
Welcome back!



Thanks Arakasi! I'm one of those guys with a hundred ideas that all get started around the same time and I just bounce back and forth between them.

So this is the first member of the fire team that is about 90% done now. I'll probably add a couple pouches and a blade or something.





What I'm not sold on, is the head. I still feel that it's a little on the small side. I tried a few different heads and I'm not too excited about any of them really. The guardsman head is probably truest to form for what is expected of a Thunder Warrior. That one will also be the hardest to source parts for as well. Guardsmen heads are a dime a dozen, but suitable plumes are going to be a bit more difficult. I tossed some other heads on for fun, let me know what you guys think. Any comments or recommendations are always welcome.




This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/15 14:10:08


 
   
Made in ca
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






I definitely prefer the guardsman head, that helmet and plume is what unequivocally turns this into a Thunder Warrior in my opinion.

See what's on my painting table Now painting: Kruleboyz Gutrippaz 
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper






 Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:
I definitely prefer the guardsman head, that helmet and plume is what unequivocally turns this into a Thunder Warrior in my opinion.


I agree. I’ll add a spattering of unhelmed or alternately helmed heads, but I’ll probably stick with what’s expected of a Thunder Warrior for the majority of these guys.

I did some assembly last night. Mostly just adding chainmail, lightning bolts, extra weapons and pouches. Added some more to their Thunderguns as well. Put optics and chainblade bayonets on most of them. I’m also adding old school bolter butt stocks to them. Not too sure if that’ll work out once I start putting the guns into hands though. I’ll keep cranking away at these guys and work out a paint scheme that I like.

The next big challenge will be to figure out the arm situation. I’ve got a good mix of terminator, Mk IV, and Ork arms to work with. They all come with their own unique challenges when it comes to scaling them to the body. What I like about the Unification Wars is that “standardization” was more conceptual than tangible. Until the Astartes came around of course. The madness of the time really allows me to just make stuff up and if it looks horrible, it still fits in.



   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

I'm glad this project is back! (and i hope that your thumb recovered ok) The completely painted warrior upthread came out wonderfully and the new ones are looking great!

realism is a lie
 
   
 
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